greatest trader in american history but it was roughly complex man named james will cousin who was a revolutionary war hero. young is general in the continental army to begin a leading general and the american army 15 years later and at the same time he became asian 13 in the spanish see the service and was a spy for the next 20 years at the same time as he led the american army that the amazing thing was every president he worked for, washington and adams and jefferson and madison knew he was a traitor and kept him in his possession for strategic reasons. it is a fascinating untold story of an unknown life. ..

this is the story of the meltdown of iceland, the economic collapse of the country and we will publish it on the one year anniversary on the collapse, the 27 and it is a fascinating insight story of greed, over reach of all of the things that happened in this country happened in iceland but they are understandable in microcosm, and i think that is what is going to make this story so fascinating. >> you said you've been with lubber since 1993. how has the publish industry changed since then?

>> well, it's changed in almost every way and yet it has a. that sounds contradictory, but the marketplace has changed enormously. obviously. in 1993 even the chains were not nearly as dominant as they are. amazon hadn't even been invented and the price clubs and airport shops that sell so many books today sold practically non. so the outlets for books has multiplied geometrically in the last 15 years. in terms of publishing it is still all about getting good writers to do good work, and then finding media outlets for them. the media has changed a lot particularly the last five years as there are fewer outlets for print reviews. the classical ways of promoting books have declined. but now there's all sorts of opportunities on the internet publishers need to use the whole fire will network, social networking. it's a brave new world for publishers, and we are all having to get used to it.

>> with the walker's recognize the publishing today? >> good question. that walker is alive so yes. sam passed away. i think he would have had trouble in this world. it is -- it is a very different world than the one he inhabited but def is quite fluid in the new technologies and so i think she's rather enjoying it. >> we are joined by george gibson from walker books. jack mclean the first vietnam veteran to attend harvard university recounts his upbringing and decision to join the marines and served in the vietnam war rather than attend college. mr. phillips, who was a classmate at george w. bush at the andover academy. remarks on his service and the treatment he received upon his return from this program contains language some might

find offensive. >> i would like to -- loon es peter suggested is a memoir. it is a memoir about my time in the marine corps from 1966 to 1968. it's broader than that also. it is a memoir about times, about the united states, about leadership, about national leadership, about military leadership, about coming of age, a boy turning into a man and of the vulnerabilities that go with that. i enlisted in the marine corps in the spring term of my senior year at an -- andover when most of your member there was a draft, 1966. so if you were not going to college -- and i made the decision not to go to college

right away. i wasn't ready. and the other option was to go into the surface or at least submit yourself to it. if you were of sound body and mind, which i was. had there been a third choice, i promise you even in these hallowed halls i would have taken it. but there wasn't. i would like -- i will read just a brief -- i am a yankee at heart and any time i start to speak which made this book in many ways difficult to write because from the earliest age we are taught not to speak about ourselves in any way and any time in my house when we did begin to speak about ourselves or some accomplishment my mother was quick to remind us that it's nice but it would be so much nicer from someone else. [laughter] so i brought a couple of some one else's with me so they can

tell that for me and since i dedicated to my mother i can feel her smiling. in the back as many i know you in this room boring barnum was a marine recently retired medal of honor recipient vietnam and friend i got to know through peter and what he wrote on the board in the back if you haven't seen it was a sort of an infantry marines the decision to enlist, the intensity of the record, mortal kombat and transition back to civilian life. this beautifully written story in the turbulent times surrounding the vietnam war to read what i thought i would do this evening is read since my riding tells more about the book

than my speaking. and i picked three or four passages in some order that i thought would give you some enlightenment about my writing style and experience and my surface and just generally about the book. i will begin with one of the questions i'm often asked, which was what in the world were you thinking when you in listed in the marine corps' 1966 out of andover and was everybody's reaction and how did people react? the following day, this is the day after i enlisted to the stunned disbelief of faculty and students i returned to school with my news. you did what? come on, you're kidding. you can't be serious. i was looking for some reassurance about my decision

especially from the faculty. i didn't expect my classmates to understand what i had done. i could barely grasp it myself but many on the faculty were veterans. they probably evoked their service every memorial day by donning the uniforms feed marching in a parade down main street. the headmaster was and retired colonel and west by graduate. jack richer and tom lyons, history instructors and strong supporters of the act in a and personally understood my decision, not an everyday thing around here, jack, but brief decision they said. that was really all i needed. some assurance that i hadn't completely lost my mind. my graduating class comprised of 251 boies. of that number more than 50 made the decision to attend harvard university, 25 would go to yale, 20 to princeton and 12 to stanford. those four institutions alone represented more than 40% of the graduating class.

