https://padlet.com/longmar004/pgjgc1bzfvyz By Eric Greitens en-us 2019-12-30 21:19:14 UTC 2025-11-23 14:50:06 UTC hello@padlet.com longmar004 https://padlet.com/longmar004/pgjgc1bzfvyz/wish/427105976 Greitens, Eric. The Heart and the Fist: the Education of a Humanitarian, the Making of a Navy SEAL. Mariner, 2012.]]> 2019-12-30 21:34:41 UTC https://padlet.com/longmar004/pgjgc1bzfvyz/wish/427105976 longmar004 https://padlet.com/longmar004/pgjgc1bzfvyz/wish/427107708 Being awoken to bombs wasn't an uncommon occurrence for the soldiers in Iraq, but having the barracks you were in with many others suddenly being hit with a suicide truck bomb was nowhere near as common. Retreating the city was difficult and required exposure to enemy fire, with Greitens and a young Marine in the riskiest area. Greitens got off easy that day, but many were not as lucky. A few weeks later, a friend of his, named Lieutenant Travis Manion, would be shot down in a courageous act that would save the lives of every member of his patrol, teaching Greitens a valuable lesson. "A good peace, a solid peace, a peace in which communities can flourish, can only be built when we ask ourselves and each other to be more than just good, and better than just strong. And a good life, a meaningful life, a life in which we can enjoy the world and live with purpose, can only be built if we do more than live for ourselves." (Greitens 11)]]> 2019-12-30 22:04:45 UTC https://padlet.com/longmar004/pgjgc1bzfvyz/wish/427107708 longmar004 https://padlet.com/longmar004/pgjgc1bzfvyz/wish/429562139 After learning he has to choose his own journey in life, Greitens applied for a grant to go to China, despite knowing just about nothing about the country. He was basically walking in blind, but he still wanted to go. His first visit there, he ended up joining a class on kung fu since he was invited and wanted to learn about Chinese culture. After training for about a month, Greitens passed a test where the shifu, or trainer, pressed a sword to his throat and tried to slice through his neck, but by focusing his energy, the sword was unable to cut through. Greitens received spiked nunchucks and a sword for passing, as well as an appreciation for the martial arts.
"I set my hands in prayer in front of my chest, and as the shifu put the point of the sword against my neck, I focused all of my energy on the throat. He pushed forward, and I felt the steel point of the blade against my throat, and then suddenly I was bowing. I had apparently passed the test." (Greitens 19)]]> 2020-01-09 16:40:43 UTC https://padlet.com/longmar004/pgjgc1bzfvyz/wish/429562139 longmar004 https://padlet.com/longmar004/pgjgc1bzfvyz/wish/431038542 On Greitens next visit, he received a job that was for teaching English to Chinese students. Except, rather than English questions, the students ended up asking about what Americans thought about the Tienanmen Massacre, which was a protest students led that ended with many being killed by the government. He became friends with the students, who had dreams of traveling to the U.S.A and making a change in China. However, these type of questions are illegal and the police catch wind of the students asking these things, so they take Greitens with them to a station for questioning. Greitens didn't give them information on who was asking and he wasted no time getting out of China before anything bad could happen to him. That was when he lost a lot of his naivety and thought that instead of choosing an adventure, it was more about choosing a path with purpose. ]]> 2020-01-13 21:29:52 UTC https://padlet.com/longmar004/pgjgc1bzfvyz/wish/431038542 longmar004 https://padlet.com/longmar004/pgjgc1bzfvyz/wish/431628575 Growing up Greitens was constantly being told from those surrounding him that the key to having a successful life was to go to college. He didn't have the best of grades but was always trying his best for fear of not making it to this place that will apparently make everything right in his life, until he finally graduated high school and made it. But after only being in college for a few weeks, he felt like he was lied to. Greitens' major was Public Policy Studies, since his biggest dream was to shape the world and he thought taking this course would teach him about the greatest world affairs and how to change situations, but all he got were math equations and a monotone professor. He learned that a journey wouldn't simply be handed to him, he would have to choose for himself. 
