Essays on Risk
August 2014
Managing Relationships: Win-Win, Lose-Lose, or in between?
What are Your Negotiating Results?
Steven M. Harding, CPA
Superior relationship
management is
the most important
risk control.
In memory of all of the brave men and women who served and sacrificed in World War II.
Many organizations with a fiduciary responsibility have at their disposal the best risk
management personnel, advisors and tools of any organizations. Sometimes though, even
with the best of tools available, we are left only with our wits, determination, and yes, fear
and courage.
Managing Relationships: Win-Win, Lose-Lose, or in between? What are Your Negotiating Results?
Montargis, France - Seventy years ago this month …
I knew Captain America…
…only he was a Private.
The 22nd of August 1944 was a bloody, hot and humid
Tuesday in north central France about 60 miles south of Paris.
The Third U.S. Army under command of Lt. General George
Patton was smack in the middle of the Campaign of France
and working its way southeast from Avaranches, 200 miles
away, to the Moselle River. The 35th Infantry and the 4th
Armored Division were preparing to liberate the heavily
defended city of Montargis. But first, they had to clear out the
surrounding area.
As part of the preparations the day before, Monday the 21st,
twenty-five year old Private First Class Rollo P. Harding was
ordered to lead a patrol that afternoon into the dense Forêt
de Montargis to provide reconnaissance. He, and the handful
of men of the 25th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron with
him, had prepped that morning for this patrol, just as they
had prepped for all the others, checking knife, pistol,
ammunition, and the M1 Carbine rifle that rode in its own
scabbard, mounted on his trusty ‘steed’---a muddied but
dependable Army green 1942 Harley-Davidson WLA---feeding
it with gas and oil instead of oats and hay. His thoughts ran to
whether he’d have to use any of those weapons again that
day.
It was late afternoon as they rode into the woods but they still
had a long day ahead of them. Harding’s was the lead vehicle.
The sun was shining and the company had received a break
from the heavy rains and the woods were less muddy than
the roads. The pleasant coolness and smells of the forest soon
were replaced by their acute sense of danger from knowing
the woods were crawling with enemy soldiers.
No warning preceded the flash of light and instantaneous
deafening explosion of the German hand grenade, known by
the GIs un-affectionately as a ‘potato-masher.’ He’d heard
that sound many times before and seen the brutal aftermath.
This one was too close.
Just before the explosion knocked him off his motorcycle, he
was on high alert and his adrenaline rushed. But, he thought
how much he longed to be home with his wonderful new wife
Gertie in the upstate New York farm country.
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Steven M. Harding, CPA
Essays on Risk
Managing Relationships: Win-Win, Lose-Lose, or in between? What are Your Negotiating Results?
Like each of his buddies, he wished the war would be over
soon so he could return to the life he now only dreamed
about.
He was knocked into a tree and was unconscious, separated
from his unit.
When he came to he had no motorcycle, a ringing in his ears,
an aching head and no weapons...his utility belt and pistol,
and his short trench knife had been taken along with his
boots. His helmet was gone, but he knew it had saved him. His
mouth was gagged and his hands and feet were bound and he
was lying face down on the forest floor. He quickly realized
that he’d been captured. As he became more alert and his
hearing slowly returned, he occasionally heard men quietly
speaking German in the twilight. As full darkness arrived he
whispered prayers and slowly drifted off to sleep. His last
thought was of his squad---what had happened to them
during the ambush? Had they met a worse fate?
He awoke in the eerie pre-dawn silence of August 22nd. There
were no birds nearby to greet the rising sun. He saw that he
was in a small and hastily built bivouac with a company of
German soldiers and he did not see his buddies or any other
captives…just then all hell broke loose. Several loud
explosions shook the earth within a few hundred yards from
the camp. He knew the Third Army attack had begun.
Pfc. Harding hoped that perhaps this meant his buddies had
made it back and reported on the enemy activity in the
forest…but now he was very close to being on the wrong end
of a tank shell himself and the seemingly unstoppable
Campaign of France was on the move again.
The enemy soldiers were scattering and two of them rapidly
approached him. He could now hear them speaking about
what they would do. He could make out that they planned to
hastily retreat. They looked very tired and grim as they closed
in knowing that he was unarmed and bound. He recognized
their ranks…Master Sergeant (Oberfeldwebel) and,
surprisingly, Captain (Hauptmann). It was very unusual to see
a German officer up close and in the battle fray. But Harding
also thought this was a potential game changer.
The Sergeant had pistol drawn while the Captain ordered him
in perfect English, “Get up.” He said, “Don’t shout out”, as he
removed his gag, “my Sergeant has orders to kill you, if you
do.”
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Steven M. Harding, CPA
Essays on Risk
Managing Relationships: Win-Win, Lose-Lose, or in between? What are Your Negotiating Results?
The Private quietly and respectfully retorted, “Captain Sir,
thank you for sparing my life.”
