Authors: David Tindell

Quest for Honor (37 page)

BOOK: Quest for Honor

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Author’s Notes

The seeds of
Quest for Honor
were planted some years ago. I was watching a news report of a man captured by Islamic extremists somewhere in the Middle East. In front of a video camera, he was seated on a chair, his hands bound behind him, and he stared ahead with hollow, frightened eyes. Flanking him on both sides were hooded men armed with submachine guns. One of them rambled on with his manifesto, stating the alleged crimes of the West for which this man was about to pay the ultimate price. The prisoner said nothing, but in his eyes one could almost see a final, desperate plea: Please help me.

And, no doubt like many others who were watching, I asked myself a question: What would I do if that was me?

It is not a comfortable question to contemplate. The great majority of us here in the West go about our daily lives meeting challenges that are usually somewhat routine. For many, the biggest is deciding what to wear to work that day, or how to occupy our time if we have the day off. Occasionally we will face more serious challenges, such as finding a new job, or dealing with a serious illness, financial hardship, or a rebellious child. Rarely do we encounter situations that are truly life-threatening. For that, we can thank the men and women who guard our streets and our shores, who put their lives on the line every day to keep ours safe. As George Orwell once said, “People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf.” We go about our lives knowing that if push ever does come to shove, we can make a phone call and within minutes there will be armed, trained men and women to deal with whatever threat we face. It is a comfort we tend to take for granted.

But what if we could not make that call? What if there was no reasonable hope that help would arrive in time? What if we were truly on our own, facing people like the hooded men in that video, and our very survival depended on what we would do next?

I began studying the martial arts in 2001, well into my forties. At first it was a way for me to spend quality time with my teenage son, who had started training in the Korean art of
taekwondo
several years earlier. Besides, who wouldn’t want to be like one of those people on the movie screen, bringing down the biggest and baddest bad guys with stylish kicks and nifty punches? But like everybody who has ever begun training in martial arts, I quickly discovered that I was not going to be Bruce Lee in six or seven easy lessons. No matter what art you decide to study, it takes long hours of arduous practice and dedication to achieve proficiency, and years to attain mastery. In truth, the training and education never stops. In taekwondo we have a saying: as color belts (lower ranks), we are learning how to learn; as black belts, we are learning.

As the years went by I expanded my training to include the arts of
isshin-ryu karate,
Russian
Systema,
and
ryukudo kobujutsu,
the study of Okinawan weaponry. I have also dabbled in
jiujitsu
and hope soon to take up the study of
krav maga,
the formidable close-quarters combat art taught to the Israeli military. So little time, so much to learn. Along the way the training has opened up huge vistas, and I began to study what I and others call the “warrior ethos”. What does it mean to be a warrior? Does it mean fighting, combat, sowing death and destruction upon one’s enemies? Or is it something much more subtle, more enriching and empowering? I believe strongly that it is the latter. The warrior ethos embraces a code of honor, and that in itself is a subject worthy of study, for without honor one can never truly be a warrior, in the truest sense of the word. Indeed, the concept of honor, as was once known and accepted in this country, seems to be diminishing in importance, much to the detriment of all of us, in my opinion.

So it was that I decided to write about men who are trying to define their own sense of honor in the midst of today’s tumultuous world, and who find themselves facing the ultimate challenge. The Hayes brothers, so different from each other and yet so similar, face their challenges in environments that are, at first, vastly different. Safe in his small Wisconsin town, Jim searches for meaning after the love of his life is violently taken from him; in the mountains of Afghanistan where death and terror lurk almost everywhere, Mark strives to keep his men alive while protecting the innocent Afghans in the villages near his base, all the while wondering what will be left for him to do when he takes off the uniform for the last time. And Yusuf, a man of noble birth who is trying to throw off a murderous ideology of hate, decides to grasp whatever honor might be left for him after years of bringing pain and destruction to others.

