Sleeping Giants

by Nathan Mellor

  To help keep me motivated, I purchased two wooden frames in which the degrees I was pursuing would eventually be placed. I hung the empty frames on the wall and tried to visualize what it would be like to complete the program. There were a few times when I felt I had bitten off more than I could chew. However, I was learning to think differently, and I used these moments of panic as a reminder to stay focused.

  I graduated with the Master of Dispute Resolution degree in 2005 and was then invited to join the staff as an assistant director and adjunct professor. A year later, I finished my coursework for the doctorate. Knowing I could work on writing my dissertation anywhere, we contemplated whether we would stay in southern California. Although we enjoyed life there, we decided against it. I applied for an opportunity to teach in the School of Business at one of Pepperdine’s sister schools, Oklahoma Christian University.

  There were a few bumps along the way with completing my comprehensive exams, which consisted of a 50-page thesis. My first thesis was rejected, so I had to write another and was relieved to have successfully defended it. To show that the stumble I had with my initial thesis was not a sign of things to come, I wrote and defended my dissertation in one semester. I received my doctorate in a beautiful commencement in the spring of 2007 and was chosen by the faculty to represent the program at the graduation celebrations.

  KEEP FIGHTING

  On one of my trips back to Pepperdine, I stopped by to see my colleagues at the School of Law. It was a relaxed conversation between friends, and it was good to see them. In the course of the discussion, one of them said, “Did we ever tell you how you got into the program?” I shook my head “no,” and then they shared the story.

  Evidently, sending an application directly to the director was not the normal protocol. When it arrived, it was placed in one of several stacks of papers and got lost in the shuffle. When I sent a follow-up regarding the status of my original application, it could not be found. A second application was requested, and it was sent directly to the director again. When I sent a follow-up regarding the second application, they were horrified to realize the second application had also been misplaced. Instead of asking me to apply a third time, they made their decision about my acceptance in the program based upon my interview and recommendations. I was accepted prior to receiving my official transcripts or test scores. It was an incredibly rare exception.

  If the applications had not been lost, it would have been unlikely that I would have been accepted into either program. They would have looked at the academic achievement of my past and would have concluded I was not a good candidate. Thankfully, they did not. When I look at the degrees on my wall now, I feel a sense of gratitude.

  As I look back, I consider how my mental model was formed and how it slowly changed. Growing up, our family once had a motto that we looked to for inspiration when life got tough. We had been in a challenging situation, and dad said, “Let me tell you what it means to be a Mellor.” He would continue, “We may not be smart, but we are tough.” Over time, I would just say, “Tough, not smart.” Every time I said it or thought it, I was unknowingly strengthening a negative mental model that was not true. It was not true for my father, and it was not true for me. Unfortunately, it is easy to believe things that are not true, especially when it fits the story we have believed about ourselves. Thankfully, I had been taught not to give up and had been given the freedom to challenge the status quo.

  For the record, I am not trying to imply that I think I am the smartest person in the world. Truthfully, I do not even think I am the smartest person in my house. What has changed is that I have learned to fight the impulse to think I lack the intelligence needed to learn. Among the key reasons I experienced a breakthrough was that I was raised in an environment in which we were taught to “stick with it.” By refusing to give up, you give yourself a chance. You never know when you might catch the break that leads to your breakthrough.

  WHO ARE THEY?

  One of the exercises that we often use in our executive education programs is having leaders take the time to identify some of the people who have had the most significant influence on their lives. We then ask them to share about these people in a small group setting or in front of the entire group. It is a genuine honor to hear people speak openly about the people who invested in their lives. Often the person identified is a parent, grandparent, coach, or teacher. It can be surprisingly emotional for people to share their stories. In nearly every story told, there was someone who challenged their beliefs, believed in them, and sacrificed on their behalf.

  Who are the people in your life that helped expand your mental model? Take a moment to literally write down the names of three people who have positively influenced your life. Beside each name, write a couple of sentences about how they helped shape your mental model. If they are still alive, make the commitment that you will let them know what they have meant to you. If they have passed, honor their memory by telling someone about them. In either case, find a way to express your gratitude.

  Who are the people in whom you are currently investing? Identify three people that you can intentionally encourage and challenge. Consider how you can use your influence and experiences for the sake of others. How can you use your words, actions, and access to help them discover, form, and transform their mental model and approach to life?

  PART TWO

  A NEW VISION

  Chapter 5

  “Six Weeks Until I Felt Full”

  Learning Patience

  I met Pendleton “Pen” Woods when he was in his mid-80s, and I was in my mid-30s. We were working at the same university, and I had been invited to lead a newly formed outreach program. In addition to the new initiatives we would be launching, I would also be responsible for a few existing programs that would be consolidated into a new department. As part of the new organizational structure, Pen and I would be working together, and I was to be his boss. When the university president told me about the assignment, he said, “I hope you will enjoy working with Pen. He is an American hero.”

