Recent events during the past week brings tears to my eyes because I now have a different perspective about American history.  Our freedom today and our military leadership that has protected our freedoms since 1863 partly originates from the lessons learned about the different leadership styles of those confederate generals like Lee, Longstreet, and Stonewall Jackson.    I share in this post two videos to help Americans see through the lens of reflection and growth of a changing mindset.

This summer I had the privileged of attending a Diamond Six Leadership trip back to Washington, D. C. and take an extensive leadership course to study the generals of the civil war which includes both Union and Confederate officer leadership styles.  In March of this year I was informed by my school principal that I was nominated to attend this summer trip.  I felt in a  strange place because the group primarily had administrative personnel with whom I previously had little exposure to.  This six day trip to Gettysburg forever changes my personal opinion about the Civil War, Gettysburg, Lincoln, and the Confederate Generals who happen to be graduates of West Point. As part of the preparations for this trip we were required to read the book "Killer Angels" by Michael Shaara.

We stayed in Carlisle, Pennsylvania a short distance from the sacred battlegrounds of Gettysburg. We studied the leadership styles of Chamberlain, Lee, Longstreet, and Buford. Along the battlefield are statues that tell a story about the battle that is a rich learning experience and no one in my opinion should destroy or take down the statues to remind us of the men who died to make America a great nation.  On the final day of the Gettysburg tour I was honored to be chosen as the one to read the Gettysburg Address before my peers and the school district superintendent at the same location that President Lincoln gave his address back in 1963 about four months after the Battle of Gettysburg.  It was an honor that I will never forget.  The following video was taken on July 12, 2017 at the cemetery in Gettysburg.

I started researching about other books and some of them are quite good for anyone trying to enter a service academy like the Naval Academy.  I found the "Naval Academy Candidate Book" and there are also others for each respective service academy.  

​This is a how to book based on hundreds of interviews with Naval Academy professors, administrators, admissions officials, midshipmen, graduates, congressional staffers and panelists, and parents from across the U.S. It is a complete guide that gives candidates everything they need to know to prepare for the Navy, gain admission to the Academy, and survive after they get there.

Written by a former Service Academy Admissions Officer, this book is a MUST HAVE guide on interviewing if you want to attend the United States Naval Academy. This book gets right to the point and teaches you how to be more than just a file. Ace Your Naval Academy Interview includes an easy to learn interview style that will impress both your Blue and Gold Officer and Nomination panels. In addition, this book contains sample interview questions and tips and tricks to make the best impression possible. Pick up your copy today and be ready to astonish your interviewer. 
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