A call to courage

In 1991, Navy Lieutenant Mark Kelly was piloting an A-6E Intruder, flying into Iraq as part of the first air assault of the Gulf War. En route to drop bombs on an Iraqi airfield, Kelly realized a surface-to-air missile had locked onto his aircraft. It took nerves of steel for Kelly to wait until the missile was close enough that he could jerk the plane out of its path without giving the missile time to lock on again before it exploded.

Kelly later became an astronaut, flying on the space shuttle and working aboard the International Space Station. In 2020, he was elected to the U.S. Senate representing Arizona, filling the seat vacated when John McCain died, and in 2022, he won reelection.

Known for his calm under pressure, Kelly has exhibited courage multiple times during his Senate career, not least when he appeared in the “Don’t Give Up the Ship” video released last November. In that video, six Democratic lawmakers urged members of the military and national security community to refuse to follow illegal orders.

As a result of that appearance, Kelly found himself in the President’s crosshairs when Trump posted on Truth Social that the people in the video should be punished by death.

Senator Kelly’s life story is just one of 10 featured in the recent book “Courage Can Save US,” written by Marine veteran Rye Barcott. The book was published just before the country’s 250th anniversary, and it quickly became a bestseller.

Barcott profiles nine military veterans and one former FBI agent who later entered politics, showing how their experience in military service tested and shaped them into courageous public servants.

Barcott’s thesis is that military service teaches courage, and that same courage carries into public office, giving veterans the fortitude to stand firm when the common good requires it, and the humility to work across the aisle for the benefit of the country as a whole.

For some of the people Barcott features, it’s courage to stand up to their own party or side – for example, Nebraska Republican Don Bacon, a retired Air Force general who reported misconduct by senior officers and later faced pressure and threats over his political positions.

For others, it’s the courage to change their mind in public when necessary, like Maine Democrat and Marine veteran Jared Golden, who changed his stance on an assault weapons ban after a mass shooting occurred near his home.

Barcott doesn’t idealize the people he writes about; instead, he acknowledges both their flaws and their strengths. His goal isn’t to present them as perfect people, but to show how military service prepared them to be courageous public servants.

And America needs courage from us all, Barcott says. Our country needs us to be able to stand by principles, risk personal costs for the common good, and bravely work across differences. The 10 leaders he profiled offer examples of how it’s done.

They can’t do it alone.