(L) 2dLt Marshall Croy & SSgt Jim Bathurst having just come off Operation Mississippi November 1966
(R) SSgt Bathurst

Col Jim “Sgt B” Bathurst, USMC (ret) has one of the most unique Marine Corps careers I have ever heard of, rising from Private to GySgt and then 2ndLt to Colonel after he received as commission during the Vietnam War.

Our interview was supposed to last an hour and it stretch into three hours and twenty minutes because of the unique career of this leader of Marines turned author and mentor (The Young Marine Program).

In Part 2 you’ll hear about Jim’s experiences as a infantry squad leader and rifle platoon commander in Vietnam, how he was commissioned as a 2ndLt while serving at Marine Barracks 8th & I and then chosen as one of forty-five (from a group of approximately 4,500 SNCO’s who had been commissioned) .

You can buy the book “We’ll All Die as Marines” here and you can check out Jim’s blog — here.