美国国家公共电台 NPR A Green Beret Sits For A Portrait By His Former Commander In Chief

 

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

President George W. Bush's book of portraits of more than 60 soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines who served in wars under his watch was published this week - "Portraits Of Courage: A Commander In Chief's Tribute to America's Warriors¹." President Bush has done a number of interviews in recent days talking about how he took up painting after leaving office and how he came to paint portraits of men and women that he sent in to war. We're joined by one of the president's subjects now. They call each other friends. Michael Rodriguez was a U.S. Army Special Forces Green Beret who served from 1992 to 2013 in Latin America, Somalia, Haiti, two tours in Afghanistan, nine deployments in 21 years. Michael Rodriguez joins us now from his home near Fort Bragg, N.C. Thanks so much for being with us.

MICHAEL RODRIGUEZ: Oh, thank you for having me.

SIMON: What do you think of your portrait?

RODRIGUEZ: Oh, wow. I'm, you know, I'm blown away that my former commander in chief would actually take the time to paint those that served under him. And I'm humbled² that he selected me as one of them. I think it's a pretty good representation of me. I couldn't - I'm still kind of processing the whole thing.

SIMON: Well, it shows a man with a very strong face, very vivid lines, dark hair. Do you have two eyes that are of different color?

RODRIGUEZ: Yes, sir. So the story behind the colors of my eyes being different is I actually wear prosthetic lenses to help correct some of the neurological vision issues that I have, which are secondary to the number of brain injuries that I received in my service.

SIMON: You suffered how many concussions³, Rod?

RODRIGUEZ: Probably in the neighborhood of about 12 that I can remember, like 12 significant ones. But, you know, through training and through a lot of deployments, you know, I'd probably had a few more than that when I was finally hospitalized for them. You know, when I sat down with the doctors, they were like, all right, let's figure this out. And I was like, I had never really taken a count of it. It's not like I was keeping score.

SIMON: All of that be noted⁴, was it hard to stop being a Green Beret?

RODRIGUEZ: The day I was told, I'll never forget it. When I was fully⁵ diagnosed, I was in hospital at Bethesda and, you know, after they read the laundry list of diagnoses, you know, it was like 17 different diagnoses, 17 things that were wrong with me that - I kind of had an idea there were some, you know, I knew there were some issues. But I had no idea how extensive they were. And then afterwards, you know, they said, we're initiating⁶ medical retirement⁷ proceedings⁸ because you can no longer perform the duties as a Special Forces Green Beret. And that's a quote, you know, I'll never forget that. That was probably the hardest sentence I ever had to hear.

SIMON: Why? I mean, a lot of people would say wow, whoopee. Thanks. I'm not...

RODRIGUEZ: (Laughter) Well, I think the military particularly, socially we identify ourselves by our job position, our duty position. And after 21 years of service, you know, I identified myself. I was a soldier. I was Special Forces Green Beret. That was my job. Yes, I was a father, I was a husband, you know, a brother, a friend. But when I heard those words, it was just difficult for me to process because it was almost like I was losing my identity.

SIMON: Yeah. You suffered yourself, and you must have seen a lot of friends who suffered or died in combat, right?

RODRIGUEZ: Yes, sir. It's just kind of the nature of the work that we do in service to our great country is we're sent into harm's way at times. But those are choices that each and every one of us has made, so we definitely have our obstacles and, you know, face them.

SIMON: Were you ever angry at your commander in chief for sending you into war?

RODRIGUEZ: Oh, never. No. I've never been upset. You know, growing up, you know, I was a patriotic⁹ American. You know, my father's a Vietnam veteran, my grandfathers are World War II veterans. Heck, my wife's still active duty serving in the Army. She's a combat veteran. And even my oldest son is stationed here in the 82nd Airborne division. So we've - I've worked under all the presidents, you know, from President Bush to, you know, President Obama. And I've never been angry at my commander in chief. The burden of command is something that is something you'll never really fully understand unless you're that guy in that position. But I've always been supportive of all my commanders in chief.

SIMON: You're doing art yourself, I gather?

RODRIGUEZ: Yes. Yes, I am. So during my hospitalization, I was exposed to art therapy. You know, you tell any Green Beret like, hey, we're going to do some art. And I'm like what are you talking about? I'm not - art? But I was like, all right, I'll give it a try. And, you know, I found the gift of art. And I'm not saying I'm a gifted artist by any means, but, I mean, I think art is a gift.

SIMON: Going through this book, it's pictures of veterans. You know, they're not in battle finery with battle ribbons. It's just regular guys and women. Do you think these portraits can help those of us who've never served understand those who have done so much?

RODRIGUEZ: I am really glad you brought that up because I really hope that people when they read this book and see this, they see that we're just normal people. Veterans aren't that different. We're not different. I don't - you know, we're not that different from your average American citizen. It's just we had a different career choice. We chose a different path. And we were placed into certain circumstances and have different experiences. You know, at the end of the day, we're all Americans, and I really think that this book will illustrate¹⁰ that.

SIMON: Michael Rodriguez is one of more than 60 U.S. military veterans painted by President George W. Bush and featured in the president's new book, "Portraits of Courage." Rod, thank you for being with us, and thank you for your service.

RODRIGUEZ: Oh, thank you for your time.

1 warriors   

武士，勇士，战士( warrior的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• I like reading the stories ofancient warriors. 我喜欢读有关古代武士的故事。
• The warriors speared the man to death. 武士们把那个男子戳死了。

2 humbled   

adj. 卑下的，谦逊的，粗陋的 vt. 使 ... 卑下，贬低

参考例句：

• The examination results humbled him. 考试成绩挫了他的傲气。
• I am sure millions of viewers were humbled by this story. 我相信数百万观众看了这个故事后都会感到自己的渺小。

3 concussions   

n.震荡( concussion的名词复数 )；脑震荡；冲击；震动

参考例句：

• People who have concussions often trouble thinking or remembering. 患脑震荡的人通常存在思考和记忆障碍。 来自互联网
• Concussions also make a person feel very tired or angry. 脑震荡也会使人感觉疲倦或愤怒。 来自互联网

4 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

5 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

6 initiating   

v.开始( initiate的现在分词 )；传授；发起；接纳新成员

参考例句：

• He is good at initiating projects but rarely follows through with anything. 他善于创建项目，但难得坚持完成。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Only the perchlorate shows marked sensitiveness and possibly initiating properties. 只有高氯酸盐表现有显著的感度和可能具有起爆性能。 来自辞典例句

7 retirement   

n.退休，退职

参考例句：

• She wanted to enjoy her retirement without being beset by financial worries.她想享受退休生活而不必为金钱担忧。
• I have to put everything away for my retirement.我必须把一切都积蓄起来以便退休后用。

8 proceedings   

n.进程，过程，议程；诉讼(程序)；公报

参考例句：

• He was released on bail pending committal proceedings. 他交保获释正在候审。
• to initiate legal proceedings against sb 对某人提起诉讼

9 patriotic   

adj.爱国的，有爱国心的

参考例句：

• His speech was full of patriotic sentiments.他的演说充满了爱国之情。
• The old man is a patriotic overseas Chinese.这位老人是一位爱国华侨。

10 illustrate   

v.举例说明，阐明；图解，加插图

参考例句：

• The company's bank statements illustrate its success.这家公司的银行报表说明了它的成功。
• This diagram will illustrate what I mean.这个图表可说明我的意思。