I just finished reading H. Norman Schwarzkopf’s autobiography. It is an excellent read and I recommend it to anyone who enjoys books on leadership philosophy, military history, etc. I was surprised to learn that he spent part of his youth in Iran with his father who was some kind of diplomat there in the 1950s. When he was living abroad he gained an appreciation for unfamiliar cultures. In one memorable instance, he was offered some kind of repulsive delicacy, an eyeball of some kind I think and he turned it down. His father whispered that his hosts would be insulted if he didn’t consume it, so he gulped it down. It was just like the monkey brains scene from Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom!

I felt that these childhood experiences helped to form him into the general he became. He seemed to bring his experiences as a combat veteran in Vietnam to bear, determined not to repeat those mistakes. From what I could tell, he always had the best interests of those serving our country in uniform in mind. He was tough but fair and he had a remarkable career.