the balance was evenly spread among many of the other competitive colleges and universities in the land including mit, dartmouth, university of pennsylvania, and hurst, duke, and columbia. by the beginning of may many seniors began to evoke increase didn't do with their new institution. college t-shirts, boies headed to yale began to act like well, yalees treating their classmates with mocked a stain. when was the last time your ice hockey team beat hours? ice hockey was the king at andover. these dialogues did not include me. the last big game won by my team had been the second world war. [laughter] there was one marine who took a particular interest and pride in my pending military service. his name was henry aplington. he was a distant cousin of my

mother's from vermont, the small town that sat across the border from her childhood home in stance did quebec. he and his family would make an annual summer day trip to our college. this was the extent of my relationship with him. i had not really been aware of the time that he was in the united states marine corps of a lie to have a vivid memory of him standing in his bathing suit in our dak on the lake with a raw card body. he was in fact a colonel and as i learned many years later highly decorated survivor of the world war ii pacific campaigns. he had been awarded a silver star, the bronze star for combat in addition to several purple hearts. he heard news of mine enlistment and sent the letter of introduction to me. in retrospect it was an extraordinarily perspective few into the marrow of one of america's outstanding institutions.

abos and francisco june 25, 1966. as of today i have been in the marine corps for 26 years. i will take an isi here. general thomas from the marine corps scholarship foundation who many of you may know wrote a brief review for the proceedings in which he said for veterans with the be the audience that this letter alone was worth the price of the book. [laughter] so you're saving half the price by my reading it to you so you won't have to buy it but thanks for bearing with me. it's remarkable. as of today i've been in the marine corps for 26 years. i would like to take the occasion to welcome you to the u.s. and give you my thoughts which you may use or not as you may wish. the men who pass through the courts have found it rewarding and a lasting experience. you will hear the expression

once a marine always a marine and it is true as you embark on your military career there are two things you should keep in mind. first is that from the moment you signed your enlistment contract you established a permanent record that can rise to play in the future or you can point as a matter of future pride and reference. second, the corps has a fair share of new goods who may be easy to gravitate towards. unfortunately they and their friends usually end up in trouble. take care to avoid them. i have been impressed with a great number of men some without the benefit of a high school education who have by intelligence and hard work stood very high in the most difficult technical schools. you'll find the core a new experience. military service has many features which have no counterpart in life. that's for sure. in any way it is like a prep school experience in that you

are part of the 24 hours a day on like school whether it is oriented toward the accomplishment of emission, towards the education of its members%. this leads your superiors to take a different view of view from that which your masters had and i think it is worth reflecting on the way that you will look at your superiors. they don't care who you are or where you came from. their interest is what sort of job he will do and what sort of marine you are. they are engaged in serious purpose preparing a fighting machine so they are impressed by an individual only has he contributes to the functioning of that machine. they do not have time or interest to try to develop a man who is not interested in trying to help himself or follow regulations. they have all the time in the world however to work with those interested in chongging a man must make or break himself. the marine corps is big and

proud with years of experience. it can be in personal but it knows what it wants. it has regulations to be followed. many may look silly to you. most however are there because they've been proven as effective ways to accomplish the mission. to fight and win the war. things will be done the way the marine corps wants them done and if you do we were told to the best of your ability you will get along and have a rewarding experience otherwise you will get run over by the system and it won't hurt the system of it. [laughter] you are now part of a long line of marines who have served their country in war all over the world. this is a great time to come in to the court. the marines are doing with the exist to do here in vietnam with pride and professionalism. welcome to the club. throughout my time, at the end of the letter, threw out my time the marine corps my mind wander

back to aplington letter. he made a distinction between my life before enlistment and my life beyond. up to that point i had been overseen by family, friends and andover faculty. that would change. the marine corps cared about me as a vehicle to the means to their own end, winning war. it was important that i be well-trained, fed, disciplined, well behaved and that i follow orders. the marine corps cared about the marine corps. it was an important early listen for this innocent child of privilege. i found colonel aplington's letter when i was part way through writing the book. the overriding of the book took about six years and i came upon this about midway when i was coming to terms with my own

