Bergman, Bacon & Mast Discuss the Lessons of Their Military Service and How These Lessons Shape Their Service in Congress Today
WASHINGTON, DC – As the American people prepare to mark another Memorial Day, The Ripon Society held a breakfast discussion yesterday morning with three newly-elected Members of Congress who are all too familiar with the service and sacrifice required to keep America secure.
The Members were U.S. Rep. Jack Bergman (MI-1), U.S. Rep. Don Bacon (NE-2), and U.S. Rep. Brian Mast (FL-18). All three were elected to the House of Representatives last November. Prior to their election, all three also served their country honorably as members of the United States Armed Forces.
Bergman served in Vietnam and spent almost 40 years in the Marine Corps, retiring in 2009 as a Three-Star General. Bacon served in Iraq and spent 29 years in the Air Force, retiring in 2014 as a Brigadier General. Mast spent 11 years in the Army and was honorably discharged in 2011 after losing both legs and one of his fingers to an IED while serving as a Staff Sergeant and bomb technician in Afghanistan.
To commemorate Monday’s holiday, The Ripon Society asked them to discuss their service as members of the Armed Forces, and how the lessons they learned while serving in the military shapes their service in Congress today.
Bergman spoke first.
“What did I learn in the military?” he asked. “I’m going to give it all to you right here, right now. It’s not about you. The sooner you learn that life is not about you, the sooner you’re going to get to where you’re supposed to be. Because it’s about the people around you, and I’m honored to sit between two distinguished, not only gentlemen, but veterans and combat-proven heroes. They don’t fight for themselves. Brian’s going to fight for me because I’m on his right. Don’s going to fight for me because I’m on his left. And vice versa. We fight for each other knowing that you take care of each other while you all together accomplish the mission. Pure and simple — it’s not about you, it’s about the mission.”
“We just did a wreath laying ceremony over at Statuary Hall with Congressmen who were veterans. It was a very solemn ceremony. No speeches — it was just a prayer and wreath-laying. There is nothing that gives me a better feeling inside than the feeling of service. Whether it’s service to your county or service to your family or service to your God, anyone who has had the opportunity to serve in any form knows what I’m talking about. It’s about giving back.”
Mast echoed Bergman’s remarks.
“The decisions that each of us as individuals go out and make affect the people that are around us,” he stated. “As a bomb technician, if I made the wrong decision, that absolutely could mean the life of one of my comrades, one of my brothers-in-arms who was to my left and right. The legislation we work on affects real peoples’ lives in the same way. It affects the opportunity for their children to have higher education, or it affects the money that comes out of our wallet. It affects the defense of our nation. It affects our ability to go out there and find gainful employment. It affects real peoples’ lives and we have to remember it in exactly the same way.”
“I would say probably the most important thing that I learned came from great leaders like these two,” he added, motioning to Bergman and Bacon. “They never asked something of their soldiers or their Marines or their airmen that they wouldn’t ask of themselves. That has to be the pinnacle trait of good leadership — you never ask something of your men or women that you wouldn’t ask of yourself or your family or anyone else. If we can keep that as the tenor of Washington, DC, then I think we will find ourselves in a good place.”
Bacon agreed.
“I think leaders have to have a noble vision,” the Nebraska Representative stated. “If you’re in an organization without a noble vision, you feel lost. As a candidate, I wanted a noble vision. And now as a Congressman, I want a noble vision. For me it is about protecting our freedom. It’s about making sure our national security is strong. And that we want to have good opportunities for the next generation economically. That’s sort of my vision. But I think good leaders are selfless — it’s always about the team and the mission. If it ever is about us, then we are a poor leader. I think good leaders have to have moral courage to make tough decisions and be unpopular.
“It’s better to carry a moral compass then a wind vane. You’re going to get to the right place if you’ve got a compass verses the wind vane over time. I believe good leaders have to strive for excellence. I’ve worked for too many people who are happy with a ‘B.’ If you’re happy with a ‘B’, you’re not the right person for that job.”
Following their remarks, the three Veterans-turned-Representatives took questions from those in attendance, including one about their goals in office and the one thing they would like to accomplish if they knew they were leaving office at the end of next year.
Mast answered first, saying he would like to reduce the number of suicides among veterans by creating an “Oath of Exit” that service members could take as a way to reaffirm their commitment to each other – and themselves — when they return to civilian life.
“Maybe we should have some sort of commitment for our service members,” he said. “An oath as they’re exiting the military acknowledging that they will continue to be a defender of our nation and our values and everything that they came up representing. But also that they will reach out to their brothers before ever doing any harm to themselves. And that they will continue to be their brother’s keeper. There’s not a good way to address this issue because you can’t make somebody not harm themselves. But if we acknowledge that we’re different people and we make an oath to ourselves — and to our brothers and our nation – then I think we are more likely to uphold that.”
Bacon said one of his priorities would be military readiness, and ensuring our troops have the tools and equipment they need to keep them safe and do their job.
“I don’t think we should put our soldiers and Marines in harm’s way,” he declared. “If we are not producing tanks at a superior range or rate of fire compared with what the enemy is producing, there’s something wrong. So I’m going to be picking at that sore in the Armed Services Committee, because I think we have to fix it. I think the other area is we keep cutting the size of the military, but the workload hasn’t been cut with it. I have been in multiple retirement ceremonies where folks have had 25 deployments. I think we’re wearing our people down. We have to either re-think our strategy or we’ve got to expand the number of shoulders that are carrying that burden.”
Bergman said his priority is instilling a sense of national service among younger Americans – something, he said, that could perhaps only be achieved by requiring it.
“I believe it’s time for us to have a national conversation about what it means to be a citizen of our country,” he stated. “That doesn’t mean the draft — that’s what people always think about. I believe it’s time to have a conversation about national service. Whether it’s the health service, the forest service — whatever service you want, between the ages of 18 and 24, you owe — let me repeat that — you owe your country something.
“Why I believe that is important is multi-fold, but my wife and I have eight grandchildren. We are just in the process of finishing our freshman year of high school for the third time. Our grandsons — one in California and one in Chicago — are finishing their freshman years right now. So we are looking at the world through the eyes of that soon-to-be 16 year-old. These are great kids. They are great young men and women — they’re great young boys and girls. And we owe it to them to put them in a position where they have a sense of self-worth based on something real that our fathers and mothers and grandfathers and grandmothers gave to us because they persevered through the Great Depression and World War II.”
Bergman, Bacon and Mast were introduced at yesterday’s Ripon Society discussion by retired Air Force Major General Nels Running, who, among his many accomplishments, flew 274 combat missions in Vietnam and led the commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the Korean War in 2003.
To view Running’s introduction and the remarks of Bergman, Bacon and Mast, please click on the link below:
The Ripon Society is a public policy organization that was founded in 1962 and takes its name from the town where the Republican Party was born in 1854 – Ripon, Wisconsin. One of the main goals of The Ripon Society is to promote the ideas and principles that have made America great and contributed to the GOP’s success. These ideas include keeping our nation secure, keeping taxes low and having a federal government that is smaller, smarter and more accountable to the people.