Pretty hairy story.

Via The Hill:

The accolades for America’s just departed 41st president are rolling in, and so many ring true about a man who unselfishly served his country for decades — and who shared a few hours of his life with me in the twilight of his career.

Decent. Humble. Prudent. Pragmatic. Accomplished.

You can put a check in the box next to each. There’s no doubt.

The attribute, however, that most resonated in my mind in the minutes after hearing of George H.W. Bush’s passing Friday night was “heroic.”

Some of that hero’s resume is well known:

Shot down in the Pacific during World War II.
Went to communist China as America’s envoy after President Richard Nixon renewed ties with Beijing following decades of Cold War frost.
Navigated the CIA during a difficult time after the Vietnam War.
Showed restraint as president when the Berlin Wall fell, so as not to destabilize then-Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, when other Americans wanted Bush to dance on the fresh grave of the fallen Soviet empire.

Here’s a story I researched back in 2011, a short while after spending a day with Bush in Houston, which speaks volumes to his heroism and courage.

The details were classified for decades and, though the story would have burnished his resume during a political campaign, he never spoke once of it in public. Modesty and duty to country were more important than stroking his own ego — a lesson one or more of his successors might heed.

It occurred in December 1983, when President Ronald Reagan’s war against communism in Central America was at a crossroads. El Salvador’s military, backed by the Reagan administration, was being pilloried for human rights abuses, such as the torture and killing of civilians, including Catholic nuns.

Reagan wanted someone to go on a hair-raising adventure into the jungles of El Salvador and deliver a stern warning to the out-of-control commanders of the Salvadoran military: End the death squads and allow free elections, or America will abandon your fight against the communist rebels.

He chose his vice president.

The mission was so secret that only a few national security aides and the Secret Service agents were read-in. The vice president’s public schedule was scrubbed to show only a diplomatic meet-and-greet with Central American political figures.

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