Notable Quotable: Sir Thomas Seaton On The Qualities Needed In A Soldier

Thomas Seaton was a Victorian soldier in the Indian Army, and a veteran of the Indian Mutiny.  His autobiography, From Cadet to Colonel, is available online.

 

I do not, however, consider hunting and shooting as waste of time, but, on the contrary, beneficial to the soldier, inasmuch as such active and manly pursuits prepare men for service in the field. The men wanted to fill commissions in the army are not bookworms, whose strength lies only in their brains, but men with good constitutions, hardy and bold, with a fine hand and a good seat on horseback; a quick eye for the country, fertile in expedients, and well-endowed with common sense. I would back such a man to conduct an expedition, settle and govern any country better than ninety-nine out of the hundred of "competition wallahs." - Major-General Sir Thomas Seaton, K.C.B., Cadet to Colonel, Vol I, 1866

Courtesy of The Regimental Rogue.

Remembering The Four Chaplains

 

A friend of mine reminded me that yesterday, Feb 3rd, was the anniversary of the sinking of the US troopship Dorchester during World War Two in 1943.  This incident made famous the story of the Four Chaplains, a Rabbi, a Roman Catholic priest, and two ministers  (Methodist and a Dutch Reformed).  The story of how they gave up their lifejackets and were last seen, praying and singing as the ship sank in the frigid North Atlantic, is told here.

An American scholar, Kevin M. Schultz (Tri-Faith America:  How Catholics and Jews Held Postwar America to Its Protestant Promise (New York: Oxford University Press, 2011), has noted how this story of cooperation was turned into a symbol of religious pluralism in postwar America by those who wanted Catholics and Jews to enjoy the same privileges as Protestants.   One of the Hollywood studios even considered making a film about the story, but to my knowledge it was never made.

The Four Chaplains are icons of selfless service and interfaith comradeship for all military chaplains.

MP+

(See 

 Kevin M. Schultz, Tri-Faith America:  How Catholics and Jews Held Postwar America to Its Protestant Promise (New York: Oxford University Press, 2011), 5