As a four-star U.S. Army general, Lloyd Austin III knows what it's like to fly low to avoid radar during a surprise attack on the enemy.
Being discreet and reserved, this is the military philosophy that the current head of the Pentagon applied in his personal life, despite the relevance of his position, to hide his admission to a hospital in Washington.
The low flight became a request to the ambulance service to avoid, on January 1, the noise or light of the siren of the vehicle that picked him up at his house to take him to the health center.
The assistant to the secretary of defense of the United States made the request when calling emergencies. “We try to be a little subtle,” that person pleaded, as recorded in the recording of that call released by the press. The response was that the ambulances could comply with that request and that they already do so as usual when entering a residential area. However, they clarified that, by law, ambulances had to have their lights and sirens on when traveling on large avenues.
This call explains the zeal with which Austin wanted to keep his income and illness a secret, which he even repeatedly hid from the commander in chief, President Joe Biden, at a time with open wars in Ukraine and Gaza.
The head of Defense underwent surgery for prostate cancer on December 22. He returned home without informing the White House.
On January 1 he had to be admitted urgently for an infection. Aside from his personal advisors, senior Pentagon officials knew nothing. Biden had to wait four days to hear about his admission and a week to find out what the illness was.
Lloyd, who apparently maintains the president's confidence, was discharged this week. They say that the enemy, this time, was the blush that causes men to accept this cancer.
