The smell of frying oil and Frank’s Red Hot still hung in the air as my grandpa carried a box into the dining room and laid it on the worn, dark brown carpet. As my brother and I picked each item out, dishes in the kitchen clinked as Grandma dumped chicken wing bones into the dog’s dish. Chicken wings were Grandpa’s signature dish – reserved for special occasions – the only time my grandmother relinquished control of the kitchen.

That night in the dining room, Grandpa said he wanted us to take home whatever we found interesting. A sense of solemn responsibility presided over the next thirty minutes. We pulled each item from the box slowly, examining and commenting on it before setting it aside to keep digging.

A map of the Pacific so families could follow relatives around the globe. A .50 caliber machine gun bullet fashioned into a lighter. A seashell my grandfather picked up from the beach on Tinian, the island that acted as launching point for the B-29 bomber named Enola Gay that ended World War II and ushered in the nuclear age. My grandfather was stationed on Tinian in summer of 1945.

Among the treasures were three field manuals issued to my grandfather after he was drafted into the Army. One detailed the rules of land warfare as decided in the Geneva Convention. Another described how to assemble and effectively operate a Browning .30 caliber machine gun. Then, there was Field Manual (FM) 21-100, a booklet of 262 pages still bound together but worn soft. On the cover, “War Department – Basic Field Manual – Soldier’s Handbook” was typed in bold, black, capital letters.

The Soldier's Handbook

The initial version of this manual was finalized in December 1940 and issued with slight changes to new Army draftees throughout the war. It covered everything from how to assemble a field pack and address officers to how to react in a mustard gas attack. Though dozens of manuals were printed in World War II, this was boilerplate – the very beginning of a soldier’s military life. Unlike other manuals, it had a page for the soldier’s name, serial number, rifle number, and the name of whoever would receive 6 months’ pay in case the booklet’s owner was killed.

When compared to a live .45 caliber pistol round, and other classically exciting artifacts, the manual was set aside for years in the unspoken “less interesting” pile. But in the context of this year’s Independence Day, cracking the booklet my grandfather may have opened while sitting bewildered in a barracks more than 70 years ago seemed appropriate.

Though the details of how to ambush an enemy detachment and disassemble an M1 rifle were fascinating, the pages that struck me most lay before the Table of Contents.

It’s hard to know how to think about the United States today. We live in the age of “‘Murica,” a term embodying our constant ambivalence toward ironic, self-effacing patriotism and borderline national self-loathing. Unless we’re in the midst of the Olympics or World Cup, true American pride is hard to vocalize without tangential discussions of obesity, political deadlock, and star-spangled tchotchkes manufactured in China.

Well, the training guide shares no such ambivalence. The first paragraph of FM 21-100’s foreword reads:

You are now a member of the Army of the United States. That Army is made up of free citizens chosen from among a free people. The American people of their own will, and through the men they have elected to represent them in Congress, have determined that the free institutions of this country will continue to exist. They have declared that, if necessary, we will defend our right to live in our own American way and continue to enjoy the benefits and privileges which are granted to the citizens of no other nation. It is upon you, and the many thousands of your comrades now in the military service, that our country has placed its confident faith that this defense will succeed should it ever be challenged.

The next 658 words say the transition to military life may be challenging, but this manual will help you understand your new life. “You are repaying your obligation to the United States for all the benefits of the past and are declaring your faith in our future.”

Obligation? I have never – truly, never – felt an obligation to my country. I pay taxes and support the economy. I vote in presidential elections. I drink American beer. What more obligation could there be? Well, on Chapter 17 of FM 21-100 (the last chapter) is a form for the reader’s last will and testament. Though never explicitly stated in the foreword or anywhere else, the potential obligation of an American soldier in World War II couldn’t be more clear.

The Qualities of a Good Soldier

Making good as a soldier is no different from making good in civil life. The rule is the same and that is – know your own job and be ready to step into the job of the man ahead of you.

