"'Your mind,' Admiral Crowe likes to tell university students, 'is a lot like a parachute -- it won't help you much if it doesn't open when you need it.'"
— Rosenberg, David Alan
Author
Date
May 23, 1993
Metaphor
"'Your mind,' Admiral Crowe likes to tell university students, 'is a lot like a parachute -- it won't help you much if it doesn't open when you need it.'"
Metaphor in Context
"The Line of Fire" is well written, funny, insightful, serious and optimistic. After all, the author is the only Chairman of the Joint Chiefs every to appear on a television sitcom. "Forty-five years in the service of my country," he writes, "and I am going to be known for seven minutes on 'Cheers.'" With no particular ax to grind, Admiral Crowe offers assessments of people he worked with, including Presidents Reagan and Bush, that are candid but never vindictive. His immense dedication to the men and women who served under him shows throughout the book. While parts may appear a bit facile, on the whole this is an honest and generous work. It deftly challenges stereotypes on both sides of the civil-military divide. "Your mind," Admiral Crowe likes to tell university students, "is a lot like a parachute -- it won't help you much if it doesn't open when you need it." Maybe it's time for both sides to be more open-minded. Admiral Crowe's memoirs should help.
Categories
Provenance
Searching "mind" and "like a Parachute" in Proquest Historical Newspapers (1851-2005)
Citation
Rosenberg, David Alan. Review of The Line of Fire: From Washington to the Gulf, the Politics and Battles of the New Military. By William Crowe, Jr. with David Chanoff. New York: Simon & Schuster. New York Times. May 23, 1993; ProQuest Historical Newspapers.
p. BR20.
Date of Entry
05/15/2009
