Robert S. McNamara
Secretary of Defense
1961-1968
I received an email from Ohio that asked if Robert McNamara being treated with kid gloves by Ken Burns? He was the arrogant architect of the Vietnam War — is he being given a pass.
We’ll talk about it.
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Basic Maintenance
US Navy
Phil Smith, Col USMC (ret) joined the program to talk about the 100 Hour Work Week while deployed that was such a large issue at yesterday’s Senate Armed Service Committee Hearing on Recent Ship Collisions at Sea. Along the way we get into a discussion about discipline, leaders who enforce discipline and the longest pubic hair I’ve ever seen.
Smitty also talks about his trepidation relative to an “anit-war” agenda in Ken Burns’ PBS Documentary, The Vietnam War.
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Bob Nilsson
Capt USMC
Founder, 100 Entrepreneurs Project
Bob Nilsson was Captain of Engineers in the Marine Corps and fought in Vietnam 1966-1967. He reacts to episode #3 of Ken Burns The Vietnam War documentary.
An interesting part of the series is how it has animated the community of Vietnam veterans. Will this be a fair account of a complex war? Or, will it be another screwing-over of the their community?
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Montana Man
aka Rob Schwarz
LtCol USMC (ret)
Rob Schwarz joins us to talk about:
(1) The Ken Burns PBS documentary The Vietnam War
(2) The first female Second Lieutenant to get through the Infantry Officer’s Course, what does he think?
(3) His solutions to “The Wall,” “Dreamers” and the “parents of Dreamers”
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Jerry Durrant
Col, USMC (ret)
Jerry Durrant, Col USMC (ret) joined us to talk about his time as a LCpl in Vietnam in 1970 as well as his thoughts on Iraq today.
He is currently part of a private company that does military education for the Iraqi military. He has interesting things to say about where Iraq is and what is next for the war-torn nation.
He raises concerns about Sunni’s being eliminated from the Iraqi military, the upcoming Kurdish referendum and genuine surprise at the visit Muqtada al Sadr made to Saudi Arabia recently.
Durrant is a great representative of the Marine Corps and a thoughtful guest.
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Ken Wilson
Capt USMC
Vietnam Veteran
Turner Construction vet
Ken Wilson was a Marine 1stLt/Captain, Combat Engineer in Vietnam in the 1965-1966 time-frame. Ken fought the Viet Cong initially and later the NVA as they infiltrated the area around the Marine Base at Da Nang.
Was leadership different in Vietnam? Were drugs, ears, scalps, civilian casualties and rape part of the environment Ken led in? Ken Wilson says it’s always about one thing — LEADERSHIP.
Listen to a fantastic interview about Ken’s life of leading in the Marine Corps and then leading at Turner Construction where he worked for 38 years before he retired in 2002.
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