As Columbus Day approached, John had to put aside the matter of sorting out the materials for airborne operations. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 info He has another "headache" to solve - help little Eric choose a suitable godfather.

For a family like John, choosing a godfather and godmother for a child is a serious matter. These two men don't just show up at the baptismal ceremony and play the role of little Eric's protector and give him a Christian name. It's not just about being in charge of little Eric's religious education in the future and helping him start his religious life.

In the United States in this era, the role of godfathers and godmothers has long gone beyond the traditional religious meaning and has become very secular. In many cases, the greatest role of godfathers and godmothers is to use their own abilities and resources to help their godchildren and goddaughters improve their social and economic status. They need not only to provide spiritual guidance to their godsons, but also to provide social connections and even necessary financial support.

In the early days, godfathers, godmothers were even equal to the child's alternate parents. Many people even set the child's godfather and godmother as the child's legal guardian directly in their will. Once they die in an accident, the child's godfather or godmother can immediately obtain custody.

In later generations in the United States, although the influence of religion on the daily life is declining, the system of godfathers and godmothers is still very popular, and even some Jews (there is no such thing as godparents and godmothers in Rotor Judaism) will look for godfathers and godmothers for their children.

This kind of emotional and interest bond between them has been widely recognized by the society. Some localities even explicitly stipulate that when public officials exercise public power, in addition to their own immediate family members, they must also avoid suspicion of their godsons and goddaughters.

However, at the level of John, finding a godfather and godmother for children is more out of another consideration. For them, what kind of resources the godfather or godmother can provide for their children is not the most important. Finding a godfather and godmother for a child is actually another means of "marriage", and it is an important way to draw in and strengthen the relationship between two families.

Therefore, although John does not need to find seven or eight godfathers and godmothers for newborns in one go, as the British royal family does, he is not sloppy in the selection of people.

In fact, little Eric is not short of candidates for godfathers. As John's only son, there was a large group of people vying to be his godfather. For example, Hughes, that guy, has already taken the initiative to probe John's tone, but John didn't pick up his stubble. He didn't dare to let Hughes, a severely obsessive-compulsive patient, be his son's godfather, what if little Eric was crooked.

Personally, John was not very utilitarian in this matter. Anyway, anyone who can be the godfather of little Eric will not lack wealth and status. He is more concerned about which of these "candidates" will be more beneficial to little Eric's future education and growth.

Past life, Hillary. Clinton once liked to repeat the old saying, "It takes a village to raise a child." It means that children's growth needs not only the care of the family, but also the care of a community, and the guidance of some elders other than their parents. After all, no matter how good parents are, they also have shortcomings. Moreover, a successful person like John, who is usually busy with work and rarely has time to take care of and educate his children personally, needs the help of his godfather and godmother even more.

John's selection criteria were simple: first, the person had a good temperament and moral cultivation. A drunkard, or a man with character flaws, no matter how rich or powerful he is, cannot be a godfather to little Eric.

Secondly, it is best that the profession he is engaged in should be closely related to the growth of children, such as well-known scholars and university professors.

Thirdly, it is better for this person to have no children, or the age of the children is relatively different from that of little Eric. Because only in this way can he be able to invest more emotion, energy and resources in little Eric. In later generations in the United States, single women and gay men were particularly popular candidates for godfathers and godmothers. John knew a gay writer in his previous life, and he had 11 goddaughters.

Based on these three criteria, John scoured among many of his family's friends and relatives and found a good candidate for the president of Louisiana State University, Mr. Troy Middleton.

This Middleton Principal is no ordinary pedagogue. As a veteran of the Army who participated in the Villacruz landings (a military intervention in the Mexican Revolution in 1914) and World War I, he was far more influential in the military world than in the academic world. Historically, after the United States entered the war in 1942, Middleton was once again invited out of the mountains, and led the Eighth Army under the command of Patton to sweep across the Brittany Peninsula in France, and finally crossed the Rhine River to the heart of Germany.

John chose him first of all because Middleton met all three of his criteria for choosing a godfather for Eric Jr.

First, Middleton has no problem with his personal character at all, and even the high-eyed, grumpy Barton is convinced, recognizing him as "the best in America...... He is also the most effective commander."

Second, Middleton has been engaged in education for many years. Prior to serving as president of Louisiana State University, Middleton also taught at military schools such as the Command and Staff College at Fort Leavenworth. (After the war ended in 1945, Middleton retired for the second time and returned to Louisiana State University to serve as president for 17 years.) John believed that a man who had been teaching and educating people for most of his life had no reason why he couldn't teach little Eric.

Third, Middleton and Alfred are the same age, and they are both 51 years old this year. He still has no children, only three children, all of whom are married.

With the above three points alone, Middleton is already an excellent godfather candidate who is hard to find with a lantern. What's more, Middleton's deep background and connections in the military are also very helpful to John himself.

Speaking of which, John coveted Middleton's vast network of connections across factions in the military. On the one hand, he was a conservative in the army, and he had an excellent relationship with a group of veteran generals who had participated in World War I; On the other hand, he has been engaged in military theoretical research for many years, and his academic thinking is very avant-garde, and he is quite respected by the new forces in the army.

When the Fort Benning Infantry School was founded in 1921, Middleton was one of the school's first instructors, and even Marshall was his junior. Middleton, who has taught at the military academy for many years, can be said to be full of peach and plum army. Not to mention anything else, 17 of the 34 commanders of the U.S. Army during World War II alone were his students.

Even in the future Pacific theater, Middleton had a large group of comrades, colleagues and students. Even MacArthur himself and Middleton are old acquaintances. When the U.S. Army landed in Veracruz, Mexico, in 1914, Middleton, as a second lieutenant, served as a platoon commander under MacArthur (then a captain).

The only thing John feels a little regretful about is that Louisiana State University is just an ordinary public university, and the overall ranking of universities in the United States is only about 100, which would be more perfect if it was a prestigious school. But nothing in the world is so perfect.

Moreover, Louisiana State University is in Baton Rouge, close to the Clay Bone Barracks, where he is about to go to the 82nd Infantry Division. It was a good opportunity for John to walk around with Middleton more. John is really about to leave the army, John is worried about his lack of systematic understanding of military knowledge, isn't Middleton a good teacher ready-made?

It's just that Middleton, the godfather, hasn't taught little Eric yet, so he taught him to be a father first, how does it feel a little weird.