  Born in Fort Smith, Arkansas, on December 18, 1923, he loved his hometown and would talk about it often. Positioned at the confluence of the Arkansas and Poteau rivers, on the border of Arkansas and Oklahoma, the town began as a frontier military post in 1817. The region was home to numerous homesteaders that were a part of the western migration in the mid-1800s. For many Native Americans, northwest Arkansas and the Oklahoma Territory had become home due to forced relocation. For European settlers looking for a new life in the Wild West, Fort Smith was a staging ground for those preparing to take their chances on the Frontier.

  Due to the transient nature of the city, it became known for its bars, brothels, and criminals. In response to the need for stronger law enforcement, the city successfully pursued and hired Judge Isaac Parker, who became known as the “Hanging Judge.” Judge Parker famously sent 160 people to the gallows throughout his career.1

  Today, the location where Judge Parker presided is a National Historic Site. Considering Pen’s father, John Powell Woods, and both of his grandfathers were lawyers, they would have known the place well. In a rare boast, Pen shared, “The building that housed Judge Parker’s Courtroom was built later and was not part of the original fort. My grandmother and her sisters were responsible for saving that building from being torn down.”2

  When speaking of his family, he said, “I have ancestors from both sides who were in the Civil War. My great-grandfather Gaines was a prisoner of war. He was on the south. He was on a prison ship on the Mississippi and didn’t know how to swim. He and some other prisoners jumped overboard and swam to shore. That was the first time he swam.”3 In time, the fact that Pen’s great-grandfather was a prisoner of war would become an astonishing historical footnote for the family.

  Fort Smith has become known for its law enforcement heritage, its natural beauty, and its industry. The frontier town has grown
to become the second largest city in Arkansas. If Fort Smith is a city built on the legacy of survivors and explorers, Pen Woods should be considered among its favorite sons.

  SCOUT TO SOLDIER

  The summer of 1937 was an important time for Pen. He was barely a teenager when he traveled to Washington, D.C. to participate in the first Boy Scout jamboree hosted in the nation’s capital. The jamboree began on June 30th and concluded on July 9th. Even though times were tough and the Great Depression persisted, there were 27,732 Scouts and Scout leaders in attendance. While there, he participated in hikes to governmental buildings, including the White House and the Bureau of Printing and Engraving. Highlights of the trip included participating in a grand review for President Franklin Delano Roosevelt on Pennsylvania Avenue and climbing the steps of the Washington Monument.4 Throughout the event, he met other Scouts from across the nation who understood his commitment to values. Based on his experiences, it would not have been a surprise to anyone that by the time he graduated in May of 1941 from Fort Smith High School, he was an Eagle Scout. He possessed a quick mind, a talent for writing, and a willingness to work. In the fall of 1941, he enrolled as a student at the University of Arkansas.

  Pen was in his dormitory in Fayetteville, Arkansas, on Sunday afternoon, December 7th, when someone yelled to turn on the radio. They gathered around to listen to the news about the attack on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese. School officials met with the students who planned to enlist, and encouraged them to consider the Enlisted Reserve Corps. He did so, and in May of 1943, he and a group of approximately 100 fellow Razorbacks were called up. He was among a group of student-soldiers who were noted for their intellectual ability and joined the Army Service Forces Training Center (AFRC) to study Engineering. When the program was shuttered in the spring of 1944, these soldiers were sent back to infantry basic5 and Pen was then assigned to the 99th Infantry Division.6

  The 99th had two nicknames. The first was the “Checkerboard Division,” due to the distinct, three-lined checkerboard design of their shoulder insignia. Positioned on a black shield, the checkerboard was made of blue and white squares. The 99th was originally conceived as a unit from Pennsylvania; the black background was intended to represent the iron district. The horizontal band of blue and white squares was inspired by William Pitt’s coat of arms and was designed to be a respectful nod to Pittsburgh’s namesake.7

  The second nickname was “Battle Babies,” due to the fact they were inexperienced in battle. In time, this moniker, Battle Babies, would become a source of pride. In the winter of 1944, they were untested and unproven. In a matter of weeks, they would have the opportunity to prove themselves in some of the toughest fighting to be endured in the entirety of World War II.

  PATROLS

  Throughout November and December of 1944, American forces made daily patrols behind the famed Siegfried Line. The entire area was heavily mined and reinforced by heavily defended cement installations and strongholds. Although the work was dangerous, it was considered crucial to gaining real-time intelligence about the intentions of the Germans. According to Major General Walter Lauer, the patrols were typically four to 50 soldiers, and the primary goal of the patrols was to “reconnoiter and to capture prisoners for identification purposes so that my own and higher headquarters would have definite knowledge of any changes in the German tactical units which we faced.”8

  On December 10, 1944, Private First Class Pen Woods and a group of 12 to 13 soldiers from the 99th were on patrol behind the Siegfried Line when they encountered the Germans. Instantly, they were surrounded and cut off.9 Although two soldiers in the rear were able to escape, their squad leader was killed and another soldier was wounded.10 Pen stated, “It happened very suddenly. I tried to fire, but the Browning Automatic Weapon (BAR) was frozen up. I had fallen into a snow-covered ravine, and snow got inside of the weapon.”11 Pen and seven other soldiers from the 99th, specifically the 99th’s 394th Infantry, Company B, had become prisoners of war.

