OPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: Character crucial

Editor's note: The original version of this column was published Dec. 30, 2006.

In my formative years, my father frequently explained the significance behind the words character and integrity.

I was late into elementary school when the colonel's indoctrination began. It must have been the various hardships of his own youth intertwined with a career of military service that urged him to advocate for living an honorable life.

His efforts had little, if any, impact through my teen years. I suppose my absorption with the magnificence of radiant selfhood served to prevent his message from penetrating too deeply. After all, there were far too many girls to impress and balls to catch and throw, not to mention a dawning horizon that reflected only the uniqueness of me.

Still,