experience and seeing how all fit into my life and it snapped me in a way that it never could before. i can remember reading it and basically not having a clue what he was talking about. but in retrospect, it was exceptionally persian to look into this extraordinary experience and the thanks to the requirement of publishers and editors i had to run down his kids who are now well grown but little squirts that used to visit at the lake back then and it was just an extraordinary one of a thousand extraordinarily rewarding evin to find these two kids who now have families and

whose father is deceased about ten years ago and to know and to be able to publish this letter which was so extraordinary and ensure has given such pride what a wonderful marine and father he was. i had a couple of other -- hauer we doing for time, peter? am i holding people? i had a couple of other things wanted to read. one has to do with leadership, and one has to do with impressions of the first coming into the vietnam. i read about when i first enlisted, so i have got a piece about when i first landed.

i think another question that veterans, particularly combat veterans are asked is why was it like when you landed, when you step off the plane. this would be october, 1966, 1967, excuse me. my flight to vietnam was a comparatively short hop in a 707 with several hundred fatigue marines which shoulder to shoulder a lawyer at 30,000 feet. well above the ocean, well above the clouds and completely removed from any hint of the reality we were about to enter. my first sight of vietnam occurred during the final approach as we made this link. i first saw the beaches beautifully endless white sand beaches followed by the emerald green of the jungle border by a

thousand royce paddies that stretched out to the horizon. vietnam seems serene, timeless, 1,000 years of civilization laid before me. then we landed. instantly the predominant color became red. red clay, mud, red dust everywhere and all over everything. but at first there were a familiar feeling to what i saw. it was, after all, a united states marine corps base. all have an organization whether and barstow, camp lejeune. the signs were already gold. everything in sight moving or stationary had usmc stenciled on the side. people went about their business in a certain distinct marine like manner as such did not have the feel of a foreign country or a war zone looking at the small window i could see the marines were not even wearing helmets.

i felt relieved we would not be hit by enemy fire upon this location. the evidence of the rapid buildup however was palpable. the airport which we landed was now the busiest in the world. i was one of 400,000 american boys to set foot in vietnam and the year 1967. the number would be considerably higher the following year. a quick scan of the ground revealed guard towers, tank emplacements, flimsy wooden barracks and hundreds of tents parallel to our runaway we could see a four fannin jets taking off without a break one after the other. the late afternoon sun reflected blindingly off the bright silver napalm canisters that hung heavily from the wings. several of the jets carried equally devastating payloads of 250-pound bombs and as they headed off to provide close air support for marine unit in

trouble. for the first time in my life i felt trapped i could neither go home or hide. for the united states marine a riding in south viet nam november, 1967 there were only two ways out, a jet or a body bag from the field. i couldn't deny a twinge of excitement as my foot touched the tarmac. our first stop was a large wooden shed on the edge of the runway. the inside was dimly lit by several fluorescent lights and bells impossible to navigate because the tropical midday sun temporarily blinded me. after several seconds i discerned a long counter from which three lines of marines snaked around the room. at the head of each line was a sign hanging from the ceiling. each appeared to designate a destination of some sort. although none was familiar to me. equine tree, qassam, in my hand

i carried a manila envelope with my official orders. on was to report to 14, the first battalion of the marine regiment. the third marine division. bougainville, guam and the what jima. after several minutes of on certain yelling with my incoming playmates i was told 14 base of operations are battalion freer or simply rear was currently and should get in that line and a range passage on the transports that afternoon. dubai i learned was an hour plane ride north by the old capital. the pampering was over and marine corps c-130 wasn't a pan am 707. back on the tarmac we were herded up to the c-130 reloading ramp into the benches that lined the bulkhead.

the plane taxied turn the of took off with a deafening roar that continued for the entire trip. the late-afternoon sun shone brightly through the holes on to the squinting faces of those who lined the side of the fuselage. my back to the west on stair across at them. they were all there. each stage of the marine corps experience. about half looked as on it, brand new, fatigue, shiny boots, pink skin. had i been able to see they were ridiculously wet behind the ears. we may have looked tough, trained, and ready the fact was we were all scared shitless. anybody that tells you different is lying. the other half were older guys ten years composed to age. some were on their way back and others were returning to the field having had injuries tended to. all were frozen with the far

