But, the writer sees Moore, as a leader, knows well how to drive his emotions and his subordinates’ emotions into a positive direction in purpose to pursuit
collective goals. And here, the writers sees Daniel Goleman’s characteristics of Emotional Intelligence that are showed by Moore which are Self Awareness, Self
Regulation, Empathy, Motivation and Social Skill in leading his soldiers. For detailed explanation, they will be discussed below.
1. Self Awareness
At the beginning of the film, a French army is beaten by Vietnam in 1954, then the story moves into eleven years later. The White House wants a victory,
and then they decided to choose Lieutenant Colonel Harold George Moore to lead the combat into Vietnam. It becomes a heavy burden for him, because there are no
survivors when the French were patrolled there, the Vietnamese decided to take no prisoners, they are all massacred.
As Goleman says, people who have a high degree of self awareness recognize how their feelings affect them, other people, and their job
performance.
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Here, the spectators are not told literary through a narration about what Moore’s feels. The director only cues the spectators through a shot of Moore
facial expression that show his fear emotion. The director uses the shot of a close up of Moore’s face see picture 1 enclosure; after he saw the military history of
French in Indochina, when they were all massacred. The shot of a close up of Moore’s face is sufficient to more emphasize Moore’s facial expression that he
66
Goleman, D. 1998 January 2004. What Makes a Leader? Harvard Business Review. p.4.
worried if the unit that he’ll led will have the same condition with French army in Vietnam. Then the writer sees Moore was not showing his fear emotion to his
men, but the writer sees Moore drives his emotion into a positive way. He prepares himself for the battle and seeks improvement for his unit that he will
lead. Once more, the spectators are not literary through a narration about what Moore was doing; the director only cues the spectators through some shots.
Moore overseas the development of a new form of mounted combat, namely the use of helicopters to deposit and remove soldiers from the battlefield see picture
2 enclosure. Moore also studied poring over the books detailing prior battle of military history of French army in Indochina see picture 3 enclosure, he studied
and learnt the enemy strengths and weaknesses from the books and documentations and also studied the failures which made the French army
massacred in Vietnam see picture 4 enclosure. He prepares himself by learning from previous experiences which make French lose in the battle and it is fit as
Goleman says, “people with a high degree of self awareness also learn from experiences and know where they headed to and what their goals are.
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The same feeling felt by Moore, in the night before their departure, the unit’s officers hold a party to celebrate. Moore chats with the superior about the
unit that will be led by Moore. Moore dismayed because President Lyndon B. Johnson has decreed that the war would be fought “on the cheap”, without
declaring it a national emergency. As a result, Moore believes he will be deprived of his oldest, best trained soldiers a formal declaration of war would have meant
67
Goleman, D. 1998b. Working with emotional intelligence. New York: Bantam Books.
mobilization and extension of the terms of enlistment for volunteer soldiers – about 25 of his battalion- just prior to shipping out for Vietnam.
Moore : I didn’t hear the president mention a state of emergency.
Superior : No, he didn’t.
Moore : Well, without that declaration, our enlistments won’t be
extended.
Superior : I’m sorry, Hal.
Moore : Forgive me, sir. But let me get this straight. We form
division using techniques never attempted in battle. Against an enemy with 20 years of combat experiences on his
ground, 12,000 miles away from our ground. And right before the army sends us into the fight, they take away a
third of my most experienced men, including officers.
Superior : I don’t like it any better than you do Hal.
Moore : Hell no, sir. You saw this coming, didn’t you? Yes, that’s
why you gave me that new crop of platoon leaders. Sighs Korea didn’t teach ‘em anything. Politicians?
Superior : Politicians
Moore : Thank you, sir.
Superior : by the way, Hal, since we’re being deployed, they’re
renumbering the units. You’re now the commanding officer of the 1
st
battalion of the 7
th
cavalry
Moore
: The Seventh? The same regiment as Custer. Thank you, sir.
