On one of those blissful nights when North Texas temperatures felt comfortable in the moonlight, The Dallas Arboretum‘s Great Contributors flocked into the Ginsberg Family Plaza for a reception preceding the facility’s annual Great Contributors Dinner on Sunday, November 5.
Despite the Cowboys facing a gut-wrenching, last-minute showdown against the Philadelphia Eagles at about the same time, guests like Marena and Roger Gault, Joan and Alan Walne, Janie and Cappy McGarr, Barbara and Steve Durham, Myrna and Bob Schlegel, Shelle and Michael Sills, Trisha Wilson and Jeb Terry, Frank Rees and Marilyn and Ben Weber poured — and continued pouring — into the gorgeous outdoor space.
While Harlan Crow had arrived earlier for the fundraiser with former Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings, Harlan stayed for the main event while Mike had to leave for a prior commitment.
Looking around at the crowd’s growing numbers and the beautiful surroundings, Harlan declared his love for his wife (Kathy Crow), the city (Dallas) and the Arboretum. “I’m a happy man,” he said.
Kathy and Harlan have been losing weight due to “the shot,” but Harlan admitted that while Kathy was also exercising and adjusting to a healthier diet plan, he wasn’t as keen on that part. When asked about “the shot” for weight loss, Harlan said that he was hesitant about ending the shot program. His immediate plan would be to ease off the shots to see if he could maintain the weight loss of 20 pounds.
When asked whether she realized that her love of the color orange had also been shared by the late crooner Frank Sinatra, Lyda Hill fessed up that she wasn’t a follower of music.
Just then, former U.S. Senator and NATO Ambassador Kay Bailey Hutchison — who later would be interviewing the evening’s Great Contributor honoree, retired Admiral William H. McRaven — asked someone to take her photo with Lyda and Jim Carreker so she could post it on social media. Jim and his wife Robin Carreker were the dinner co-chairs.
Moving next into Rosine Hall for the dinner, Robin welcomed the roughly 210 guests, including Sara and David Martineau, Mary McDermott Cook with Dan Patterson, Mary Brinegar, Louise and Joe LaManna and Holly and Phil Huffines. Then she introduced Arboretum Board Chair Will McDaniel, who explained that the evening’s proceeds would support the facility’s plants, garden and educational opportunities. Following an invocation by Vice President of Gardens Dave Forehand, guests enjoyed their meal of baby iceberg salad, filet mignon and tiger shrimp, and chocolate mousse or an apple walnut tart.
With that it was time to present William with the 2023 Great Contributors Award, which goes to individuals who’ve made an important positive impact on our state, country and world.
As Robin recounted, the four-star Navy admiral had served as commander of the United States Special Operations Command (2011-2014); as the chief architect of Operation Neptune’s Spear, which dispatched Osama bin Laden in 2011; and as the 11th chancellor of The University of Texas system (2015-2018).
William is also the best-selling author of five books on leadership, including “Make Your Bed: Little Things That Can Change Your Life … And Maybe the World,” based in part on a commencement address he gave at UT in 2014 that went viral.
After accepting the award, the admiral sat down for a talk onstage with Kay, who herself received the Arboretum’s Great Contributors Award last year alongside former First Lady Laura Bush. During their wide-ranging conversation, William made a number of fascinating observations:
On the operation that killed Osama bin Laden. William revealed that President Obama’s order triggering the final phase of Neptune’s Spear, which had been in preparation for months, was especially bold because U.S. officials weren’t 100% sure they had the right man in their sights. Up until they identified the remains, William said, “we never really knew it was bin Laden.”
On giving full credit for the successful operation. “I’m always quick to tell folks, as Navy SEALs and Army helicopter pilots and the intelligence community, we were absolutely proud and honored to be kind of the last piece of the puzzle,” William said. “But make no mistake about it: There were hundreds or thousands of great soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines, foreign service officers and civil servants that were all part of this effort after 9/11. And they absolutely deserve as much credit for the fall of bin Laden as anybody does, because they were just as heroic, just as patriotic, just as committed to the fight as any of my guys were.”
On how the “make your bed” commencement speech at UT came about. The admiral disclosed that his wife, Georgeann McRaven, was responsible for “saving” the speech after his initial draft turned out poorly. “I brought it to Georgeann and said, ‘This is a terrible speech.’ And she said to me, ‘Why don’t you write about something you know?’ The problem was, all I know is how to be a Navy SEAL. And she said, ‘Well, write about that.’ As I began to think about it, I realized that the first six months of SEAL training is really like life crammed into six months — it’s all the sorts of lessons that we’re going to learn at some point at time. So, when I sat down and thought about it chronologically, every morning we got up and we had to do a [bed] inspection. So that made sense to make that the first lesson within the speech.”
On the Russia-Ukraine war and Israel’s battle against Hamas. It’s “worth it” for the U.S. to keep supporting Ukraine in its “long, hard fight” against Russia, because “it is really, truly a fight about freedom against the autocratic rule of Russia,” William said. He also urged continued support for Israel in its conflict with Hamas, while at the same time advising the Israeli military to “think strategically” about preventing civilian casualties in Gaza. “When you create civilian casualties, it just inflames the population in a way that isn’t helpful, in addition to not being consistent with who we are as Americans,” he said.
On America’s role in the world. “A lot of people are going to say, ‘Hey, we just need to kind of retreat back behind our borders.’ That never works well. We’d like to think that we shouldn’t have to deal with other people’s problems. I’m sorry: We’re the United States of America. People expect us to. If we’re not leading, somebody else will, and eventually that will come back to bite us.”