Earlier that night, Harding had thought that perhaps his
dreams had come to an end. He found comfort in reciting the
23rd psalm of David…the Lord is my shepherd; I shall not
want… he knew that the forces of the Third Army were going
to barrage the forest if they had identified the location of the
enemy. As a prisoner in such circumstances, he knew he was
soon likely to die, either by enemy or friendly fire, and now,
indeed, the U.S. artillery barrage was beginning…but he was
not totally without hope, for while he lay there, he thought
that these men, who were his enemies, must also have
dreams and a life before the war to which they wanted to
return. If given the chance, he would try to convince them of
another way. No doubt, they had heard about the allies’
successful rush across France and that the powerful German
7th Army was all but destroyed. These soldiers, and especially
this German officer, knew better than anyone that the war
was now essentially a lost cause for them. In mere days the
allies would liberate Paris and Marseilles, and Patton, Bradley,
and Montgomery had already penetrated 200 miles into
occupied France and now the 4th Armored Division was
knocking on Germany’s door.
The Captain asked, “How many forces are bearing down on
us?”
The Private replied, “Sir, I don’t have that information, but I
can tell you that the allies have already moved rapidly and
taken back every objective they sought and the force is
overwhelming, and soon you will all be captured or killed.”
A subsequent artillery barrage was now directed nearer to
them and to his astonishment the Captain signaled the
sergeant who began to untie his feet. This might not be a
good sign because it would not look good to shoot a bound
captive. Harding decided to take the chance.
He addressed the officer, “Heir Hauptmann. Then in English,
Captain…Sir.” He paused. The Captain looked him in the eyes.
In that eye-to-eye exchange Harding began by warning them
again that very soon, if they continued to resist, they all would
be killed by allied artillery, the unstoppable M4 tanks, the air
support, and infantry under Patton’s command would follow.
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Steven M. Harding, CPA
Essays on Risk
Managing Relationships: Win-Win, Lose-Lose, or in between? What are Your Negotiating Results?
He matter-of-factly told them with all the sincerity he could
muster that the allies were winning the war, that the German
soldiers they captured were safe and treated humanely, and
that they had very limited options…either be kept alive by
giving up, with a guarantee that they would be treated
well…or, resist and face almost certain death.
He took a chance, “Sir, I believe that you are an officer who
cares about the lives and future of his men. Will you take a
chance that will cause the unnecessary deaths of your men or
take a chance now and trust that the U.S. will be merciful to
them by surrendering?”
The Captain spoke a few words in German to his sergeant. The
sergeant nodded and spoke and then started walking back to
the company of men now gathered near their vehicles.
Somehow this lowly soldier’s words, manner and respect for
the rank of his captor got through to the officer. He knew
what was coming. Word had spread through the German
ranks that the Americans were merciful, as he had said. His
confidence, sincerity and convincing tone succeeded in
persuading the Captain and twenty-eight men to surrender to
him. Upon reporting to the U.S. artillery command in
Montargis with his 29 prisoners, Pfc. Rollo P. Harding
contributed information about the enemy which enabled the
U.S. forces to capture 100 additional prisoners in Montargis.
***
Epilogue - While I imagined some of what happened on those
dark days of August 1944, the facts are true about the action
taken by Pfc. Harding and the number of soldiers that
surrendered to him. The Bronze Star medal was later awarded
to him because of his cool-headedness and devotion to duty.
There were over 3,300 other brave Bronze Star winners in the
ETO.
Born at the end of WW I on December 2, 1918, perhaps Rollo
Pershing Harding was destined to be in the U.S. Cavalry like
his namesake General John ‘Tiger Jack’ Pershing. Instead of
riding a horse like those cavalrymen before him he was on a
Harley. The technology had changed, but war and men were
the same.
Private Rollo P. Harding, 1944. Age 25
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Steven M. Harding, CPA
My uncle’s real life example has taught me that while we
need to keep peace through strength, there are sometimes
better ways to settle differences; that sometimes a meeting
face-to-face and ‘reasoning together’ can turn a lose-lose
Essays on Risk
Managing Relationships: Win-Win, Lose-Lose, or in between? What are Your Negotiating Results?
situation into a win-win; and that in the midst of one’s darkest
hours and during the most desperate of times we always have
hope. He later continued the fight and crossed the Rhine with
the allied forces into Germany to liberate the country. He
eventually came home to his wife (my Aunt Gertrude) and
lived in West Seneca, N.Y.
Thanks for your service Uncle Rollo; you were a real Captain
America.
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Steven M. Harding, CPA
Essays on Risk
Managing Relationships: Win-Win, Lose-Lose, or in between? What are Your Negotiating Results?
About the Author
Steve Harding is a Senior Consultant at Anodos Advisors, LLC. He can be reached at (518) 229-0107 or
[email protected].
About Anodos Advisors, LLC
Anodos is a registered investment advisor based in Santa Barbara, California. The Firm is an independent member firm
of the BDO Alliance USA.
About the BDO Alliance USA
The BDO Alliance USA is a nationwide association of independently owned local and regional accounting, consulting
and service firms with similar client service goals.
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Steven M. Harding, CPA
Essays on Risk