Eric Greitens is an Inspiring Candidate for Missouri Governor

By B.W. Durham

When Eric Greitens of St. Louis County announced in September that he is running for Missouri Governor, probably more people living outside Missouri than those than in Missouri knew who he is and what he stands for. Yet that is changing fast.

That is because Greitens has achieved more in the 20 years since he graduated from public high school, earned a scholarship to Duke University and became a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University in England than most people achieve in a lifetime.

This Missourian became a U.S. Navy Seal commander after earning a master’s degree in development studies and a Ph.D. in politics at Oxford’s Lady Margaret Hall College. He served rigorous tours of duty in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Southeast Asia as a warrior and officer.

Among many assignments he commanded a team to target al Qaeda terrorist cells. For his military valor, Greitens received nine decorations including the Navy Commendation Medal, the Military Outstanding Volunteer Service Medal, the Purple Heart, and the Bronze Star for heroic achievement.

Achievements like that don’t go unnoticed. In 2005, Greitens was appointed by President George W, Bush to serve as a White House Fellow, a role that gave Greitens high-level experience in the federal government and enabled his participation in national affairs. Working in the Department of Housing and Urban Development, Greitens developed a new program to assist with rebuilding New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.

I got to know Greitens after reading his first award-winning book, published in 2008. “Strength & Compassion” is a collection of his essays about international humanitarianism and featuring his photographs of his humanitarian efforts in Rwanda, Cambodia, Albania, Mexico, India, the Gaza Strip, Croatia, and Bolivia, Yes, he is a good photographer.

He is also a caring visionary. Using his savings from combat pay and disability pay that two friends gave him, in 2007 Greitens founded The Mission Continues, a nonprofit organization that helps military veterans overcome challenges of adjusting to life at home after military service. The organization brings veterans together in “platoons” and channels their skills to serve their own communities, providing them with a new sense of connectivity, purpose and accomplishment. https://www.missioncontinues.org/

In many cities across America, The Mission Continues organizes volunteer platoons of military veterans who work to fight hunger in inner city areas; counsel homeless veterans living on the streets; toil in community gardens to grow and harvest crops for food banks; mentor young people; and, among other activities, help rebuild neighborhoods.

Among other tasks in St. Louis, a platoon of veterans from The Mission Continues combined their skills to help rebuild a center for children with autism, addictions or behavioral issues. In the Bronx, New York, a platoon is working to build pride and ownership for people in the community through neighborhood beautification and the arts. This platoon works with local leaders to create green spaces, plan art exhibits featuring local artists, plant trees and erect art installations.

And so it goes in many U.S. cities. Of The Mission Continues, which is headquartered in St. Louis, Greitens says, “The Mission Continues empowers veterans to serve their country in new ways. It’s a challenge, not charity.” Amen to that.

In 2011, Greitens’ second book “The Heart and the Fist” became a New York Times best seller. Author and television newsman Tom Brokaw endorsed the book, saying, “Meet my hero—Eric Greitens. His life and this book remind us that America remains the land of the brave and generous.”

In 2013 Time Magazine named Greitens one of the 100 most influential people in the world. A year later, Fortune Magazine named him one of the 50 greatest leaders in the world.

In 2015, his publisher Houghton Mifflin Harcourt released his newest book “Resilience: Hard-Won Wisdom for Living a Better Life.” It is based on letters that Greitens wrote to a fellow Navy SEAL who was struggling with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Today, it is climbing up best-seller lists.

Were that not enough, one of America’s pre-eminent journalists, Joe Klein, who began his career at Newsweek Magazine, moved to The New Yorker where he wrote the “Letter from Washington” and now works for Time Magazine, has written a new book about Greitens called “Charlie Mike.”

“Charlie Mike” tells the dramatic story of Greitens and his combat buddy Jake Wood, “larger-than-life war heroes who come home and use their military discipline and values to help others. This is a story that hasn’t been told before, one of the most hopeful to emerge from Iraq and Afghanistan—a saga of lives saved, not wasted,” says its publisher Simon & Shuster.

Steve Kraske, a political columnist for The Kansas City Star, wrote: “The book chronicles Greitens’ path to starting (The Mission Continues) and the success it’s had. And it does something more too — it’s a testament to Greitens’ character, resolve, tenacity and toughness. His all-American goodness just oozes forth on page after page. All those traits, by the way, just might serve a new governor well.”

Harry Levins, a book reviewer for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch since he retired as senior writer for that newspaper, had this to say about “Charlie Mike”: “Klein writes that as Greitens grew up in Maryland Heights he was ‘the sort of kid who actually said that he wanted to be President of the United States. He said it in third or fourth grade, when a teacher asked him what he wanted to be when he grew up. ‘I want to be President,’ he said, ‘because I want to help people, and the President gets to help the most people.’” Levins added: “This year, in late September, Greitens announced his candidacy for the Republican gubernatorial nomination in Missouri. Maybe Jefferson City could be a way station to the White House.”

In a world of political corruption and subterfuge, I like Eric Greitens as a brilliant, tough-minded, compassionate person; as a best-selling author; as a highly decorated combat veteran and commander from the toughest military special operations unit on earth; and as a conservative Republican candidate for Missouri Governor.

Eric Greitens is a natural born leader. If you are interested in his political points of view, visit his campaign website Greitens for Governor (http://ericgreitens.com).

I am proud to call Eric Greitens my friend.

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