Leaving No Warriors Behind: The Ancient Roots of a Modern Sensibility

Abstract

The ethos of leaving no one behind has traditionally animated military forces distinguished by elite status, closed cultures, and frequent operational isolation (e.g., the French Foreign Legion, US Marines, and US Army Rangers). With the recent approval of the Soldier’s Creed, however, the exhortation to leave no one behind has been formally disseminated throughout the US Army. This creed, embraced by the media and further popularized by Hollywood cinema, dates back to ancient Greece, specifically to the literary models found in Homer. However, profound changes to the nature of warfare as well as to the structure of the force and the society it serves have dramatically altered the moral and political significance of retrieving the fallen for the US military. Renewed emphasis on returning for not only the wounded but also, more provocatively, the dead, reveals the enduring appeal of aristocratic sentiment to a democratic force. This article traces the roots of this gesture back to the classical epics of Homer and Virgil in order to evaluate the implications of its recent reemergence in popular and military culture. The analysis extends to contemporary film ( Saving Private Ryan and Black Hawk Down) and to recent US operations in Afghanistan and Iraq.