Losing Men on a Ridge Taught Mueller How to Comfort Others
A major's brief praise steadied him when he felt vulnerable after losing men, a lesson he carried to the FBI.
The Oath with Chuck Rosenberg · Robert S. Mueller III: The Director (Part 1)Robert Mueller was sitting on the ridgeline when the major found him. His company had just driven North Vietnamese soldiers from caves on three hills above the demilitarized zone, the buffer strip that divided North and South Vietnam. His radio operator, a Marine called Red, had been hit in the chest and was gone. Mueller said he never saw any trace of him again. Others in the company were lost in the same fight.
A day earlier, another Marine company had tried to clear those same caves at a place the Marines called Mudder's Ridge and had been smothered, in Mueller's word, losing most of its men. Mueller's company went in on December 11, 1968, in what he called a saving operation. They fought their way to the top and knocked the enemy off the ridge. Some Marines were rescued, but his company lost a lot of men doing it.
Mueller, then a young Marine lieutenant who usually led about 35 to 40 men in combat and who later led the FBI, said he feared failure more than death. In combat, he explained, a leader's failure could cost his men their lives.
That worry was with him on the ridge. Mueller said he always worried that he had not done all he could for his men.
The major, an officer Mueller had dealt with before, came up behind him on the ridgeline, patted him on the back, and said, "nice job, Bob." Mueller said those words "made a huge difference" at that moment, when he felt especially vulnerable after losing a number of men.
He kept the lesson. Mueller said the comfort he felt then was something he tried to offer to other people during his professional career, including as FBI director.
Questions people ask
What was the DMZ where Mueller fought?
The demilitarized zone was a buffer strip around the 17th parallel that divided North and South Vietnam. It was supposed to separate the two sides, but North Vietnamese Army units used areas in and around it to stage attacks, so American platoons were ordered to patrol there to find the enemy and draw him into battle.
Was Mueller wounded in Vietnam?
Yes. Four months after Mudder's Ridge, in April 1969, Mueller was shot through the thigh during a movement along a ridgeline. He said adrenaline kept him from feeling it at first, and because the wound passed clean through, he was back in the field within about three weeks. He received the Purple Heart, as well as the Bronze Star with a V device for valor in combat.
When did Mueller lead the FBI?
He led the bureau from 2001 to 2013, taking office just before the September 11 attacks and serving under Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama. It is a 10-year appointment, and Obama asked Congress to extend Mueller for two extra years. He is the second longest serving director after J. Edgar Hoover.