8. He could be cool and collected under the most trying of circumstances, as when his men were injured and he needed to maintain emotional control for the benefit of the platoon. When another lieutenant was hit in the jugular with a devastating wound he calmly stabilized him and literally saved his life by sowing up the injury on the spot and evacuating him quickly to a field hospital. Moreover, when he himself was severely injured he knew he was still the leader and that he needed to rapidly defer authority to a new chain of command, showing tremendous emotional strength.
9. He also knew that making mistakes was part and parcel of being an officer and that overcoming and moving on from them was a critical element to superlative leadership. Once, on night patrol, and while in a prone position slowly moving forward, his compass hits a rock making a dinging sound reminiscent of the sound of trip wire of a booby trap. Knowing he had sustained an injury by a trap, he was overly sensitized to them and cried out for everyone to take cover needlessly, for as it turned out it was simply a rock. If the enemy had turned out to be nearby, this reaction could very well have compromised their position. However, even though everyone saw the error, he simply moved on with the operation and maintained credibility by not lingering on it.
