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Emmett Harris
The Eyes Have It
Editor’s
Comment
At little Garner airfield in Uvalde, Texas, during the years of 1941 through 1945, young
pilots spent their first hours in a cockpit. Many of them went on to fly combat missions
in fighters and bombers over Europe and the Pacific. Some of them did not come back. Some
of them did come back to that same airfield in 1999 to a reunion of those who had trained
there. I was privileged to be there and meet them. The speaker was Tex Hill, who had flown
with the “Flying Tigers” before the U.S. was even in the war. As I mingled around among
them and listened to their stories, I began to notice something that has stayed with me since
that evening. It was their eyes.
By then the owners of these eyes were in their eighties. They were far different physically
than when they first sat in those trainers. Some needed assistance walking. Their faces were
mapped with wrinkles. Their hair was white or gone. Their voices no longer boomed. Yet,
as they told their stories and shared their memories, their eyes shined. Those eyes that had
looked death squarely in its cold face and refused to blink still had the glint and excitement
of youth. They snapped and sparkled. The warrior was still alive in them. Those eyes made
me want to be a better man.
Recently I saw some other eyes that similarly moved me. In San Antonio at the Rusty
Dun can seminar, 800 criminal defense lawyers gathered and shared their memories of past
bat tles. That makes roughly 1600 eyes. If you paid attention, you must have noticed that these
were special eyes from which shown that same snap of the warrior. Across the spectrum of
young, old, urban, rural, sophisticated, and homespun attendees, there was a shared quality
of dedication to the fight to preserve the constitutional protections of citizens. That quality,
that commitment to flying their combat missions, was gleaming from their eyes. Those eyes
made me want to be a better lawyer.
Now here is the bothersome difference between the two groups of warriors. Our Gar ner
field–trained pilots flew with the consistent and strong support and prayers of their country
men. The citizens of this country accepted and appreciated that the fighting these men
were engaged in was for their benefit and defense. You combat pilots at Rusty Duncan do not
enjoy that kind of support from your countrymen. It is not accepted or appreciated that your
12 VOICE FOR THE DEFENSE July/August 2008