Former U.S. Navy SEAL officer and decorated United States Naval Academy athlete Clint Bruce received the Iwo Jima Leadership Award at the General H.M. Smith Dinner on April 4.
Bruce is the founder and president of Trident Response Group, a global intelligence, intervention and rescue group based in Dallas. He is also the founder of Carry the Load, a non-profit organization that exists to re-establish the true meaning of Memorial Day.
During his acceptance speech, Bruce told the audience that he was humbled and overwhelmed when he was contacted about the Iwo Jima Leadership Award.
“As an individual I am not worthy,” he said, “but as a representative of the men and women I served with, I am.”
Bruce addressed the cadets and told them to never quit anything once it begins to get hard. During his Navy SEAL training, 217 people started the program but only 12 finished. According to Bruce, most of them gave up because they forgot the reason they were doing it.
“Your ‘why’ is everything. When things get hard, you remember why you’re doing it,” he said. “Life becomes very simple when you have a very clear mission.”
MMA also honored four extraordinary supporters at the General H.M. Smith Dinner. Dorothy Sable Armstrong of Dallas and Richard Moxley of Oakton, Va., Class of 1986, were inducted into the H.M. Smith Fellow society and presented with the H.M. Smith Fellow jacket and gold watch.
The late LtCol James Armstrong, USMCR (Ret) of Dallas and the late Meta Reed of Hot Springs Village, Ark., were also inducted in spirit for their planned giving to the academy.