From their chat above, the writer sees Moore knows his own emotion, he is disappointed of his superior decision for placing the soldiers into a situation that
they have never been in before with an enemy that has 20 years of experiences by using techniques never attempted in battle and taking away a third of Moore’s
most experienced men including officers and also renumbering Moore’s unit like General Custer, the 1
st
Battalion 7
th
Cavalry regiment. Moore is disquieted because the 7
th
Cavalry regiment was the same unit commanded by General George Custer in the 19
th
Century during the Indian wars when he and his men were slaughtered at the Battle of the Little Big Horn, making it clear that “We
Were Soldiers” is nothing short of a Little Big Horn set in Vietnam.
Once more, the writer sees Moore negative emotion, disappointments to his superior, is driven into positive way and did not have negative impact to his
men. From the explanation above, the writer concludes that the fear feeling of
Moore that was worried if his men will have the same condition like French Army in Indochina and the unit commanded by General George Custer in the 19
th
Century at the Battle of Little Bighorn which they were all massacred is not having negative impact to his men, but Moore recognizes his fear feeling better
driven into positive way and going one step further turning his fear into something constructive, which is preparing himself for the battle. As the result, Moore is
having positive and productive teamwork between his subordinates. Because, when a leader is promoting psychological health between the others members, the
others members will feel comfortable and making more productive teamwork. Self awareness extends to a person’s understanding of his goals. Moore is
seeking improvement for his unit and Moore develops of a new form of mounted combat of using helicopters, as in the beginning of the story told that the problem
in Vietnam is terrain, jungles, mountains, rivers, and maneuvers nightmare. To achieve their goals in winning the battle Moore develops it and Moore will need a
chopper pilot to fly it.
Moore : Well, I got a problem, Snakeshit, and I think you’re the
solution.
Snakeshit : I’ve been called a lot of things, Colonel, never a solution.
Moore : You know what air cavalry really means? You fly into
hostile territory, out numbered, 10,000 miles from home. Sometimes the battle ground’s no bigger than a football
field. And if the choppers stop coming, we all get
slaughtered. Now, I figure chopper pilots won’t fly for strangers. So……… I’m Hal Moore.
Snakeshit : I know, sir. Why us?
Moore : Well you guys look like a shit, but your equipment is
immaculate. Yesterday was Sunday. You didn’t have to be training, but you were. You got pilots like Too Tall
character. He’s way outside the limits of army regs. They wanna fly with you for some reasons. I guess its cause they
think you’re the best.
As Goleman says in his 1998 book that people with a high degree of self awareness know their weaknesses and aren’t afraid to talk about them.
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We can see on the conversation above, Moore asks Snakeshit to be part of air cavalry
team. It can be concluded that Moore knows his weakness that he can not handle all alone in the battle, so he asks Snakeshit to join him. Moore using the teamwork
to cover his weaknesses. People with a high level of self awareness tend to be have a happy
dispotion, Moore is not showing his worried as the night when he saw the military history of French in Indochina, when they were all massacred. A happy
disposition is showed when Moore shows him as a humorist person in introducing his self. It is important to make a comfortable situation with others subordinates in
a team, because when people feel comfortable, they will have a more productive teamwork.
The self awareness of Moore is showing again when Moore gathered the unit in the formal meeting. He’s telling his men that as superiors, they still have
weaknesses. Moore told his men to keep learning.
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Ibid
Moore : “…but I can assure you that neither the new technology nor you
status as officers will keep you above the danger. …Now, I hope you gentlemen like training, ‘cause me and Sergeant Major
Plumpley we love it.” It is clear that Moore isn’t afraid to tell his weaknesses as a leader, that all
people including him still need to learn, superiors like Moore and Sergeant Major Plumpley keep still training.
People with a high self awareness not only knowing his weaknesses, but he also knowing his strength. By knowing and using their strength, people become
confidence of themselves, and self awareness of people can be recognized by their confidence. Here, even though American soldiers would be outnumbered, Moore
knows his strengths in mobilizing the battle. Moore has learn and studied the condition in Vietnam and Moore also familiarized himself with the battle
strategies of Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Huu An see picture 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 enclosure.
2. Self Regulation
