9
Perseverance

REFUSE TO QUIT

It is rare to have three brothers at West Point at the same time. But three sisters? That is unique. During the 2013–14 academic year, the Corps of Cadets included Alexandra Efaw (class of 2014), Anastasia Efaw (class of 2016), and Arianna Efaw (class of 2017). But as Anastasia said, these sisters were destined for the Academy because “West Point is in our DNA.”

Their parents, Andy and Amy Efaw, met at the United States Military Academy at West Point and were married six months after graduating in 1989. Andy is a lawyer and a colonel in the army reserves; Amy is a homemaker and a writer. In addition to Alexandra, Anastasia, and Arianna, the Efaws have a son, Andrew Jr., and another daughter, Aimee—and they, too, plan to go to West Point.

Alexandra jokes that growing up in the Efaw family was like living under martial law, so they all felt right at home at West Point. If one of the Efaw kids broke one of the family rules, the punishment wasn’t “You’re grounded.” It was “Drop and give me twenty.” The push-ups had to be counted out loud and performed with military precision. Once the push-ups were completed, the individual would call out, “Permission to recover!” Recovering involved “popping off” or loudly confessing the infraction and promising not to commit it again (for example, “I will not hit my sister!”). Failing to “pop off” loudly and enthusiastically enough could result in a repeat of the punishment.

Andy and Amy also used clipboards for room inspections, as practiced at West Point. Each Efaw sibling had a clipboard with a checklist of “mission-essential tasks” that had to be performed daily for the room to pass inspection. This way each child knew exactly what the expectations were—and whether he or she had met them. The checklist included items such as “brush teeth” and “make the bed” and a space for the time the task was completed. “It eliminated the ‘I forgot’ excuse,” Andy explained. In a household of two adults and five children, West Point traditions brought order to what could have been a chaotic situation.

The Efaw siblings were required to participate in a sport, do push-ups and sit-ups every day, and sometimes run with Dad. Andy would call cadences as they ran, and the kids would answer back—which would attract the stares of strangers. But the practice helped prepare the three Efaw sisters for West Point. They already knew the cadences used at the Academy, so West Point was almost like home.

The Efaw sisters were never pressured to attend the Academy, yet they couldn’t imagine going to college anyplace else. With both parents, two uncles, and an aunt having graduated from the Academy, it was simply the place to go. Alexandria said that even when she found out that other schools existed, she still wanted to go to West Point.1

The three Efaw sisters were profiled in a 2014 New York Times piece titled “The Women of West Point.” One fact that came through is that it takes a lot of perseverance to get through four years at West Point—and this is doubly true for female cadets.

Arianna Efaw encountered reactions ranging from skepticism to outright derision when she told fellow cadets she wanted a career in the infantry. “Whenever I tell people I want to go infantry, they laugh in my face,” she said. When male cadets treated her ambitions with condescension, it fired up her motivation to prove them wrong. She added, “You want to be better than the guys to prove that you belong here.”

The competition at West Point is intense, because everyone who makes it into West Point is the best of the best. “You get into West Point,” Arianna reflected, “because you’re good academically, you’re a good leader, you’re the team captain or whatever. Then you get here and realize that everybody’s exactly like you, only better.”

Though the competition is intense, West Point friendships are also intense. Fellow cadets become an indispensable resource for maintaining the virtue of perseverance through stressful times. “What I like most about West Point,” said Anastasia, “is the relationships you make here because of what you go through and how stressful it is. A week is like a month in real life. . . . We have this unique experience that we’re all sharing with each other.”2

West Point began admitting women as cadets in 1976. Cadet Kristin Baker became West Point’s first female First Captain (the highest-ranking senior in the Academy) in 1989. Three other West Point women have achieved the rank of First Captain: Grace H. Chung (2003), Stephanie Hightower (2005), and Lindsey Danilack (2013). On average, women make up about one-fifth of all new first-year cadets.