"They had promised me that in college we would dive into the deep pools of the world's wisdom about how to live, but instead I was being taught how to plot decision trees. They had promised me that in college we would learn how to shape the world, but they wanted me to do it with math." (Greitens 15)]]> 2020-01-14 23:35:42 UTC https://padlet.com/longmar004/pgjgc1bzfvyz/wish/431628575 longmar004 https://padlet.com/longmar004/pgjgc1bzfvyz/wish/431638380 Greitens knew that he couldn't change the world by being a student, but he wanted to go through something hard because he knew he would come out of it as a better person. While thinking of this, he remembered the stories his grandfather would tell him about growing up in the Great Depression as a boxer. There was always an occurring trait in his stories, the people his grandfather spoke of had a confidence about them that came from going through tough tests, which was a trait Greitens wanted to have. He picked up boxing lessons with a man named Earl Blair, who had one other student named Derrick Humphrey, and quickly found out how challenging the sport was. But he wasn't only receiving boxing lessons, he was being taught life lessons by Earl, who would beg to differ because he saw no distinction between life and boxing. After about six weeks of training, Greitens finally got his own equipment and begins to feel like he has just taken the first step in his journey.]]> 2020-01-15 00:24:43 UTC https://padlet.com/longmar004/pgjgc1bzfvyz/wish/431638380 longmar004 https://padlet.com/longmar004/pgjgc1bzfvyz/wish/431647169 After seeing his grandfather for the last time, which he didn't know then, Greitens travels to Croatia to volunteer in refugee camps. The first camp he stayed in was the Puntizela refugee camp where he was greeted by a group of children. The camp was located outside Pula, Croatia and Greitens interacts with all age ranges, such as starting a soccer team for children, playing chess with teenagers, and simply talking with adults. He hears about many of the horrific acts that happened to these people, who were from Bosnia but had to flee after the Serbian army attacked the region.
"When the war broke out, the Serbian Army took control of the city, hanging white rags on door frames to mark Bosnian homes. Soldiers stormed these homes to take dishes, televisions, furniture, jewelry- whatever they wanted. Serbian soldiers beat old men with the butts of their rifles, smashed fingers with crowbars, and dismembered bodies with their knives. Serbians soldiers repeatedly raped women and girls. They shot or slit the throats of anyone who resisted." (Greitens 53)]]> 2020-01-15 00:57:27 UTC https://padlet.com/longmar004/pgjgc1bzfvyz/wish/431647169 longmar004 https://padlet.com/longmar004/pgjgc1bzfvyz/wish/433289944 The second camp Greitens goes to is he Gasinci camp, which was outside Osijek, Croatia. It was far more crowded than Puntizela and each morning everyone was awoken by exploding artillery, where the Croatian Army was regularly conducting maneuvers near the camp. This was where he heard the tragedy of the Srebrencia massacre and finally understood why when he first arrived in Croatia, he was welcomed by a woman asking "Why don't you do anything?" when referring to him being from America. Greitens understood that while sending things to people and volunteering did help, if you really care about the people, you would be willing to protect them from harm through direct, courageous actions.]]> 2020-01-18 18:53:13 UTC https://padlet.com/longmar004/pgjgc1bzfvyz/wish/433289944 longmar004 https://padlet.com/longmar004/pgjgc1bzfvyz/wish/433291860 After helping at refugee camps in Croatia, Greitens wanted to do more, so he accompanied his professor, Neil Boothby, to Rwanda. It was a year after the genocide had occurred and the region was still struggling with the events that had happened. Greitens is told to observe the people so he can report back what is working for them and what isn't. He goes into the field to see these people a few times, one of which to monitor a repatriation, where the refugees who fled originally are coming back into Rwanda. Another time was to talk with a group of women who had traveled a long distance to see a doctor for either themselves or their children.