  The group was marched to an empty, snow-covered field where they assumed they would be shot. Instead of being led to their deaths, however, two large doors opened that led to an underground bunker. A German officer, who was alarmingly well informed about life in America and about the 99th specifically, interrogated them. In addition to identifying their company and battalion, the officer correctly identified where they had trained in the United States (Camp Maxey) and where they had been stationed in England before coming to the Ardennes Forest. One of the American soldiers, Clarence “Red” Deal, was from Oklahoma City, and their captor, who had traveled in Oklahoma, asked if Bishop’s Restaurant was still a good place to eat.12

  The Americans were loaded onto trucks to be taken to a nearby prison compound. Because of the snow, the road conditions were poor, and as they made their way to the prison, the truck overturned. Before the soldiers could escape, however, German guards were able to cover them at gunpoint.13 The next day, the group was taken to the nearby city of Düren.

  Prior to the war, Düren had been an enclave for affluent Germans. By the time Pen and the other prisoners arrived, the city would have been unrecognizable to most of its residents. A few weeks earlier, on November 16th, the Allied Air Force had unleashed one of the most concentrated bombings in the European Theater on the town. The bombing destroyed 80% of the city’s buildings and knocked out a German division.14 When the air raids stopped, over 3,000 civilians and soldiers were dead.15

  On December 11th, the American POWs, along with a British flyer, spent the night in a simple, second-story jail cell. The cell had window openings, but the glass was gone, and all that remained were iron bars. There was no relief from the freezing air blowing unhindered into the cell. The soldiers had been given a single blanket, and they decided to share it among the group. To stay alive, the group laid on the floor in a wagon wheel formation with the blanket draped over their feet and legs.16

  For most soldiers stationed in the region during the winter of 1944, the weather was among their chief concerns. Even with the soldiers’ vigilant efforts to stay warm and to keep their feet dry, there was only so much that could be done when the temperature would drop to -10 F° in the evenings.17 Amazingly, frostbite caused as many evacuations as war wounds during the campaign

  It is not clear when Pen’s feet were initially frostbitten, but in captivity, there was little that could be done to help. In an interview given decades later, he said, “I had frostbite on my feet, and it took almost a year after I got back to the states before I recovered. During that year, layer after layer of skin peeled off my feet. That whole year I had a numbness in my feet, and I thought it would be permanent. Some people still have problems with their feet, but I recovered completely.”18

  On December 13th, the prisoners were loaded in boxcars headed to Frankfurt. The boxcars were called “a forty and eight.” The term originated in WWI because they were originally designed to hold 40 men or eight horses. The Germans filled each with approximately 100 captives. As they traveled, the POW train was given the lowest priority and was continually being pulled aside to allow other trains to pass.

  Due to the delays, the trip of approximately 150 miles, which would normally take a few hours, took days. It was unknown to them at the time, but the reason Pen’s train took so long to get to Frankfurt was because of the sheer number of soldiers and equipment being sent by rail to the front lines in preparation for the attack. When they finally arrived in Frankfurt, there was nowhere to go. The POWs remained housed in their boxcars until they were redirected to a new location, 8 days later.

  THE BATTLE OF THE BULGE

  Recycling a strategy that had proven successful in May 1940, Hitler sought to split the Allied armies in northwest Europe by attacking in the heavily forested Ardennes region. To be successful, the offensive, known as Operation Mist, demanded the element of surprise, overwhelming force, and speed. Later known by the Allies as the Ardennes Offensive or t
he Battle of the Bulge, the offensive was Hitler’s bold, yet desperate, effort to regain the upper hand in the war.

  On Saturday morning, December 16th, 2 days before Pen would turn 21, the Germans began their last stand. The Allied soldiers along the Siegfried Line had no warning that they would soon be in the direct path of 200,000 German soldiers and 1,000 tanks. The Battle of the Bulge began at 5:30 a.m. with nearly two hours of shelling along the front lines. Following the deafening barrage, the Germans started their surge forward. Among the first obstacles to Nazi victory were Pen’s brothers in arms, the Checkerboard Division, specifically the 394th Infantry. If the Germans could take the area occupied by the 394th, they would have a clear path north. Companies A, B, and C were positioned along the crossroads, but the German onslaught desperately outnumbered them.

  Major General Walter Lauer described the scene:

  Down south on the front of the 394th Infantry, the 1st Battalion 394th, which sat astride the Losheim-Bullingen Road, was hit simultaneously by a two-pronged attack of infantry and tanks. The tanks attempted to drive straight down the road. It was a relentless attack, consistently reinforced, which during that day of fighting practically wiped out all of Company B. Time and time again these doughboys fought off the hordes of fanatical S.S. men. These so-called supermen followed behind their Volksgrenadier soldiers whom they drove ahead as so many cattle to slaughter, to force the disclosure of our doughboy positions and machine gun locations before they came on the scene in their super glory! They miscalculated—not only were these first waves of Volksgrenadiers mowed down but so were these supermen. They then became fanatical; they used every trick in the book and many not in the book—all to no avail. When things looked blackest for our side, our staunch defenders would counterattack to drive the enemy back.19