After making first captain, Lindsey Danilack from Montville Township, New Jersey, recalled her first year at West Point: “I knew I was going to need to step it up in the physical realm,” she said. “But I never knew it was going to be as hard as it turned out to be. . . . I honestly cannot believe that I’ve made it this far. . . . In high school, one of my teachers actually told me that I would never get into West Point, that it was too hard.”3

Danilack captained the women’s track and field team, competing in several events, including the 400-meter hurdles. She said she accepts that she can’t run as fast as the male two-milers at West Point, but she takes a back seat to no one as a leader. After all, hers is the 143rd name on the plaque listing past first captains at West Point. Other names include John J. Pershing and Douglas MacArthur. She was at the very top of the cadet chain of command and the leader of the entire West Point Corps of Cadets.

“We’re all trying to accomplish very similar goals, regardless of gender,” she concluded.4 After graduating from West Point in 2013, she went to Fort Rucker, Alabama, to be trained as an Apache helicopter pilot. She has also parachuted from fixed-wing aircraft, rappelled out of helicopters, and worked at the Defense Intelligence Agency in Washington, DC.

Emily Jazmin Tatum Perez, West Point class of 2005, entered the Academy in July 2001. After the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, she became part of the so-called class of 9/11 because the attacks occurred soon after the start of her freshman year. Born into a proud military family in Heidelberg, West Germany, of African American and Hispanic parents, Emily Perez was a top student and a talented musician in high school and at the Academy. On the track, she could outrun most male cadets.

A devout Christian, Perez was enthusiastically involved in her church and helped start an HIV/AIDS ministry there. (She was also a Red Cross HIV/AIDS educator.) She directed a gospel choir, read her Bible daily, and lived its teachings faithfully. Her pastor, Rev. Michael Bell of Peace Baptist Church in Washington, DC, called her “one of the most brilliant people I ever met . . . the consummate intellectual.”5

After graduating from West Point in 2005 (in the top tenth of her class), Perez was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the 204th Support Battalion, Second Brigade, Fourth Infantry Division of the Army. Days before shipping out to Iraq, Lieutenant Perez flew halfway across the country to donate bone marrow to a stranger. She went to Iraq as a Medical Service Corps officer.

On September 12, 2006, Lieutenant Perez looked at a lieutenant who was supposed to lead a convoy through Al Kifl, a village on the Euphrates in southeastern Iraq. Something told her the lieutenant was not in shape to lead. She volunteered to lead the convoy herself and told the lieutenant he could take her place in back.

As the convoy passed through the village, an improvised explosive device detonated next to her vehicle. Perez, age twenty-three, died in the explosion. The translator in the seat next to her suffered traumatic amputation of both legs. Soldiers in the back of the vehicle received minor injuries.

Tiffany Martin, Emily Perez’s West Point roommate, said she was always persevering in doing good for others. “She wanted to help young women,” Martin said. “She wanted to help African-Americans.” Emily’s mother, Vicki Perez, agreed. “She would put her life on hold to take care of the needs of others,” she said.6

She was the first soldier of “the class of 9/11” to die. There would be others.

The night of September 11, 2001, while the horror of the terror attacks was still fresh, the cadets assembled on the Plain and heard a bugle sound “Taps.” Each cadet had his or her own private thoughts on the meaning of that day when the homeland was attacked in lower Manhattan and at the Pentagon and when American heroes fought the attackers over the skies of Pennsylvania. But all the cadets together shared one inescapable thought: America was going to war, and this class of West Point cadets would serve in wartime.

Emily Perez was one of the cadets who stood on the Plain at West Point that night. Another cadet in the assembly that night was Walter B. Jackson.

On September 27, 2006, Second Lieutenant Jackson was serving as a company fire support officer with Company A, Task Force First Battalion, Thirty-Sixth Infantry Regiment in Al Anbar Province, Iraq. During combat operations against insurgents, Lieutenant Jackson was trying to recover a disabled vehicle when heavy machine-gun fire erupted, wounding several soldiers. As he rushed to give aid to one of the wounded men, he was hit in the thigh.

