As John Kerry continues his series of defense policy speeches, I’ve been thinking of another naval officer, one who fought in the Battle of Midway in World War II. John Waldron commanded Torpedo Squadron 8, flying TBD Devastators off USS Hornet. Historian Walter Lord described him as “a hard-driving taskmaster with a fierce passion for getting at the enemy.” Waldron worked his men hard, with long morning runs on Hornet’s flight deck and endless hours going over tactics. But he wasn’t just guts and glory. Before they shipped out he had held many squadron parties at his home in Norfolk,...