Loyalty to our country.
Duty to be all we can be in the service to our nation.
Respect is our golden rule; work friendly and treat others as we want to be treated.
Selfless service is always evident when we accomplish our missions as soldier and health-care professionals.
Honor -- we bring this to our profession by the quality of our service.
Integrity is the basis of all actions. We commit ourselves to a code of moral and ethical conduct.
Personal courage requires that we always make the tough choices.
These seven Army values are the hallmark of the U.S. military. Applying these values to Tripler helps us reach our goal to provide world-class care.
These values are more than just words. They provide the foundation for all of our actions. The following four examples illustrate how honesty is still the best policy:
In July 1998, an elderly couple left the Tripler chapel and, when entering their vehicle, a wallet was inadvertently left on the roof of their car. Sgt. Brian Keffer, Tripler's chaplain's assistant, saw the wallet and raced to the parking lot. He observed the vehicle drive away and the wallet with its contents blowing off the roof, money flying in every direction. He retrieved more than $200 and other documents, and returned everything to the owners.
In late July 1998, an inpatient found a pair of socks in the bottom drawer of his nightstand. Curiosity caused the patient to unroll the socks, which contained $860 in cash. He immediately turned the money and socks over to the Ward Charge Nurse, Maj. Jimal B. Hales. Hales remembered that two weeks earlier an enlisted man from the U.S. Navy, Sasebo, Japan, had reported cash missing from his pillowcase. Since the pillowcase had long been laundered, the incident was chalked up to money gone forever. But that sailor was located at Pearl Harbor, and he and his $860 were reunited.
An elderly retired U.S. Navy beneficiary reported to the emergency room for treatment. While in an examination room, he accidentally dropped $260 on the floor when retrieving something from his pocket. Later, he discovered his money missing and thought it long gone. But it had been found by a duty NCO in the emergency room, who contacted security. On Aug. 4, SFC Kevin Guerrero, the Provost Marshal's noncommissioned officer in charge, and I drove to Waipahu and returned the cash to a happy retiree.
On Aug. 5, a U.S. Navy petty officer, who was visiting his wife who had just delivered a baby, went to a latrine on the fourth floor. While there, he found a wallet and brought the wallet to the PMO. There was $864 in cash inside, plus numerous credit cards and other documents. The wallet belonged to a parent of a service member who had been medically evacuated from the Far East. The parent was at his son's bedside when Navy Capt. (Dr.) John Aguilar, Tripler's Deputy Commander for Clinical Services, SFC Guerrero and I located him, and returned his wallet and money. He had been so distraught over his son, he didn't even know that he had lost it. Needless to say, Tripler made a new friend.
There are numerous other cases of staff and patient honesty, but these four incidents occurred within the past month and show that honesty is alive and well.
Each individual involved was committed to a code of moral and ethical conduct, accountable for their actions and having the moral courage to have the strength to make the right choice in proving honesty is the best policy.