He fell and was unconscious for a few moments. The shouts of his comrades and the rattle of machine-gun fire woke him. He picked up his weapon and returned fire, then went back to work on the wounded soldier. Once he had administered first aid, Jackson lifted the wounded man and began carrying him, though he was bleeding profusely from his own wound.

As he crossed the open ground toward safety, he was again hit by machine-gun fire. Persevering through the pain and loss of blood, he continued carrying his man until he had put a stone wall between himself and the enemy. Jackson’s own wounds were life-threatening, yet he refused help until the other man was treated. Shot multiple times, he refused to stay down. He cared more for his friend’s life than his own. He was selflessly brave and he relentlessly persevered, saving the life of his brother in arms.

After the battle, Jackson underwent more than a dozen surgeries to repair the damage inflicted on his body that day. During his recovery, he volunteered to intern with the Judge Advocate General’s office.

For extraordinary heroism under fire, Lieutenant Jackson was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, the second-highest honor (next to the Medal of Honor) the nation can bestow. He is only the seventh soldier to receive the Distinguished Service Cross since the end of the Vietnam War. Jackson was also honored with the Nininger Award (named for World War II hero Alexander Nininger, West Point class of 1941), given to West Point–commissioned officers who have demonstrated heroism and bravery in battle.

In his Nininger Award acceptance speech on September 17, 2008, Walter B. Jackson (wearing the two silver bars of an army captain), said:

The Long Gray Line has historically produced soldiers of remarkable courage and valor—true combat leaders such as Grant, MacArthur, Pershing, Eisenhower, and countless others. Whether you realize it or not, that includes each of you. Up until the time when I was wounded in action, I never really thought it might include me.

The recognition I have received and continue to receive is simply overwhelming. The Distinguished Service Cross that I wear, and the honor of receiving the Nininger Award tonight are not so much for me personally, but I receive them as a tribute as a reminder of the heroism displayed by my classmates, Emily Perez, Phil Neel, Tom Martin, Jacob Fritz, Jon Edds, Neale Shank, and my roommate Matt Ferrara—all who have made the ultimate sacrifice. . . .

Focus on the mission, take care of your soldiers, and persevere. In the future you all will be called on to persevere through any adversity, whether it is physical pain or constant fatigue, mental stress or fear. Each of you at some point will face challenges that will shake the foundations of your character. When that day comes I know that you will do your duty with honor for your country. . . .

West Point trains you. The Army will be—without a doubt—your proving ground.7

Who were these fallen heroes of the class of 9/11 that Captain Jackson listed? We have already met Emily Perez. But there was also Captain Matthew C. Ferrara, Jackson’s West Point roommate. Captain Ferrara was killed (with four other soldiers) on November 9, 2007, in an ambush in the village of Aranas in Kunar Province, Afghanistan. Ferrara was posthumously awarded the Silver Star—not for his actions on the day he was killed but for his heroism three months earlier.

At the army’s Ranch House Outpost at Aranas, on the morning of August 22, Matt Ferrara was awakened by the sound of gunfire and exploding rocket-propelled grenades. The outpost was under attack from all sides, and the enemy outnumbered the Americans three to one. Stepping outside his quarters, Ferrara quickly began deploying soldiers and directing mortar fire at the enemy.

Ferrara determined where the most effective enemy fire was coming from and called in air strikes on those positions, marking his own location with a bright orange signal panel. The signal panel was an excellent visual guide for the American A-10 attack aircraft, but it also shouted his location to the enemy. Insurgents came within ten yards of his position before the A-10s began to strafe. Heedless of the danger to himself, Ferrara continued to call in air strike targets until the enemy was dead or retreating.

His calm and precise assessment of the situation, his rapid decisions, his effective direction of close air support, and his courage and perseverance in the face of deadly fire for three intense hours of combat prevented the enemy from overrunning the Ranch House Outpost. Nearly a dozen enemy fighters were killed, including insurgent leader Hazrat Omar.

