By Lauren Hashiguchi (OR '10)

Eric Greitens, 1995 Truman Scholar from Missouri and Navy SEAL, has served on the front lines: in Mother Teresa’s homes for the destitute, with refugees in Bosnia and genocide survivors in Rwanda, in Navy SEAL training and counterterrorism combat, and with wounded and disabled warriors at home. In his book The Heart and the Fist, which comes out on April 11^th, Greitens shares the story of his extraordinary journey, offering his reflections on what it means to find fulfillment on the front lines of service as a both a humanitarian and warrior.

This candid story of service speaks especially to the community of Truman Scholars. Greitens, reflecting on the central motivation for his service, remarks, “I think what’s at the heart of all of it is something that is probably at the heart of it for many Truman scholars, which is a passionate sense to use my time and whatever gifts I have been given to be of service to others.” With the support of the Truman Foundation, he completed his doctoral thesis, Children First, at Oxford. The thesis investigated how international humanitarian organizations can best serve war-affected children. He says, “One of the obligations that we have as scholars is to figure out how we use this tremendous gift and investment in our education to do the best possible service work that we can in our communities, for our country, and in the wider world.”

Central to Greitens’s motivation for writing The Heart and the Fist is realizing a flourishing and complete life through service. To Greitens, the bond between strength and compassion unify his service as both a humanitarian and a warrior. He explains “I think that The Heart and the Fist speaks to what every Truman Scholar probably knows instinctively, and that is that if you really love something, if you really care about something, then you have to act with compassion. But just as surely if you want to protect something you also have to respond with strength. If you want to be effective in any service endeavor…it’s going to take a combination of a compassionate response to people who are in need and the demands of courage that it takes to be effective at any level of the policy arena.”

Courage is especially meaningful for Greitens, who returned from service in Iraq to found The Mission Continues, a non-profit organization that empowers wounded and disabled veterans to find courage and purpose in beginning new lives as citizen leaders at home. Service is not easy, he remarks: “One of the things that I hope the book will also show is how difficult it was and how many times I struggled and failed along the way…I try to make clear The Heart and the Fist is that real courage is not just bravery that happens in a flash, in a moment. It is actually the courage of perseverance, the willingness to do that thing that has to be done day after day which actually helps people to transform their lives,” he says.

The ranks of Truman Scholars occupy a diversity of roles in public service, but at the heart of our collective service is the underlying passion to apply scholarship and leadership to the genuine service to others. By sharing the lessons he has learned from those on the front lines, Greitens hopes to help people approach service on their own front lines with greater purpose.

Lauren Hashiguchi (OR '10) will begin work as a Truman-Albright Fellow after graduating from Saint Louis University in May.