Newly commissioned U.S. Army officers are expected to “carefully and diligently discharge the duties of the office they are appointed.” As part of those duties they will be relied upon to care for the individuals under their command.

The president of the United States takes an oath of office, not dissimilar to the one these young men and women take.

Military officers’ duties entail certain authority and responsibility. They learn that one can delegate some of that authority but none of the responsibility.

A good leader praises others when a mission succeeds and takes all the responsibility when its fails. Our president assumes none of the responsibility, choosing to blame others (the World Health Organization, his impeachment, the press, the state governors, President Obama and China, to name but a few scapegoats) for the failure to adequately deal with this health crisis – his mission as a “war-time president.”

President Trump’s failure speaks to an important obligation of a U.S. Army officer – to care for the individuals under ones command. Their safety and well-being are of paramount importance in effectively completing any mission.

In our present heath crisis, the president’s lack of preparedness in acquiring adequate equipment, consideration of a “herd immunity” and the medical freelancing involving drugs/products of questionable efficacy demonstrate an appalling lack of leadership and concern for the U.S. citizens he took an oath to protect.

Now there is talk of bringing the graduating class of 1,000 cadets back to West Point (near a hotspot of the virus) in June to be quarantined and tested so that he can deliver their commencement address – all for the purpose of self-adulation.

These actions/inactions demonstrate a profound dereliction of duty.

Within a period of two months we have hit a loss of life due to this virus comparable to that which took place during the final 12 years of the Vietnam Conflict. April 30 was the 45th anniversary of the fall of Saigon and the official end of that war. The present level of suffering is sadly staggering and, regrettably, the end is not near.

(John T. Goegel lives in Canterbury.)