A Surgeon's Remarkable Weekend, The Chorus To One Of Jay-Z's Most Famous Songs, And A World War II Dogfight: How Looking Beyond Labels Leads To Compassion

The 3-Word Quote: “Facta, Non Verba”

1.

Dr. Robert McClelland died a few years ago.

He was a well-known surgeon and teacher.

Dr. McClelland was the founder of Selected Readings in General Surgery, a collection of writings distributed by the American College of Surgeons.

He had a long and distinguished career in the field of medicine.

However, if you recognize the name Robert McClelland, it is likely not from Selected Readings in General Surgery. It's likely from a particular weekend when he was working at his hospital.

That particular weekend, he was playing an instructional video for his students; he was, at the time, an assistant professor at UT Southwestern.

But a loud and urgent knocking on his classroom door interrupted the video.

It was an emergency.

Dr. McClelland was needed in Trauma Room 1 immediately.

The doctor quickly left his students and rushed into Trauma Room 1, a relatively small operating room.

And when he arrived, the small room was packed.

And very few of the people in the room were hospital staff.

You see, this was November 22.

1963.

In the city of Dallas.

And the people in the trauma room who weren't medical staff were law enforcement. There were FBI agents, local police officers, and, of course, secret service officers.

Because lying on the hospital bed was the President of the United States.

John F. Kennedy had just been shot, and Dr. McClelland had been pulled from his teaching to help save the President's life.

Dr. Malcolm Perry was already scrubbed in and leading a small team. Perry told McCelland to 'go to the head of the cart.'

When Mclelland moved to where he was asked, he recalled his first words were, 'My God, have you seen the back of his head? It's gone.'

The wound was massive.

Five minutes later, while Dr. McClelland was holding his head, the President died.

The President's assassination was a defining moment not just for McClelland but for the country as well.

One moment, Dr. McClelland was simply showing a video to students; the next, he was trying to save the President of the United States.

McClelland was changed forever.

But incredibly, this wasn't the entire story of his weekend.

2.

The first time Shawn Carter saw someone murdered was when he was nine years old.

In his early teens in the 1990s, he was selling crack cocaine in his neighborhood in Brooklyn.

His childhood was incredibly tough.

His father left him, and he felt he needed to sell drugs to help his mom 'pay the light bill.'

But Shawn Carter didn't wind up in jail like many of his friends who sold drugs with him.

He wound up in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

And he wound up winning 25 Grammys and being declared 'Hip Hop's first billionaire.'

But before Shawn Carter gained fame and fortune, he was a struggling rapper who went by the name Jay-Z.

Despite his early troubles in his teens, he would read the dictionary religiously and write lyrics constantly.

However, in the early days of writing lyrics, he would never let anyone see him write, as he was embarrassed - he was trying to maintain his image as a tough street kid.

Even if your music interests don't include Jay-Z, you likely know of several of his songs. One of his most famous songs and the song that thrust him into the spotlight was It's a Hard Knock Life (Ghetto Anthem).

He'd had other singles before this one. Still, this song was everywhere in the late 1990s, partially due to its unusual opening lines and chorus.

Those opening few lines of Jay-Z's song are a sample from the Broadway play Annie.

Annie and her orphan friends sing about their tough life in the most famous song from the play. Those lines, sung by young cast members combined with Jay-Z's lyrics about street life, were jarring when put together, yet the combination worked perfectly.

The song became a smash.

However, Jay-Z's "Hard Knock Life (Ghetto Anthem)" almost became a significantly different song from the one we know now.

Because before Jay-Z could release the song, he was a major problem.

3.

While you might not have known Jay-Z's real name, you likely recognize the name Charlie Brown.

When people hear the name Charlie Brown, they think of Snoopy, Linus, Pigpen, and the gang from Peanuts.

But that's not the Charlie Brown we're talking about here.

This Charlie Brown was a World War II B-17 pilot.

This Charlie Brown was a war-tested aviator who flew a bomber called Ye Olde Pub and was part of the 527 Bombardment Squadron stationed in England during the war.

On December 20, 1943, the 21-year-old pilot was to take his crew on a bombing mission to attack an aircraft factory in Bremen, Germany.

Bremen was known to be heavily fortified. Brown and his men were told by their superiors they might 'encounter hundreds of German fighters.'