And then there was First Lieutenant Phillip Neel, who died on April 8, 2007, from wounds suffered when his unit was attacked by enemy forces using grenades. The twenty-seven-year-old infantry officer was leading a platoon near Balad in the Diyala Province, north of Baghdad. At about ten minutes after midnight on Easter Sunday morning, he suffered a serious leg wound, yet he continued to give orders to his soldiers. After the enemy was forced to retreat, Lieutenant Neel was airlifted by medevac helicopter, but he died at around two in the morning.

First Lieutenant Thomas Martin was an army ranger who never hesitated to volunteer for the toughest jobs. As a youth, he was always giving to his community; active in his church; and involved in 4-H, high school band, and Boy Scouts, achieving the rank of Eagle Scout. At West Point, he was on the parachute team and often performed aerial free-fall designs and formations in national competitions. His mother and father were both in the army and so was his fiancée, Captain Erika Noyes, a medevac helicopter pilot. Whenever he emailed his mother, Candy Martin, from Iraq, he always signed off, “I gotta go rid the world of evil.” That is what he was doing in the final moments of his life on October 14, 2007, in Al Busayifi, Iraq, when insurgents attacked his unit with small-arms fire.

First Lieutenant Jacob N. Fritz from Nebraska was one of four US soldiers abducted during an ambush in Karbala, Iraq, on January 20, 2007. The soldiers were taken from their compound and later found dead, handcuffed together and executed near the southern Iraqi town of Mahawil.

First Lieutenant Jonathan W. Edds died on August 17, 2007, in Baghdad from wounds he suffered when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle and insurgents attacked with small-arms fire. His wife, Laura, described him as an easygoing, fun-loving young man who was good at his job. He was patrolling Baghdad when he was attacked and killed.

First Lieutenant Neale M. Shank died on March 31, 2007, from injuries he suffered in Baghdad from a noncombat-related incident. Family and friends who knew him said he was a dedicated soldier with great integrity. Ironically, he had survived a tour of duty in some of the most dangerous areas of Iraq and had recently been moved to Baghdad, which was considered a much safer place to be. He told family members that he had been greatly affected by the sight of Iraqi children enduring incredible hardships and danger, and he wanted to help those kids have a better life.

These fallen heroes were part of the class of 9/11, the first class of cadets to be trained at West Point during the post-9/11 War on Terror. When they graduated from the Academy in May 2005, their class consisted of precisely 911 newly commissioned army officers, an eerie coincidence to be sure. Each in his or her own way demonstrated the core virtues of West Point, especially the virtue of perseverance.

How do we build the West Point virtue of perseverance into our own lives and the lives of the people we lead? How do we apply it in our leadership roles, our military or civilian careers, and the challenges we face in life? Let me suggest some insights that arise from the lives of these West Point heroes.

1. Learn to persevere longer through competition. Surround yourself with people who challenge you to step up your game and be your best. The Efaw sisters thrive on competition, because competition makes us stronger, leaner, tougher, more resilient. Competition drives us to persevere and become champions and heroes.

2. Lean on supportive friends. Your friends are an indispensable resource for persevering through times of struggle and stress. Find people who are going through what you are going through, people who can relate to you, and you to them. Encourage each other, challenge each other, pray for each other, hold each other accountable, cheer each other on.

3. Focus on your strengths, not your limitations. Lindsey Danilack admitted she wasn’t as fast as other cadets, but she was a strong leader. She focused on her strengths, not her limitations—and that is why her name is on a plaque along with Pershing and MacArthur.

4. Replace negative self-talk with messages that empower you to persevere. Replace “I can’t go on” with “I can do this.” If you are running a marathon, don’t think about the finish line. Tell yourself, “I can run one more mile.” Do this mile after mile, and you will get to the finish line. I know this strategy works, because I’ve used it to complete fifty-eight marathons.

If you are building a business or an organization and you are facing exhaustion and frustration, tell yourself, “I can do this for one more day.” Keep telling yourself “one more day,” day after day, and you will achieve your goal. I know this works because that is how I kept going when building the Orlando Magic out of little more than dreams and pixie dust. In 1986, I went weeks on end with very little sleep, giving speeches, meeting with civic leaders and investors, doing media interviews, and trying to sell season tickets for a team that might never exist. The Orlando Magic exists today because positive self-talk really does enable us to persevere through the tough times and achieve our goals.