The concept of honor, as it relates to the individual and the group, has changed over the centuries, like virtually everything else. My great-great grandfather was a Civil War veteran, and I would imagine that if he was out in public with his wife on an evening in the 1870s and she was insulted by another man, he would’ve demanded satisfaction from the offender and quite likely gotten it, either in the form of an apology or a physical confrontation. His peers would congratulate him on his defense of his wife’s (and his own) honor and the law would almost surely look the other way. Nearly a century and a half later, I would likely be thrown in jail if I punched out a guy in public, even if he had called my wife the vilest slur possible, and would probably also find myself on the receiving
end of a lawsuit. Many would call this progress, but sometimes I wonder; while we certainly can’t have people going around assaulting others over perceived (or even real) slights, at the same time we have seen a skyrocketing increase in rude and uncivil behavior, perhaps because there are no consequences for such conduct anymore.

We see this not only in our own towns and cities but among nations. Increasingly we see armed movements, ranging from terror groups to whole governments, brutalizing their own people and oftentimes their weaker neighbors, in large part, I think, because they know that potential adversaries with the strength to resist them will act only in rare cases, after the most egregious transgressions against their own people. And even then, the offender is likely to avoid the full force of his adversary, who will prefer to rely on diplomacy and economic sanctions to restrain the offender’s behavior.

On my favorite website, Art of Manliness, author Brett McKay published an in-depth study of honor in late 2012. In his summation, McKay makes a convincing argument that “honor is more powerful than rules and laws in shaping human behavior.”

Without honor, mediocrity, corruption and incompetence rule, Honor is based on reputation, and when people stop caring about their reputation, and shame disappears, people devolve into doing the least they can without getting into legal trouble or getting fired. This leads to mediocrity, corruption and incompetence….As society has become more complex and anonymous, and the bonds of honor have dissolved, we’ve had to rely more and more on obedience—rules and regulations—to govern people’s behavior…We must be policed by an external authority to check our behavior in the absence of honor…Honor acts as a check on narcissism, creates community, creates meaning.

Here’s hoping that we can rediscover honor, as people and as a society.

Acknowledgments

Nobody ever writes a book alone. It is a collaborative effort, for the writer has been inspired to write by someone, trained by someone else, supported by another, critiqued by still more. My inspiration for this book came from my grandfathers, James L. Tindell and Alvin Carpenter, who lived lives of simple dignity and honor and set high standards for their sons and grandsons to follow. They left this world some years ago but I have faith that we will be reunited someday. My father, James J. Tindell, continues to set high standards for me and my brothers as he enjoys a well-deserved retirement in Arizona, watching golf and baseball with his Yorkie on his lap. I have also been blessed with strong women of honor: my grandmothers, Leona Tindell and Meta Carpenter, both daughters of German immigrants, and my mother, Sandra Tindell, who is living proof that saints do indeed walk the earth. Last but certainly not least, my wife Sue, who has been my greatest supporter as an author (as well as a sharp-eyed but fair critic). She also takes me along on many of her travels around the world, for which I am very grateful, and she can open up new vistas for you as well. Look her up at www.travelleaders.com/ricelakewi.

Most certainly this book would not have been made possible without the assistance of my peers in my critique group, who reviewed and helped revise
Quest for Honor
from start to finish. Each of them are fine authors in their own right: Donna White Glaser, Marjorie Swift Doering, Marla Madison and Helen Block. Check out their boo
ks on
www.amazon.com
.

A special thanks to a good friend and fellow black belt, SFC Keith Graeme, U.S. Army National Guard and Afghan War veteran, for lending his expertise to the chapters involving Mark Hayes and his troops. His expertise in the dojo has also been most helpful for me on my martial arts journey.

Cover art by Damonza, and book trailer produced by my son Jim Tindell, who is destined for major accomplishments in the field of cinema, and that’s not just a proud father speaking.

Quest for Honor (37 page)

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