As a young captain in The Vietnam War, Gerald Tysver had a life-changing revelation while he and his fellow soldiers hid out in a foxhole during an enemy attack on his company's headquarters. It came upon him powerfully in that foxhole. It was a clear and simple path for his future life unfolding before him.
Over the next decades, the high-achieving West Point grad would have to remind himself of this moment many times until it settled in for good. The basis of it was the simple, old "Golden Rule"
Gerald Tysver was a decorated war hero who was repeatedly thrust into the forefront of history. But he often found himself struggling mightily between his achievements and his values.
In the end, the victory was clear. In addition to his four natural children, he adopted six more and took in at least fourteen others. He lived his dream of putting others first and of understanding the importance of finding who he was, rather than what he was.
As his son, maybe that is why the first thing my father told me after his death was, "You be you."