American Warrior Radio

The sacrifice and gratitude experienced by those who serve is the topic of our conversation with Lt. Col. Charles Faint, Assistant Professor and Deputy Director of the Modern War Institute at West Point. Faint has published several insightful articles in the Havok Journal. The theme of today’s conversation was inspired by a self-obituary written by West Point graduate John Alexander Hottell III when he was 26 years old. Capt. Hottell would lose his life in Vietnam at the age of 27. A plaque featuring his obituary is posted in one of the barracks at West Point.  He wrote about what he LIVED for rather than what he died for and the opportunities that service in the Army provided him. Faint requires his student to write a self-obituary or a consolation letter to the family of a fallen soldier. This teaches to cadets to recognize the value of what they have and how inherently dangerous their profession is. Faint has served 27 years in the Army and was deployed seven times to Iraq and Afghanistan attached to spe