海角大神

For Chuck Hagel, the day he reported for duty in Vietnam as a young private first class is seared in his memory.聽It was December 1967, and the heat was oppressive. So, too, were the smells.聽

鈥淚鈥檒l never forget, ever, the feeling I had walking off that plane,鈥� Mr. Hagel told biographer Charlyne Berens. 鈥淭he humidity and the stench 鈥� I was physically sick to my stomach.鈥澛�

Then there was latrine duty, Hagel鈥檚 first job in his tour.聽He collected the 50-gallon barrels from the latrines, to burn the waste. 鈥淵ou can imagine that smell,鈥� Hagel told Ms. Beren, author of 2006's "Chuck Hagel: Moving Forward" and an associate dean at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. 鈥淚 didn鈥檛 exactly spend my first day as a great warrior.鈥澛�

These are the sort of wretched jobs that enlisted troops tend to recall as an almost-pleasant prelude to the fighting they must later do.聽For Private First Class Hagel, the ferocious combat was soon to come.聽

鈥淏oth of us,鈥� Hagel鈥檚 brother told an interviewer in 1997, 鈥渨ere very, very good at killing.鈥�

President Obama鈥檚 nominee to be the next secretary of Defense, if confirmed, would be the first Vietnam veteran to head the Pentagon.聽Hagel would also be the first enlisted soldier to hold the job.

His combat experience intrigues many current veterans, who believe it could make Hagel one of the more qualified defense secretaries America has ever had.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a total game-changer,鈥� says Paul Rieckhoff, chief executive officer of the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, who was a first lieutenant and infantry rifle platoon leader serving in Iraq from 2003 to 2004.聽鈥淚t鈥檚 hard for civilians to understand what that means. If you think of enlisted and officers, it鈥檚 the difference between union and management.聽To have someone come up as a private is like someone coming up through a mail room 鈥� he understands it, and every level in between.鈥澛�

Moreover, Mr. Rieckoff adds, 鈥渂eing an enlisted infantry grunt is one of the single most dangerous jobs in a war 鈥� it鈥檚 the backbone of the Army.

鈥淗e knows what it鈥檚 like to pull the trigger, to write letters home from a foreign land, to see his friend killed.聽I think it鈥檚 an indispensable quality to a country finishing two long wars.鈥�

Battle scars

One night at a remote jungle outpost in Vietnam, Hagel recalls waking two fellow squad members with his hands on their mouths to keep them from making a sound before they crawled away on their hands and knees to escape Viet Cong patrols just feet away.聽

The US military had night-vision telescopes at the time, but the enlisted soldiers weren鈥檛 allowed to take them deep into the jungle 鈥� commanders feared that they might fall into enemy hands if US troops were captured. Much like troops in the early days of the Iraq war, Hagel grappled with the frustrations of limited equipment.

Just a couple of months later, in March 1968, Hagel would learn, again and again, what it meant to endure the wounds of war. It was north of Saigon that Hagel and his brother Tom鈥檚 squad was ambushed, and the brothers were subjected to their first battle scars.聽

Hagel was hit with shrapnel from a mine explosion. His brother came to his aid.聽

鈥淚 could see blood on the front of his shirt, and I tore his shirt open and that鈥檚 when geysers of blood went up,鈥� Tom Hagel, who was peppered with shrapnel himself, later recalled to Berens.

One month later, the brothers were back to fighting, and next it was Tom 鈥� the turret gunner at the time 鈥� who was gravely injured when a roadside bomb blew up under his armored personnel carrier.

Hagel was sure his brother had been killed.聽He was 鈥渄ead weight, blood pouring out of his ears,鈥� he recalled in a 1997 interview with the Washington Post.

As Hagel tried to get his brother and others out to safety, ammunition stored in the vehicle blew up in his face.聽

The brothers took their second trip to the hospital together, where Tom recovered and Chuck received salve and bandages for his face.聽It took a decade for the wounds to heal fully. Hagel still cannot grow a beard.

Speaking his mind

Hagel's experience in war will bring a vital perspective in relating to veterans of America鈥檚 current wars, Mr. Obama argued in announcing Hagel鈥檚 nomination this week.

鈥淢y frame of reference is geared toward the guy at the bottom who鈥檚 doing the fighting and the dying,鈥� the president said at a press conference announcing the nomination Monday.

Those who have worked with him agree. 鈥淗e understands personally the ugliness and horror of it,鈥� says biographer Berens, in an interview with the Monitor.

That will make him a better leader for a country whose troops are recovering from two long wars, Rieckhoff adds. 鈥淲hen you can walk into a room and say, 鈥業鈥檝e been through basic training, I was wounded myself,' that gives you a visceral understanding of those responsible for executing the orders.鈥澛�

As deputy head of the Veterans Administration (VA) under President Ronald Reagan, Hagel resigned in 1982 after 10 months on the job because the director, Robert Nimmo, had compared the chemical defoliant Agent Orange to 鈥渢eenage acne鈥� and complained that Vietnam vets were 鈥渁 bunch of crybabies,鈥� Hagel told biographer Berens.聽

In 1987, Hagel took over the USO (United Service Organizations), which he took from bankruptcy in February of that year to a surplus by December.聽

He cut the staff and gave raises to those who remained. 鈥淥ne woman I interviewed said that everyone was just astounded. He told them that he wanted to keep the really good people, so the ones he thought were making essential contributions, he gave them extra money so they鈥檇 stay,鈥� Berens said in an interview.

鈥淢y impression of him after spending many hours interviewing him and people around him is that he sets high expectations 鈥� he wants people to do their best and more 鈥� but that he鈥檚 quite cheerful about the whole thing and very quick to compliment people when they do well.鈥�

Such management experience is important, says Rieckhoff, who points in particular to Hagel鈥檚 championing of the new GI bill.聽鈥淏ut there are few management jobs more important than leading an infantry squad in combat,鈥� he adds.聽

Hagel's military service during a time of war also taught him to speak his mind, Reickhoff believes. 鈥淲hen you鈥檙e alone on issues doesn鈥檛 mean you鈥檙e wrong.鈥澛�

Hagel opposed the 2007 "surge" of US troops in Iraq, a product, many believe, of struggling to come to terms with the sacrifice of his fellow troops in the aftermath of the Vietnam War. 鈥淚 got a sense that there was just so much dishonesty in it,鈥� he said later about the US government during the Vietnam era. 鈥淎nd it was chewing these kids up.鈥�

Many veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan appreciate that first-hand acknowledgement of the cost of war, Rieckhoff adds.聽

鈥淚 don鈥檛 want to create levels of citizenship 鈥� this isn鈥檛 'Starship Troopers,' 鈥� he says. 鈥淏ut there is a different level of connection that you have to this country once you鈥檝e been asked to die for it.鈥澛