Compass Points - Rest in Peace Marine!
Well known Marine receives eternal orders.
Compass Points - Rest in Peace Marine!
Well known Marine receives eternal orders.
June 23, 2025
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As strikes and counter-strikes continue in the Middle East, news outlets around the world are reporting on the death, back in the United States, of a world famous US Marine.
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Fred Smith, the FedEx Corp. founder who revolutionized the express delivery industry, has died, the company said. He was 80.
FedEx started operating in 1973, delivering small parcels and documents more quickly than the postal service. Over the next half-century, Smith, a Marine Corps veteran, oversaw the growth of a company that became something of an economic bellwether because so many other companies rely on it.
-- Military.com
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Fred Smith transformed the modern world with his overnight delivery business. His success has included endless honors and awards including enshrinement in several halls of fame, including both the business and aviation halls. Still, Fred Smith often said that his greatest honor came during his combat days in Vietnam from a handful of junior Marines.
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Fred Smith says that the greatest honor he ever received was when the Marines dug a hole for him. The founder of FedEx looked back on his time in the military, specifically how digging the fighting holes for his troops turned him into he leader he is today. He credits this experience as being the foundation of his leadership style for his employees today explaining, “Then one night, I came back, and my troops had dug my fighting hole for me. They were as tired or more tired, but they took their energy to take care of me. And it was one of the best things that ever happened to me, because it told me they cared for me, they appreciated my leadership.” Frederick Smith's leadership experience turned him into the successful business man he is today. In fact, in an interview, he also made it clear that he learned more about being successful while in the military than he did at Yale Business School.
-- Veteran Life
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Fred Smith took the lessons he learned in the Marine Corps and applied many of them directly to FedEx.
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When people ask what principles have guided me since I started the FedEx Corporation 35 years ago, my answer often startles them: It's the leadership tenets that I learned in the U.S. Marine Corps during my service in Vietnam.
. . . What I learned in the Marines has stuck with me all these years.
On a personal level, there are the little things. Even in a blue pin-striped suit, I still make sure that the right-hand edge of my belt buckle lines up with my shirt front and trouser fly. I shine my own shoes, and I feel uncomfortable if they aren't polished. I no longer sport a crew-cut, but I keep my hair reasonably short. My kids would tell you I use some Marine Corps jargon, but that's another story.
I've also incorporated Marine Corps tenets into FedEx. If you were to drop in on one of our management training seminars, you'd recognize from your military days what's being taught. We tell our executives that the key to their success is to rely on their first-level managers (FedEx's counterparts of NCOs); to set an example themselves; and to praise in public when someone has done a good job. All these are standard operating procedure in the Marines. But they're a rarity in the industrial world.
In the Navy, a ship's captain flies Bravo and Zulu signal flags when his crew has done a good job. Our FedEx managers affix a sticker with BZ pennants on it to reports from subordinates that are particularly good. Workers who excel get to wear a BZ lapel pin, adorned with Bravo and Zulu flags. When an employee goes out of his way for a customer, he gets a "BZ check" of $150 to $200. Except for the bonuses, these practices come straight out of the Marine Corps Leadership Manual.
And, although I'm chairman of the corporation, I can't get myself to cut into the line in the company cafeteria. Somewhere, a voice reminds me that a good officer lets his troops eat first.
-- Fred Smith, FedEx Founder, quoted in USNI Proceedings
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Fred Smith achieved extraordinary wealth, fame, and success in his life. Yet, Fred Smith continuously lived a life less concerned with taking care of himself and more concerned with others. Nothing better can be said of any Marine leader. Compass Points joins in with both condolences to the family, friends, and fans of Fred Smith and also joins in with the celebration of a life well led. Rest in Peace Fred Smith. Fair winds and following seas. You have served well.
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Military.com - 06/22/2025
FedEx Founder Fred Smith, a Marine Corps Veteran who Revolutionized Package Delivery, Dies at 80
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Veteranlife
THE FOUNDER OF FEDEX: LESSONS LEARNED IN THE MARINE CORPS
By Jamie Lustig
https://veteranlife.com/military-history/founder-of-fedex
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USNI - Proceedings
Answering the Call: "What the Marine Corps Taught Me Can Be Seen Every Day in FedEx"
By Frederick W. Smith
September 2008 - Proceedings - Vol. 134/9/1,267
Fair winds & following seas, Marine. Semper Fidelis !
Yes, Sir! Feed the troops first! Fair winds and following seas, Sir.
D.Burr, CAPT, USN (Ret.)