5. Get involved in athletics. Physical exercise and physical competition help you develop grit and staying power. Athletic work is as much a mental exercise as it is a physical one, and the strength and stamina you build through physical activity are transferable to every other kind of challenge you face.

We grow physically, mentally, emotionally, morally, and spiritually stronger by subjecting ourselves to physical stress. We develop a stronger will to endure. Sports and exercise encourage us to persevere longer in every aspect of our lives.

6. Accept challenges that intimidate you. Don’t settle for the path of least resistance. Take on goals, challenges, and dreams that scare you and demand more of you. The best way to find out what you are made of is to tackle a challenge that is too big for you—and see it through to completion. Push through the obstacles. Laugh at opposition. Keep going, going, going.

7. Read stories about people who have achieved the “impossible.” Picture yourself in their place, facing seemingly insurmountable odds. How did they overcome obstacles and opposition? What kind of attitude did they adopt? What resources did they draw upon to find the will to win? Find role models of perseverance, identify with their struggles, and learn the lessons of their lives. If possible, write to them or visit them and ask them how they were able to persevere through their toughest challenges.

8. Persevere for the people you care about. Tell yourself, “I’m going to conquer this addiction or beat this cancer or lose this weight or overcome this career setback to set an example for my kids.” If you commit yourself to being a role model of perseverance for the people who matter to you, you will find it hard to say, “I give up” or “I can’t go on.” Instead, you will say, “I’ve got to keep going. I’ve got to reach the finish line. The people I love are counting on me.”

9. Make a vow or a commitment to see a challenge through. Political strategist Robert Strauss is quoted as saying, “Success is a little like wrestling a gorilla. You don’t quit when you’re tired—you quit when the gorilla is tired.”8 Commit yourself to the proposition that you will not quit no matter what, and you will be able to persevere.

The summer before I entered the ninth grade, I tried out for a sandlot baseball team. I made the cut, though I was the youngest player on the team. I was happy I had made it, but I wondered if I could perform at that level. As my mother and grandmother drove me to my first game, we talked about my prospects with the team.

At one point, I said, “Well, if it doesn’t work out, I can always quit.”

My grandmother whirled around and poked her finger in my chest. “You. Don’t. Quit,” she said, emphasizing each word. “Nobody in this family quits!”

Well, I got the message—and I didn’t quit. That character-building moment has been the foundation for everything I have achieved in life, from running marathons to building a professional sports organization to beating cancer. God bless my grandmother. Thanks to her, I don’t quit. And I have taught my nineteen kids the same lesson: nobody in this family quits.

10. Just do it. Don’t think—act. Thinking stirs up doubts, and doubts are deadly to perseverance. Action puts an end to doubts. Vincent van Gogh put it this way in an 1883 letter to his brother Theo: “If you hear a voice within you saying, ‘You are not a painter,’ then by all means paint, boy, and that voice will be silenced, but only by working. . . . One must undertake it with confidence.”9 Action is the key to perseverance and success.

11. Live passionately. Enthusiasm powers perseverance. Do what gives your life meaning and purpose, and you will never be tempted to give up. When you are mentally spent and physically exhausted, where do you find the will to go on? It comes from your passion to succeed and overcome.

When a soldier like Lieutenant Jackson keeps going, keeps tending to his wounded buddy, keeps carrying his comrade to safety even after being shot several times himself, where does he find the strength to persevere? He finds it in his passionate will to live, his passionate will to save his fellow soldier, his passionate will to go home to the people and the country he loves, his passionate determination to complete his mission.

Live passionately and persevere with enthusiasm.

12. Pray for the power to persevere. Ask God to energize your mind and body, to put steel in your spine, and to send your spirit soaring. Never give in. Never give up. Never quit. Live out the West Point virtue of perseverance. Finish strong.