Harvey Mackay's Column This Week

Giving thanks for heroes

November brings two remarkable holidays: Veterans Day and Thanksgiving. I thought of both when I came across the touching story of the creation of "Taps," the tune that gives me a lump in my throat and usually brings tears to my eyes.

The song dates to 1862 during the Civil War, when Union Army Captain Robert Ellicombe was with his men near Harrison's Landing in Virginia. The Confederate Army was on the other side of the narrow strip of land.

During the night, Captain Ellicombe heard the moans of a soldier who lay severely wounded on the field. Not knowing whether it was a Union or a Confederate soldier, the captain decided to risk his life and bring the stricken man back for medical attention.

Crawling on his stomach through the gunfire, the captain reached the soldier and pulled him toward his encampment. When the captain finally reached his own lines, he discovered it was actually a Confederate soldier, but the soldier was dead.

The captain lit a lantern and suddenly caught his breath and went numb with shock. In the dim light, he saw the face of the soldier. It was his own son. The boy had been studying music in the south when the war broke out. Without telling his father, the boy enlisted in the Confederate Army.

The following morning, the heartbroken father asked permission of his superiors to give his son a full military burial despite his enemy status. His request was only partially granted. The captain had asked if he could have a group of Army band members play a funeral dirge for his son at the funeral. The request was turned down since the soldier was a Confederate. But out of respect for the father, they gave him a single musician. The captain chose a bugler.

He asked the bugler to play a series of musical notes he had found on a piece of paper in the pocket of his son's uniform. And thus, the haunting melody we now know as "Taps" used at military funerals, was born.

Here are the words, which I find so appropriate for these November holidays:

Day is done, gone the sun
From the lakes, from the hills, from the sky.
All is well, safely rest.
God is nigh.

There are more verses, but I think you get the drift. Every day is a new day. And no matter how bad things seem, there's always a ray of hope here in America. We, as Americans, have weathered every kind of storm and managed to prevail. All will be well.

The reason? We are an optimistic people, able to see the glass as half full.

The Pilgrims toughed out awful conditions, unsure of what might lie just 100 miles to the west. They found a way to coexist with Native Americans, and celebrated their harvest not knowing what the coming winter would bring. These folks were not just hardy, they were heroes.

Then, through the Revolutionary War and the following years of growing pains, the Civil War demonstrated just how divided a nation can be—or in the case of Captain Ellicombe, how divided a family can be. Yet somehow, we recovered and became the most powerful, most amazing nation in the world.

As a business owner, I can't imagine this kind of success anywhere else. Many of you know my story: bought a small struggling envelope company at age 26 and worked as hard as I could to make it a success. We are close to our 50th anniversary, and despite market turns and any number of threats to our survival, we have not only survived, but thrived. Why? Because we are also optimistic.

We have every reason to remain optimistic. If I've learned anything about American workers, it is that they want to succeed as much as their employers do. They take pride in their products and services. They see hard work as a badge of honor. They are resilient when challenges present themselves. They are my heroes. They are the reason I can stay in business and prosper. When day is done, all is well.

Mackay's Moral: If we pause to think, we'll have cause to thank.