A Message to Garcia, being a preachment by Elbert Hubbard; Applewood Books, Bedford, MA; 1993; 22 pages; 1-55709-200-1; 3/3/09-3/3/09

The United States Marine Corps has a list of books that all Marines should read and a list for each rank within the Corps.  I have been fascinated by the Marines for a long time and when I found that the Commandant promulgated a list I decided that I would try and read through it.  I have previously read 5 of the books on the list, including one for the Colonels and Generals.  I put the first two books on the list on hold and this is the first one I got.

A Message to Garcia tells the story of a soldier named Rowan who was given an order to deliver a message to Garcia.  All he was told was that Garcia was somewhere on the island of Cuba.  Rowan received his orders and without any questions he went and found Garcia and delivered the message.  The moral of the story is accomplish the task you are given without complaining or asking a lot of questions.  It is a description of the rugged individual who can do whatever needs to be and is heavily reliant on self and not others.  This was originally publisher in a magazine as filler, with no title, just a throwaway piece in 1899.  It struck such a nerve all around the world that as of 1913 over 40 million copies had been printed in multiple languages.  It has been made into two movies and is recommended reading in many companies, I think the lesson for today is accomplish the task given you but use you own initiative to do it.  RR