But Brown and other pilots accepted the mission and flew to attack the German target. Within minutes of striking the aircraft facility, Brown's bomber sustained multiple attacks by German forces.

During the attack, Ye Olde Pub's number 2 engine was damaged and ceased to function. The number 4 engine was also heavily damaged as the plane had to drop back to the rear of the US squadron on the mission.

Multiple systems began to quit working. Some instruments began to freeze because of the damage and the cold air rushing through the bullet-ridden aircraft.

Most of the Brown's crew suffered injuries as dozens of German planes unloaded on the US bomber.

Ye Olde Pub was not in good shape.

Charlie Brown was injured, too.

The plane struggled to stay in the sky.

German ace Franz Stigler saw the damaged American plane and began to give chase to Ye Olde Pub. Stigler, an accomplished pilot, had 27 confirmed victims in aerial combat.

Stigler was not a pilot you wanted to see, especially if your aircraft was heavily damaged.

Stigler flew close to the US bomber and could see the injured crew and half-destroyed aircraft.

Stigler's 28th aerial combat victory would be one of his easiest, he thought.

The Takeaway:

So, what does a doctor who treated President Kennedy, a song by Jay-Z, and a World War II bomber pilot all have in common? They are examples of showing empathy toward and working with those who are opposed to another's belief system.

They are examples of trying to see people not as opponents but as people who might be in need.

They are about putting other's humanity before a personal belief system.

***

Dr. McClelland had just had a monumental, life-altering experience.

One minute, he was working with his med students; the next, he was thrust into a surgery room, struggling to save President Kennedy's life.

After Kennedy's death, Dr. McClelland said his work on the president was the most 'unusual occurrence that one would ever expect in an ordinary life. That experience will always be with me.'

And that experience was with the doctor his entire life.

But that 'unusual occurrence' wasn't the only dramatic part of that particular weekend.

Unbelievably, two days later, McClelland was thrown in the spotlight again.

Two days later, the doctor raced into another surgery room in his hospital to treat another gunshot victim - it was the first gunshot victim he had worked on since trying to save the President.

This man lying on the operating table had been shot in the abdomen.

And this man, too, was someone the entire country would come to know.

His name was Lee Harvey Oswald. Jack Ruby had just shot him on live TV about 30 minutes before being brought to McClelland's hospital.

Having just worked on President Kennedy two days ago, Dr. McClelland was now trying to save the President's killer.

The doctors went to work just like they had for Kennedy.

But Oswald was dying.

Oswald's chest had to be opened as doctors had to administer an 'open heart massage' for 40 minutes.

Dr. McClelland and the others in the surgery room worked on Oswald for just under an hour, trying to keep him alive.

Approximately two hours after he was shot, Oswald died on McClelland's operating table.

In an unlikely span of two days, Dr. McClelland had tried to save both the president and his assassin.

It was one of the most life-changing and historical two days a surgeon has ever had.

And surprising to some - but perhaps not for doctors - McClelland had worked equally hard to save them both.

He wanted them both to survive.

He didn't withhold his knowledge when working on Oswald. He didn't work more slowly. He worked like he did when working on the President - to the best of his ability.

He likely had personal feelings, beliefs, and prejudices about Oswald, likely harboring hatred toward him as nearly every American did.

But the surgeon had used his expertise to work on the President and his killer, trying to save them both because that was his job - regardless of who was on his operating table and regardless of how he felt about them.

Perhaps this approach is one we could all use, regardless of our occupation and despite our individual beliefs and personal prejudices.

***

Jay-Z had a problem.

He had a great track ready for release. He knew it would be a hit, but it needed one other flourish at the start of the song to make it stand out.

And he already knew what that something extra was - he knew he needed to attach the opening lines of Hard Knock Life, a song from the Broadway show Annie. He needed those lines for the chorus to complete his song.

The juxtaposition of the Broadway lines added to his song would be perfect, he thought.

But Jay-Z knew a stuffy, old white Broadway musical producer was not going to allow part of the show's iconic song to be sampled on a rap song by an artist that most people hadn't ever heard of.

Jay-Z knew this because the copyright holder had already rejected his request.

But the young artist knew he had to have those Annie lyrics in his song.

So Jay-Z decided to write another letter - this time a personal letter - to the producer to explain why those lyrics meant so much to him.

