It’s PID Radio’s Throwback Thursday, our series pulled from archives going back to 2005. This week, we present a remarkable interview with Lt. Col. Dan Marvin, author of Expendable Elite, about the use of America’s finest soldiers in politicians’ secret war in Asia—and the plot to kill President John F. Kennedy.

Originally released December 17, 2006

Our guest tonight is Lt. Col. “Dangerous Dan” Marvin (1933–2012), U.S. Army Special Forces (Ret.). He’s the author of a remarkable book, Expendable Elite: One Soldier’s Journey Into Covert Warfare, which documents his service as a Green Beret captain in Vietnam--and a whole lot more.

In addition, Expendable Elite is about the good, bad and ugly of secret warfare, the first bombarding of enemy safe-havens inside Cambodia, major battles won by Hoa Hao Irregular Forces led by American and Vietnamese Green Berets, and the importance of civic action and psychological warfare.

Col. Marvin also exposes the involvement of US Special Forces in the plots to assassinate Cambodia's Prince Sihanouk, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and US Navy LTCDR William B. Pitzer, perhaps the last victim of the John F. Kennedy cover-up.

LTC Marvin documents retribution and revenge tactics employed by the CIA and the White House against its own, and the courage of Lieutenant General Quang Van Dang in his rescue of Marvin's A-Team, their counterparts and 400 Hoa Hao warriors from a 1,000 man South Vietnamese regiment sent by the CIA to destroy Marvin's Special Forces camp.

“Dangerous Dan’s” mission today: Forcing the U.S. government to recognize the way America’s finest have been sacrificed for political objectives in the past and to ensure that it doesn’t happen again.

Show links:

• LTC Daniel Marvin’s website
• ‘The Unconventional Warrior’: Articles by LTC “Dangerous Dan” Marvin