"These women had suffered more than I could have ever imagined, and they still were willing to welcome me, to talk with me. After all the betrayal they had lived through, all the hardship, they were still willing to trust a stranger. If people can live through genocide and retain compassion, if they can take strength from pain, if they are able, still, to laugh, then certainly we can learn something from them." (Greitens 73-74)]]> 2020-01-18 19:07:40 UTC https://padlet.com/longmar004/pgjgc1bzfvyz/wish/433291860 longmar004 https://padlet.com/longmar004/pgjgc1bzfvyz/wish/433296093 Zaire is one of the countries Rwanda borders and had become dangerous since the genocide, because some Hutu refugees fled there and they had killed and convinced others to kill during the genocide. There were rumors that the camps were so the Hutus could regroup, but Greitens wasn't sure if that is true. When he first crosses the border, he has to stop in a customs hut but the soldiers there weren't all that friendly, in fact, Greitens knew they wanted to rob him of something. However, before anything escalates, he is saved by an American woman named Karen and she takes him to the largest refugee camp surrounding Rwanda, which was in Goma, Zaire. In that camp, there are many aid workers and even more refugees, and something Greitens found very strange was how he could basically walk into any part of the camp no problem, but a refugee boy with an infected ankle was turned away from the clinic. He got that boy help, but thought to himself that he shouldn't have needed to interfere, the boy should have gotten the help he needed the first time around. Greitens says that although he wants to sometimes turn away from humankind after seeing the awful things they are capable of, he stays when he sees someone who has been through hell and back and still can find a reason to smile. ]]> 2020-01-18 19:42:57 UTC https://padlet.com/longmar004/pgjgc1bzfvyz/wish/433296093 longmar004 https://padlet.com/longmar004/pgjgc1bzfvyz/wish/433303619 After Greitens graduated from college, he received a photography grant that paid for his plane ticket to Bolivia. He chose this country because he met a woman in college who had just returned from a trip there, where she helped with the children of the streets. He realized a bit later on, that this place was different than Croatia and Rwanda, because those places gave hope. Bolivia, however, did not. There, he met children from all sorts of situations, but were ultimately left on the streets, vulnerable to drugs, theft, abuse, and more. Many of the children he saw were sniffing glue as a cheap way of escaping their pain, but the brain damage it will cause later is extensive. Many of the kids are trying their best to live by shining shoes, begging, and selling gum and cigarettes. He visits the Mano Amiga home, which is located on the outskirts of Santa Cruz and he meets many young boys there who still have fun and can smile like any boy in America, but they all have a past that has changed them considerably. Greitens hangs out with seven of the boys the most, even taking them to a soccer game one time. But not long after, a boy named Juan Carlos from a neighboring home died from a small broken bone that had escalated to typhoid after not having proper care. It's a major representation of what many of the children face, because even the smallest of things can kill them in their situation. 
"For all of the violence and tragedy and pain that armed conflict brings, I thought that it might be easier for a child to lose a parent or a limb and to live through war than to grow up abused and abandoned. Most of the children on the streets of Bolivia had never known the comforts of family life, were never going to go to college. Few of them, I guessed, would ever know one whole carefree and happy day in their lives." (Greitens 106)]]> 2020-01-18 20:52:07 UTC https://padlet.com/longmar004/pgjgc1bzfvyz/wish/433303619 longmar004 https://padlet.com/longmar004/pgjgc1bzfvyz/wish/433317468 After applying for a Rhodes scholarship and getting it, Greitens went to Oxford University, where he really began to appreciate life's beauty, things that were worth fighting for. He enjoyed his time there tremendously, learning about diverse cultures and all sorts of history and modern day subjects. There was also a lot of freedom that Oxford offered, with lots of different classes and being able to travel. He met his girlfriend here, who he would be with for five years, and together they would explore all sorts of areas within the United Kingdom. Greitens also joined the Oxford University Amateur Boxing Club, with the head coach being Henry Dean, a man who was highly skilled and trained everyone to be the best they could. Cambridge University is their main rival and Henry has beaten them seven times in a row, which would become eight the night Greitens fights in 1998. Amongst all the fun and freedom he was having, Greitens still continued his humanitarian work in his studies, such as researching the history of Save the Children. ]]> 2020-01-18 23:15:35 UTC https://padlet.com/longmar004/pgjgc1bzfvyz/wish/433317468 longmar004 https://padlet.com/longmar004/pgjgc1bzfvyz/wish/433317510 Just because Greitens went to Oxford now didn't stop him from volunteering when he could, instead he would use his breaks to travel. One of his trips was to the Gaza Strip, a place where the people are said to all be terrorists. But upon arriving, he was welcomed by men on the streets who offered tea and bread, wanting to hear what Americans knew about Gaza. Fifty-three percent of the population was under the age of 18 and Greitens told of how he doesn't think he'll be able to understand the place with just one visit. But, he does understand that these people aren't terrorists, these people are too poor and hungry to be thinking about anything other than where they will get their next meal. 
