Former Marine Staff Judge Advocate LtCol Beth Harvey, USMC (ret) joins the program to discuss the substantial burden of proof that rests with Navy prosecutors in proving guilt on a charge of “negligent homicide,” the role that the Article 32 hearing will play in the legal process and the decision to bring such a historically uncommon charge against a commanding officer of a U.S. warship.

It’s very rare to find the intensity of the combat experience in an oral history, but “Bravo! Uncommon Men, Common Valor“ provides exactly that… it’s what makes it a different documentary.

As we look at the Battle of Khe Sanh through a lens of fifty years, audio from two events that the Marines and Sailors of B/1/26 fought through is riveting.  I share it with you so that you can better understand them and to also provide lessons in post-combat related mental health — the memories are NEVER going away, so you need to learn to coexist with them.

The ALL MARINE RADIO YouTube Page now is the repository of the best PME i have ever attended, given by then Col Tony Zinni, USMC who had just completed his tour as the Commanding Officer of the 9th Marine Regiment at The Basic School in Quantico.  Attending this were some of the major figures in the maneuver warfare debate that was raging in the Marine Corps:  Col John Boyd, USAF (ret), Col Mike Wylie, USMC, BGen Paul Van Riper, USMC and writer Bill Lind.  MANDATORY LISTENING.

The documentary “Bravo!  Common Men, Uncommon Valor” that Ken & Betty Rodgers did is absolutely riveting when I listen to it, you’ll hear a couple of clips from it today as we look at the Marine who fought at Khe Sanh 50 years ago.

MANDATORY LISTENING!!!  The Secretary of Defense chose the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies in Washington D.C. to unveil his “National Defense Strategy” on January 18, 2018.  It’s an important speech because from this speech, you will see initiatives in the DOD that will support its goals.  Most important are the Secretary’s three horizontal themes that will color everything the DOD does going forward.

 

Fifty years ago the words “Khe Sanh” appeared in print around the globe, for the Marine who fought there it seems like yesterday —- Special Ops means cool toys, but IED’s take a lot of fun out of using dune buggy-like vechiles —- China’s comedy of aggression in the South China Sea continues, except it’s NOT a comedy.

We’ll talk about it.

Karl Marlantes chronicled the issue of “race” in his Vietnam War novel Matterhorn, he joins us to talk about how race was a part of daily life in Vietnam and how the issue changed from when you were “in the rear” and when you were “in the bush.”

Karl also discusses the varied reactions he’s received on the Ken Burns/Lynn Novick documentary “The Vietnam War” which aired on PBS this past Fall.

The political infighting in Washington D.C. continues unabated and the nation appears to be headed for a Federal Government shutdown — both remind of us the disconnect that exists in the nation between those who govern and those who work & vote and THE REASON that Donald Trump was elected as the President of the United States.