The Mercer Island High School newspaper, the Islander, snagged an interview with James Mattis :
In a photo published alongside this article by The Washington Post on May 11, Trump’s bodyguard, Keith Schiller, could be seen carrying a stack of papers with a yellow sticky note stuck on the top. Written on it, in black ink, was the name “Jim ‘Mad Dog’ Mattis” and a phone number.
Paul Redmond of Orange County, California, contacted The Post the next day, informing them that they’d accidentally published what seemed to be Mattis’ private number.
The photo was quickly removed, but not before many, including MIHS Islander sophomore staff writer Teddy Fischer, saved it.
Calling the number, he left a message asking if Mattis would be interested in conducting a phone interview with The Islander. A few days later, when Teddy said Mattis had agreed, I didn’t believe him.
But, after receiving three more calls from the defense secretary to set up a date and time for the interview, Teddy and I got to work preparing questions.
[...]
When asked why, out of thousands of calls, Mattis chose to respond to us, he returned to his love of teaching.
“I’ve always tried to help students because I think we owe it to you young folks to pass on what we learned going down the road so that you can make your own mistakes,” he said, “not the same ones we made.”
Mattis is a history buff enshrining himself in history. Through teaching and reaching out to students like Teddy, he’s sharing history, and the wisdom he’s gained in creating it, as it’s being made.