Another trip of his was to Varanasi, India, where next to the river Ganges there was a building known as Mother Teresa's Missionaries of Charity. Their mission was the help those who were dying and make it as peaceful as they could. The people ranged from being physically ill to mentally ill, and there was even a young boy there, who had begged so often while squatting that he could no longer straighten his legs. Greitens went on another trip to Cambodia where he visited a hospital outside Phnom Penh. The hospital's rooms were packed with men who had recently lost limbs due to a mine explosion. He went on many other trips, but when he returned from his last one, he realized it was meaningless of him to continue writing about how actions needed to be done when he himself hasn't done just that. After a bit of research and talking with two men, he signs up to join the U.S. Navy SEALs.]]> 2020-01-18 23:16:00 UTC https://padlet.com/longmar004/pgjgc1bzfvyz/wish/433317510 longmar004 https://padlet.com/longmar004/pgjgc1bzfvyz/wish/433317568 Although he knew he would be losing a lot of his freedom and alone time, Greitens wasn't expecting all the rules he would have to learn and follow. It was an entirely new system to follow and he also had to get used to constantly being yelled at by higher ups, something he thought was a bit immature but he understood it could put others under stress. But he was also expecting tough training that would be incredibly challenging, but instead he was given workouts he was already doing and having to perfectly clean his clothes and shine his shoes. Greitens figured he would make the most of it though and helped out people who were struggling, as well as mastering every skill he could while there. By the end of it all, he still thought some of the inspections everyone had to go through were mind-numbing, but figured out everything did ultimately help in some way. After passing the final test, Greitens officially became apart of the Navy and was sent for SEAL training in Coronado, California.
"Uncontrolled fear rots the mind and impairs the body. Navy officers have to perform in situations-an incoming missile, a sinking ship- that could cause people to become paralyzed by fear... OCs was-for many- their first taste of chaos and confusion." (Greitens 142)]]> 2020-01-18 23:16:43 UTC https://padlet.com/longmar004/pgjgc1bzfvyz/wish/433317568 longmar004 https://padlet.com/longmar004/pgjgc1bzfvyz/wish/433351611 SEAL training is known internationally to be the most intense and difficult military training. Only ten percent of the class going through BUD/S, Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL training, would pass. The other ninety percent fails or goes back another year. Greitens meets many new people during this experience, but many drop out daily. Students go through different training exercises, some are known as evolutions, that incredibly challenging and can cause people to die or pass out. One evolution is known as Drown-Proofing and it's one of the most feared evolutions because students have their hands and feet tied while they swim. But, as hard as these stages are, Hell Week is the most dreaded part of the SEAL training, which Greitens and his class is approaching. ]]> 2020-01-19 05:39:28 UTC https://padlet.com/longmar004/pgjgc1bzfvyz/wish/433351611 longmar004 https://padlet.com/longmar004/pgjgc1bzfvyz/wish/433479394 Hell Week is meant to put the students in a place of exhaustion and chaos while doing difficult training exercises. Students can only get 4 hours of sleep a night, typically, and will burn about 8,500 calories a day. Greitens though, finds out with his crew that remaining positive and keeping a sense of humor throughout the week is what makes it survivable.
At the very beginning of the week, students are abruptly woken at night by gunfire and are rounded up in a spot to go through workouts. It's a stressful situation that sets up the entire week of exhaustion, but a man in Greitens' crew knew about this, so they created a plan that got them out of it, which starts the week well for them. But plans couldn't get them out of everything, one of which being surf torture. This training exercise was when men would stand, chest-deep, in 50 degree ocean water until they were just on the brink of getting hypothermia, only to get out for a few moments and immediately get back in. But this was only at the very beginning of the week and the exercises only got harder and harder, trying to push the men until they broke and quit, and it was quite common for men to crack. By just the first day, six more men quit in Greitens' class.
"But in a larger sense, every Hell Week story is the same: A man enters a new world with the aim of becoming something greater than he once was. He is tested once, twice, three, four, five times, each test harder than the last. Then comes the most difficult test of his life. At the end of the week, he emerges a different man. He has met the hardest test of his life, and he has passed or he has failed." (Greitens 164)]]> 2020-01-20 00:47:52 UTC https://padlet.com/longmar004/pgjgc1bzfvyz/wish/433479394 longmar004 https://padlet.com/longmar004/pgjgc1bzfvyz/wish/433479586 After passing Hell Week, the class continued training but with more study rather than all physical training. But, on one of the mornings, the class heard rumors of two planes crashing into the Twin Towers and after having it confirmed, they were the first class to know they would be sent into war. They trained harder after that, wanting to be there for the country when it was in need. But still, men did continue to drop out until the day they officially became SEALs. Greitens' class walked in with 220 men, but only walked away with 21.
