Dear Malcolm Gladwell

So Malcolm Gladwell has a podcast about Americans who have received the national medal of honor, and he tells war stories of bravery. And at the end of each episode he asks that if the listeners know a veteran they should send stories of bravery (and if you don't know a veteran you can send a story of a time bravery was contagious in your life). So I have lots of stories to tell.

Dear Malcolm,

I'm Alina, 34 years old, Israel. I've really been enjoying your podcast "Medal of Honor: stories of courage." As you probably know, my country has been at war for a year. It's discouraging and all-consuming, and listening to your podcast helps me keep a sense proportion because it's a reminder that all wars eventually end. It also makes me wonder what stories you'll tell about this war when you talk about it in twenty years. What will be the famous stories? Which stories will become movies? What events will become the 'untold' stories?

I'm writing because I know a veteran - my grandfather, Jack Halpert (who we called Zaidy) - who was an American Marine and fought in Japan in WWII. He passed away in 2003. He fought on Iwo Jima and had lots of war stories but I've only heard some of them. Anyway I have a story my grandmother told me from after the war: after Zaidy came home, he would meet up with his army buddies every so often - they became very close, as comrades do. Once he was at a bar with one of them (my grandmother couldn't remember his name, just the everyone called him "Junior"). The place was packed but they managed to get a seat at the bar, and at some point a man tapped Zaidy on the shoulder - the man couldn't reach the bar because the place was so busy so he handed Zaidy some cash and asked if Zaidy could please order him a beer, which he did of course. It happened to be a black man, and Junior was horrified that Zaidy would buy a beer for a black man. Junior left the bar and Zaidy never saw him again.

I don't know if that's a story of courage, but it's a story of humanity and it makes me proud to be the granddaughter of a man who saw all people as equal.

I was interested in the conversation with Meredith, which you added at the end of the season. It's interesting that you talk about war stories like something old and distant, but the truth is that people are people and the stories that happened then could easily happen now. Once many years ago I was fortunate to get invited to the Marine Corps Birthday Ball in Tel Aviv (every November the US Marines celebrate the establishment of the Marine Corps and have parties all over the world wherever Marines are stationed. I was in the IDF at the time serving in the foreign relations unit so I got an invite, it was pretty exciting). At the event an officer1 talked about twice in recent history when Americans went running to the recruitment offices - Pearl Harbor and 9/11. I'm sure if you asked any American before 9/11 if today, in 2001, seventeen-year-olds would be willing and able to go to war, they would laugh and say something about "today's spoiled kids." But those spoiled kids went, because people do crazy things when they meet crazy circumstances. And if the US suffered another attack today in 2024, people would go.

I've been thinking a lot about the concept of courage this past year, because wars produce thousands of courageous moments. And still, people are people. I have many family members, friends, and neighbors in various combat units but I don't see them as heroes. I see them as devoted fathers and husbands who come home and immediately take the kids out to the park. Vulnerable people just like all of us.

As always, thank you for your fascinating insights,

Alina