It's Friday, the day of the week when I pass along a quotation intended to be uplifting or enlightening. Today's comes from a retired Air Force general -- and unassuming American patriot -- Alfred K. Flowers. It comes to me by way of a double-barreled assist from an old California pal who worked in George W. Bush's White House and another president's son and namesake.
When he retired from active service 11 years ago, Maj. Gen. Alfred K. Flowers was the longest serving officer in the history of the U.S. Air Force and the longest serving African American officer in any military branch. In most respects, he was an unlikely U.S. Air Force icon. Flowers didn't attend the Air Force Academy and wasn't a war hero. He wasn't a combat pilot, let alone an ace, and wasn't a test pilot or an astronaut. As far as I know he never even went to flight school and never took the controls of a high-performance aircraft at all. But it takes all kinds of men and women to make a branch of the U.S. military function well, and Flowers was a fine logistics and support man.
He enlisted at 17 after attending segregated public schools in rural North Carolina. In 1968, Flowers was sent to Vietnam for the dangerous work of what the military calls "casualty retrieval" -- bringing the wounded (and the bodies of the dead) out of the jungle. His first day in Hue, his unit came under fire. Returning stateside, he met and married his wife, also an enlisted Air Force airman. She was promptly stationed in the Philippines for six months, but the couple persevered, eventually secured joint-spouse assignments, and raised a family while Flowers earned his bachelor's degree and then a master's. It took a while for the Air Force brass to see what they had in Al Flowers, but he was eventually admitted into officer's school and steadily rose through the ranks.
Last year, his son Alfred K. Flowers Jr. was named brigadier general. On hand for the Colorado Springs ceremony were his two grandsons -- Kendell Flowers, a cadet at the academy, and Ayden Flowers, a cadet at Texas A&M -- and these two young men pinned the first star on their dad. Writing in the Air Force Times, retired Major General Joseph Ward Jr. noted, "Collectively, the Flowers' distinguished service to our great nation spans a remarkable seven decades supporting 11 U.S. presidents. They have changed residences, moving from one assignment to the next, approximately 40 times."
Al Flowers Sr. is often asked to reflect on the meaning of such a journey. He wrote a book titled "Reflections of a Servant Leader" to impart those lessons to others. On page 142 (in the paperback version) is this gem: "Arrogance will take you where you don't want to go, but humility can carry you further than you might imagine."
I didn't just happen across this passage, or this wonderful man. I went looking for something like it after a friend passed me the latest fundraising gambit from the Trump family. It arrived via a mass email. Here's the text:
"My father is the Great MAGA King. Unlike Joe Biden, my father is proud to be an American and always puts America First. My father just released his brand new, limited-edition Great MAGA King hats, and we want you to have one. These hats are exclusively for my father's best supporters, which is why he already went ahead and personally set one aside for you."
There's a lot to unpack in those four sentences, but I'll start with the obvious. What kind of grown man would refer to his own father, a one-term U.S. president, as "the great MAGA King"? What does that even mean? And why gratuitously impugn the patriotism of the current president? That dig reminds a discerning reader that the great MAGA king used a medical ploy to avoid U.S. military service when his country was at war in Vietnam and men his age were being drafted. Bone spurs or something. It also reminded me of the time Trump mocked John McCain's wartime heroism. ("I like people who weren't captured.").
Also, since Trump's son is the one who signed the pitch, it brings to mind the fact that Biden's oldest son -- unlike Donald Jr. himself -- answered the call and was a combat veteran. Yes, the idea is to sell hats, but surely that could be done without questioning the patriotism of others.
This was the idea that led me on my search about the nature of true leadership. And it was a LinkedIn post by Noelia Rodriguez, who previously worked for Laura Bush and various Los Angeles politicians and entities, that led me to Al Flowers.
Recently, the retired general sat for a Q&A at the George W. Bush Presidential Center. "The greatest attribute of a leader is humility," he said. "Leaders humble themselves and know it's not about them. The greatest thing a leader can do is help others achieve their goals."
And that is our quote of the week.
Carl M. Cannon is the Washington bureau chief for RealClearPolitics. Reach him on Twitter @CarlCannon.