The foreword goes on to say that you could be promoted rapidly, and will be expected to know what to do when that promotion happens. “At a moment’s notice you may have to take charge of your squad as a corporal – and in a critical hour,” it says. In other words, if and when your corporal is killed, you better know how to handle yourself and your men, so they don’t all get killed too. The foreword closes with a list of five qualities every good soldier needs to master. It says to make them “a part of yourself."

In dense jungles and under the sea there sit rusting tanks and barnacle-encrusted bombers. That war is long gone, and the manuals of World War II may bear little relevance for modern combat, but the five qualities listed are transcendent – not just for military personnel, but for all who bear the identifier “American.”

Be Obedient and Be Loyal

Obedience means to obey promptly and cheerfully all orders of your commissioned and noncommissioned officers. At first you cannot be expected to know the reason for everything you are ordered to do. As you remain longer in the service and you understand more of the reason for military training you will find that everything has been figured out as the result of experience in the past . . . Loyalty means that you must stand by your organization through thick and thin. Boost your organization at every opportunity. Be loyal and true to your officers, your noncommissioned officers, and your comrades. In this way you will be loyal to your country.

The foreword directs soldiers to follow orders, quickly and without question, even if they don’t understand the reasoning behind them. Stick with their unit no matter what. “Cheerful obedience leads to a better performance of your duties. It makes it easier for all of your comrades to do their part.”

Alarms ring when we read this. We're Americans. We question the police, organized religion, and our parents. Americans question what they’re told in a constant quest for truth. It’s one of our most important rights. But at some point, you have to stop questioning, and move forward.

Take relationships, for example. You’re either going to wind up with a person, or you’re not. And that partnership shouldn’t be made lightly, but eventually, you’re going to make it. Speaking from personal experience, when you commit to a person, don’t waste time looking back. Unless something big changes that wracks the dynamic of your relationship – and I don’t mean “growing apart” – stick with that person hard, and cheerfully. If you stop looking back and commit to being a team with this person, it turns out a lot better than having one foot in and the other out.

Be Determined

Determination means the bulldog stick-to-it-iveness to win at all costs. During your training keep everlastingly at the most difficult tasks and never give up until you have mastered them. Determination to win means success in battle.

“Keep everlastingly,” it says. Whether you’re trying to get in shape, found a startup, or figure out a way to travel the world, do it. Stop doubting, stop wasting time, and stop making excuses.

If it’s a worthwhile goal, you've got to find a way to make it work. I love that phrase and its bulldog stick-to-it-iveness. (Gotta give those 1940s Army writers credit for not letting dictionaries get in the way of making a point.) Examine your goal, make a plan of attack that actually has a prayer of working, sink your teeth in, and keep fighting until you get there.

Be Alert

Alertness means being always on your guard. A good soldier may be pardoned for failure, but never for being surprised.

Preparedness, innovation, keeping a cool head – these qualities are among the best for which the United States is known. But this goes beyond expecting the unexpected.

“Should the unexpected happen, use your head and do something, even if it is wrong, rather than ‘lie down,’” the foreword says. If I could tell my past self one thing about being a man, it would be that. When it hits the fan, the temptation is to get down, shut up, and let someone else take the risky step of offering a solution. Instead, be that guy. Maybe you’re wrong, but taking the lead is worth the gamble.

Be a Member of the Team

Teamwork means that each man in the squad, platoon, company, troop, or battery gives everything in his power to make for the success of the whole unit. Success in battle depends on teamwork just as much as success in a football game depends on the pull-together spirit of the football team.

You’re never alone. Whether we’re talking about a company, family, friend group, city, or yeah, a nation, you as an individual are not more important than the whole. Your actions drive the whole in a direction – and success is measured by how much you helped your team. At the end of every man’s life, what’s said about him depends on this impact. So, give everything in your power to help others, rather than yourself.

As World War II veterans rapidly depart this world, they leave only their stories and artifacts of service for a confused and conflicted America to examine. These five qualities are among the best lessons they teach us. And though I hope never to “take charge of my squad as a corporal,” they have given me a direction, followed by many before me, not to make a good soldier, but to make a good American.

Life Lessons from a 1940s Army Training Manual