Bullies in life and politics

When I flew my B-17 bomber over the English Channel toward Germany, where there were people waiting to kill us, I told my crew that we were all equal — just a bunch of American kids fighting for our country — and there shouldn’t be any “yes, sirs” or saluting.

As an ROTC instructor in a college in New York, the new colonel said you have to beat people and then you only get 85 percent out of them. As a staff member in ROTC, the general called me and others to his office to tell us, “You have two strikes on you, one more and you’re out.”

Bullies like Donald Trump and Mat Bevin do well intimidating others, even get elected by the subconscious fear of the illiterate.

This story was originally published December 19, 2016 at 5:12 PM with the headline "Bullies in life and politics."