Major Ron really knew the "art" of speech. Although he always seemed to be jesting around Colonel Fraser, when push came to shove, he could spout some pretty devious rhetoric.
The reel about "courage and dignity" that he let loose basically nixed any attempts by the surrounding officers to shirk or show cowardice in battle—unless they were willing to literally take off their own faces and stomp them into the mud.
All of them were of military stock, raised from childhood under parental tutelage to value a man's honor above life itself—who the hell wanted to be called a coward in this rotten swamp?
But this tactic was actually one of desperation.
Although both Colonel Fraser and Major Ron acknowledged that most of their team were good lads, they had to admit that among the military observation team there were indeed cowards who had come merely to gild their reputations.