So Jay-Z wrote the letter.

He wrote about an experience he had in seventh grade.

In the letter, he wrote about entering an essay contest in school where the top three essays would win a trip to the city to see a performance of Annie on Broadway.

Jay-Z entered the writing contest and was one of the three winners. He was elated.

He told the producer about winning the essay contest and about how watching Annie was mesmerizing. He discussed the connections between Annie's life as an orphan and his difficult life growing up on the streets.

Jay-Z's letter was raw and heartfelt.

And it connected with the producer.

Annie's producer could now see that the two stories were, in fact, similar despite the different cultures. The producer could see Jay-Z as a person with dreams and hardships.

The letter worked, and Jay-Z was granted permission to use the sample in his song.

The song became a monster hit and launched him into superstardom.

But there was still a problem.

You see, there was no seventh-grade essay contest. There was no winning trip to the city. And he never saw Annie on Broadway.

Jay-Z had made it all up. Everything in the letter was a lie.

Jay-Z did see a connection between his real life and the fictional character of Annie. This part was true.

However, the upcoming rapper had to find a way for the producer to see him as a person and understand how he grew up; he had to get the producer to see him as a person, so he lied in the letter.

But it worked.

The producer, who presumably once saw Jay-Z as entirely different from himself, connected with the commonalities of the upcoming artist.

And despite lying, the young rapper knew what he had to do to connect.

And the producer responded.

And the song remains one of the most well-known in his decades-long career.

Ironically, Jay-Z, who lied about seeing the play in middle school, served as producer for the 2014 film adaptation of Annie.

***

Charlie Brown's plane had just been attacked above Germany during World War II.

The plane suffered significant damage and was having difficulty staying in the air.

German pilot Franz Stigler was ready to finish off Ye Olde Pub and flew closer, eager for kill number 28.

The American bomber was in such terrible shape that Stigler could see through multiple holes in the metal.

It would take very little effort for Stigler to finish off the bomber.

However, Stigler did not shoot down the enemy plane.

You see, Stigler recalled an order given to him years ago by a commanding officer.

Stigler's commanding officer told him, 'If I ever see or hear you shooting down a man in a parachute, I will shoot you myself.'

He was telling Stigler that if the pilot ever shot at a defenseless enemy falling from the sky, Stigler would pay for it with his life.

A direct and memorable order. And one the German soldier would never forget.

So when Stigler approached Ye Olde Pub and saw how injured the crew was and how damaged the plane was, he viewed the American plane similarly to a parachuting enemy soldier.

In other words, this plane posed no harm and was completely defenseless and helpless.

So Stigler remembered and followed his old commander's orders; he did not open fire on the American plane.

Instead, Stigler continued to fly next to Brown.

In fact, Stigler flew on Brown's port side so that German anti-aircraft guns on the ground couldn't shoot at Brown's plane.

It took some time for Brown to understand the protection that Stigler was providing.

When Ye Olde Pub was safely out of German airspace, Stigler saluted Brown and flew back to his German base.

The salute was from one combatant to another, from one soldier to another - from one human to another.

It was an act that Charlie Brown would never forget for the rest of his life.

The American plane made it back to safety that day.

In 1990, Charlie Brown was able to track down the German pilot who showed him mercy 40 years earlier.

Both remembered that day.

The two, Brown and Stigler, became friends until 2000, when both men died within months of each other.

***

A doctor working on the President's killer, a white broadway producer finding common ground with a former drug dealer from Brooklyn, and a German fighter pilot sparing an American bomber crew - all examples of people who might have opted to behave differently - but each displayed kindness and professionalism toward another that might have been considered their 'enemy.'

Kindness and empathy are the traits that parents strive to instill in their children; however, in our own lives as adults, these two qualities can be challenging to extend to others who are unlike us.

Sometimes, we'd do well to follow our own advice.

***

3 things before you leave:

1. read: “Evolution of Picasso’s Iconic Self-Portraits From Age 15 to 90”: fascinating article/pictures that show how much an artist can change over time (first saw this in A. Kleon’s newsletter)

2. Listen: saw them perform a couple months ago; you’ve likely heard this song on a commercial; good song

3. Listen: and an older one by the same group; upbeat, catchy song

***Thanks for reading.