"Standing on the beach, this was our last moment as a class together, and we knew that all of us would be deployed, and some of us might not come back. For all of the incredibly difficult training we'd done, no one had ever shot real bullets at us with the intent to kill." (Greitens 212)]]> 2020-01-20 00:48:51 UTC https://padlet.com/longmar004/pgjgc1bzfvyz/wish/433479586 longmar004 https://padlet.com/longmar004/pgjgc1bzfvyz/wish/433479750 Greitens never really did study on Afghanistan, saying if you had asked him what countries bordered it, he wouldn't have been able to answer, so on his flight there he was reading up. He was placed on a team of elite SEALs who had served many years already, the only reason he was there was because of the volunteer work he did in camps. He knew how to talk to people, to make them feel welcome, and that's what America needed to gain information and defeat their enemy. When he visits a village and is greeted by a group of children, he finds out strange it is to now be holding a gun and looking for potential danger rather than taking pictures and organizing a game, which is what he would have been doing only a few years prior. 
Greitens learns important things while working with professionals, one of which was while interrogating a man they had originally thought was a terrorist. 
"Treating Afghanis well was not only essential to the conduct of the campaign to win the intelligence war. I also began to see that it was essential for ourselves... Any man who tortures a prisoner, who shoots an innocent person, might escape formal justice, but he can never escape his own self-knowledge. As I worked with this small group of professionals in Afghanistan, it became clear to me that men need to have strength to conduct themselves with honor on the battlefield." (Greitens 228)]]> 2020-01-20 00:49:43 UTC https://padlet.com/longmar004/pgjgc1bzfvyz/wish/433479750 longmar004 https://padlet.com/longmar004/pgjgc1bzfvyz/wish/433479953 Greitens is the commander of a Mark V special operations craft detachment, with him in charge of two boats and twenty-one men. He has to deal with a drug issue that will end with three of his men being kick out of the Navy, multiple SEALs from other detachments, and a Lieutenant that was behind the whole issue. 
The immediate mission was to "conduct reconnaissance and serve as American ambassadors of good-will as we traveled throughout Southeast Asia" (Greitens 247).]]> 2020-01-20 00:50:43 UTC https://padlet.com/longmar004/pgjgc1bzfvyz/wish/433479953 longmar004 https://padlet.com/longmar004/pgjgc1bzfvyz/wish/433480069 Greitens was sent to replace a commander of the Naval Special Warfare Task Unit Manda Bay who had damaged relations with the local leaders and his own men. The area was an important outpost against terrorism in Kenya because of instability in the north in Somalia and piracy at sea. Greitens also encourages direct contact with locals to have better relations and establish trust that was never there previously.
"In the name of 'force protection,' the military often rolls up windows, builds walls, and points rifles at the outside world. The best force protection, however, is to be surrounded by friends and allies." (Greitens 268)]]> 2020-01-20 00:51:28 UTC https://padlet.com/longmar004/pgjgc1bzfvyz/wish/433480069 longmar004 https://padlet.com/longmar004/pgjgc1bzfvyz/wish/433531436 After visiting a hospital full of injured soldiers who had hopes of returning to their unit, but it either may take awhile or they won't be able to return ever, Greitens noted how they all wanted to continue to serve in some way. Later, he researched the different organizations there were for veterans, but noticed none of them were ways from them to continue helping others. So, with his combat pay and help of two friends, he created The Mission Continues. The organization will provide support, both money and a mentor to help them build plans, but also opportunities to rebuild a meaningful life by serving in their communities.
"I've learned that courage and compassion are two sides of the same coin, and that every warrior, every humanitarian, every citizen is built to live with both. In fact, to win a war, to create peace, to save a life, or just to live a good life requires of us- of every one of us- that we be both good and strong." (Greitens 297)]]> 2020-01-20 05:52:31 UTC https://padlet.com/longmar004/pgjgc1bzfvyz/wish/433531436