I was impressed with Sam Zager’s commentary (April 11). As a physician, Naval Academy graduate and veteran, he has the credentials to get us to appreciate what Navy Capt. Brett Crozier did.

It takes a crisis to bring forth courage. We’ve witnessed many profiles in courage lately. And not just the doctors and nurses and emergency responders on the front line, but also the people who go to work so that we can eat, get where we need to go, receive our mail or get our medicine.

I am particularly struck by the Theodore Roosevelt’s commanding officer, who sacrificed his career to protect his crew. But they knew it and showed it when they gave him that resounding send-off as he left his ship and were severely reprimanded for doing it.

What’s wrong with our military establishment when it punishes people for doing the right thing? The answer is easy: At the top of the chain of command is a commander in chief who does this all the time. And does it with impunity. There is a sickness at the top that has spread like a virus throughout this administration.

It would be ironic, wouldn’t it, if the cure for this sickness is the deadly coronavirus itself? If more of us follow Capt. Crozier’s example – stand up for what is right, put others before ourselves – we just might make America better than it was before the virus.

Arthur C. Benedict

Peaks Island

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