Former Gen. McChrystal speaks at Wal-Mart Veterans day event, says war is ‘messy and it’s scary’

Former Gen. Stanley McChrystal said Wednesday (Nov. 11) during a Wal-Mart event in Bentonville that war is a “retail activity,” and it’s important for hometowns to do all they can to welcome service members and acknowledge their service.

On the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 2015, Wal-Mart held its annual Veterans Day event at its home office in Bentonville. 

“The time and date of this event isn’t coincidental, it’s in keeping with the original Armistice Day first observed in 1919,” said Gary Profit, senior director of military programs for Walmart, and a retired Brigadier General.

Wal-Mart CEO Doug McMillon told the crowd that Wal-Mart remains committed to hiring veterans returning from active duty. Since 2013 when the retailer first announced plans to hire 250,000 veterans over five years, McMillon said more than 110,000 returning veterans have received a job at Wal-Mart, and 12,000 have been promoted to higher paying jobs since joining the company.

Retired General Stanley McChrystal was a guest speaker at the event. He was a former commanding general on the ground in Afghanistan and he’s authored two books, including an autographical memoir. He’s also a professor at Yale University. McChrystal joked after the introduction that he could have never been accepted at Yale as a student but now he grades their papers.

“It’s quite ironic, isn’t it,” he added.

McChrystal said he was a third generation soldier, who followed his father as a young West Point cadet at the age of 17. He said all of his brothers served in the military and his sister married a soldier, saying military service was part of the family business.

McChrystal would not take any questions on world events, military operations, or the Veterans Administration and he focused his brief talk on how important it is for returning service men and women to be welcomed back into society. The general was the focus of a controversial Rolling Stone article published in July 2010 in which the general and his staff made disparaging remarks about civilian leadership of the military. The issue resulted in his resigning as the top commanding officer in Afghanistan.

McChrystal said when his father came home from Vietnam, they were not welcomed. He said some Americans too often have tied returning officers from unpopular wars to political policies they might not agree with. He said America does not send people to war, it’s towns, cities and families who do. 

“When people return from war, that’s who they come home to. They come home to us and companies like Wal-Mart who stand ready to offer jobs and transitional mentoring. If you can give someone a job, that helps to solve a lot of other problems,” McChrystal said.

He said sometimes the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq get looked at differently than other major conflicts of the past. McChrystal said on the ground, war is war and it’s not so different.

“It takes brave men to do what is asked of them. It’s not about following the line on a map. It’s messy and it’s scary, McChrystal said. “We make a mistake if we look at generals and we say strategy decides what happens. War is a retail activity and it’s done by people on the ground who deal with people making tough decisions to try and do things right.”

He said when soldiers go to war and come out of it they don’t need anyone to tell them they are “brilliant.” They just need a nation to acknowledge that the soldiers have done what has been asked of them. McChrystal said that is what Veterans Day is about. 

Patrick Shannon, a Walmart store manager in Fishers, Ind., was at the event to share a story of how he battled back from an injury while on tour in Operation Iraqi Freedom. Shannon spent nearly a decade in the U.S. Marines Corps and was deployed to Iraq with the Army Reserves as a staff sergeant. 

Shannon said on Nov. 29, 2006, it was business as usual in Iraq and he was coming back to the base camp around noon when he was hit by enemy fire. He took shrapnel in his left eye causing a major hemorrhage behind the retinal wall.

“I’m legally blind in my left eye today. … I pretty much gave up golf and resigned myself to driving the cart,” Shannon said.

Shannon compared the cultures of the military and Wal-Mart as more similar than different. He said there are people from all walks of life in each organization and there is a link to servant leadership in both organizations.

“In the military, you serve your comrades and at Wal-Mart we serve our customers,” Shannon said.

Wal-Mart also pushed its plan to show support for veterans through its “Green Light a Vet” initiative. The retailer is asking residents across the country to replace a porch light with a green bulb to acknowledge support for all veterans. The retailer said more than 3 million green lights bulbs have been installed at U.S. homes.