NEWS
NOVEMBER 17, 2011
A Matter of Character: Students Urged to Ask Themselves 'If Not Me, Then Who...'
By Tom Sileo
Communications Director, Travis Manion Foundation
Editor, The Unknown Soldiers
Teddy Roosevelt once said: "The credit belongs to the man in the arena, whose face is marred with dust and sweat and blood, who knows the great devotions and sends himself in a worthy cause; who at best, if he wins, knows the thrills of high achievement and, if he fails, at least fails daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory or defeat."
That powerful quote is prominent displayed on a moving website honoring fallen Marine Lance Cpl. Eric W. Herzberg. From his 1986 birth at Washington's Fort Lewis, through his high school years in Severna Park, Md., to his 2006 death in Iraq's volatile Al Anbar province, Lance Cpl. Herzberg embodied Teddy Roosevelt's quote for his 20 consequential years on earth.
That's why Ryan Manion, sister of fallen Marine 1st Lt. Travis Manion and executive director of the Travis Manion Foundation, decided to tell students about Herzberg at The Williamson Free School of Mechanical Trades on Nov. 16, more than five years after the valiant Marine's death. As her innovative 2011 series of approximately 50 "Character Does Matter" presentations at east coast schools continues to evolve, Ryan is still challenging students at each school to perform community service in honor of a different fallen hero.
"So how many of you here today are going to accept the challenge...the service challenge to apply 'If Not Me, Then Who...' into your daily lives and accept the service challenge to go out and serve your community in honor of those who have given their lives for our freedom?" Ryan asked about 250 trade students who rose up at the crack of dawn to watch her compelling presentation on a rainy Wednesday morning.
Responding to her challenge, nearly every hand in the room immediately went up.
The service challenge is just one tenet of the Character Does Matter program. As Ryan explained to students, faculty, staff, and guests of honor, the first step to discovering your own character is identifying someone who inspires you. One student eagerly raised his hand to tell Ryan about a man who has shaped his young life.
"My grandfather," the African-American trade scholar, who appeared to be in his early twenties, told Ryan. "He's the reason why I'm here."
After thanking the student and saluting his grandpa, Ryan told the audience that she's inspired by her brother, who made the ultimate sacrifice in Iraq -- also in Al Anbar province -- in 2007.
"The reason I'm standing before all of you is my brother Travis," she said. "And I'm not standing before you because of the excerpt read from Eric Greitens' book The Heart and the Fist about what Travis did in Iraq.
"The reason that Travis inspires me...the reason I'm out here talking to all of you, is because of the things Travis did when he was young," she continued.
When the future Silver Star recipient was just eleven years old, Ryan said, he had the guts to confront a pizza restaurant owner who declined to serve one of his best friends, who is African-American.
"We didn't find out about this story until after my brother died," Ryan said in a particularly poignant section of the presentation.
Ryan also shared stories of legendary athletes like Jackie Robinson and Bobby Jones, who displayed character both on and off the baseball diamond and golf course, respectively. She also shared the powerful story of a wounded warrior's unbreakable courage, and another about a World War II Medal of Honor recipient who quietly swept the halls of the United States Air Force Academy for years as a janitor without telling anyone about his historic battlefield heroism.
Several times during the early morning presentation, I turned around to see how students were responding, while also remembering my teenage days of being forced to sit through what I immaturely believed were boring, meaningless school assemblies. Students at The Williamson Free School, which has prepared young men for the harsh realities of the real world since 1888, were completely engaged, proving that character does indeed matter.
After Eric Herzberg graduated high school, he channeled Teddy Roosevelt when he told his family and friends what would come next.
"He announced his intention to 'go to Iraq and be in the front lines so I can make a difference,'" his memorial website said.
Before continuing their Wednesday morning, the last slide Ryan Manion showed students was a picture of Marine Lance Cpl. Eric W. Herzberg.
"Eric had integrity," the website's final passage reads. "Nothing else matters."
The Travis Manion Foundation sends its thoughts and prayers to the Herzberg family.
