The authority these gold oak leaves carried didn’t depend on public approval or the loud opinions of a young infantryman.

It depended on decades of steady service, quiet discipline and a willingness to uphold military standards even when doing so was uncomfortable.

I took another sip of coffee and put the cup back on the tray table.

The engine noise had settled into a rhythmic purr that made the plane feel almost still against the night sky, as if we were hanging in place while the world turned slowly underneath us.

I opened my paperback again and read three more pages without stopping.