away trans the acknowledged that they were headed back. their fatigues, boots, scan and hellman's were covered with the same dusty reddish gray patina that covered their eyes and their expressions. between their knees with m-16 rifles, scratched, scoffed and make on the outside, but spot less on the inside. these rifles had shot at human targets and would soon again. this was no longer an exercise. i was to be one of them. a basic marine corps hill humping patty slashing shit-stirring mother fucking grunt. the epicenter, the best of the best, the united states marine corps, the backbone of 192 years of the military actions. i was now jack mclean, 0313 westpac. i quietly sing feith cadence to

myself, one, two, three, four, united states marine corps. this is what we asked for. 3,076, we are the best of all the rest. it left, right, left. left, right, left. i silently hoped, prayed i would remember half of what sergeant bolten had told me. that's my arrival in country. the battle for blank erupted in three days in june, 1968. we landed significantly 41 years ago today. this was the first day of the battle.

i have two other pieces, one brief and one a little bit longer. i'm obliged lima. can do anything i want. given the day and given this battle, this terrific battle in which 46 american boys were killed began today. i will read just a piece from the night before the main battle began. some of you may have read or

seen three weeks ago just coincidental to the publishing of this book we buried the last three victims from the battle for lz loon in arlington cemetery with full marine corps military honors. their remains were identified, recovered such as they were, and identified by advanced techniques just last fall. there are still people in vietnam who are doing this, god bless them. and so it got a fair amount of press. there were killed in a helicopter crash while we were being evacuated or shot down in the middle of the flight. several, four or five people survived. one of them was here of an event that peter and i were at a couple of weeks ago in addition

to the families of the victims, sisters and what not. so it's just some of you may have heard about it, it got some press. i just thought it was absolutely extraordinary defined these boies after all that time. we landed and loon on the fifth. loon is just southwest of qassam vietnam on the north of the imam, south vietnam leota and border. the area is very mountainous, rugged and is at the mouth, if you will, the delta of the ho chi minh trail which is the main supply line from the north of the imam down to the south. and when we landed there was

just nobody on the other side happy about it at all and they were quick to let us know. we suffered a terrible rocket barrage on the fifth when they found the hill shooting from laos, the same that shot at qassam during the siege. the night of the fifth, we moved to our skipper, a company commander moved us to a hill on the theory that the next morning it would take at least an hour or two to recalibrate the guns to get us over there and maybe by that time we could be evacuated. so this is -- we move that might under cover of darkness. took everything we could carry leaving a manner of stuff

behind. and set up in a position on the other hill, got ready and this was that night. we silently moved around a worse light of the new parameter. found our holes, set up lines of fire, armed front of us. we sent out neither ambushes were listening posts nor do we establish what schedules. there would be no sleep for charlie company tonight. we did however say our prayers. all night long we heard the movement of the soldiers just outside the lines with a squeak of their gear and the soft snap of an occasional steak we heard the snipers climb into the trees and even heard whispers. it was. scary beyond all of imagination. once all the necessary tasks were completed there was nothing to do but collapse into our goals and wait.

we knew where they work, they knew where we were. then the fire fight that i begin the book with begins at dawn the next morning and went on all day until glory be to god and thanks to the united states marine corps helicopter pilots they were able to get us evacuated, those of us that were left on sunset on the sixth of june. what led us to -- are we okay, peter? i've got one more time and then take some questions. what led us to loon blasé new strategy by the marine corps that i discuss this somewhat. most of you are certainly familiar with not only the

strategic but the tactical aspects of the vietnam war. much of the time of until 1967 the united states particularly the marines and largely garrison and fixed bases with names like contant, qassam, all along the dmz and they were targets for particularly, trademark and qassam for enormous unfathomable enormous artillery and rocket and mortar barrages, and we countered by with our own artillery and rockets and jets and b-52s and nothing happened. conte and was eventually abandoned. qassam was eventually abandoned command to know each tent. ray davis, who some of you may

know of come outstanding marine, medal of honor, winner and cory in took over as the new commanding general of the third marine division in may of 1967 and decided he would change things and i want to read just a little bit about his our rifle which was coincidental also the arrival at the company commander bill nagran, extraordinary man and remarkable marine. and this is really about to me it's about leadership and has applications and business or anywhere. and as nagran was arriving back in country -- a company command was coming back for the second

of what the three tours in vietnam. also being his first as a company commander. the third marine division was celebrating a commanding general who would be based. his name was raymond davis and he, like nagran was appalled by what he saw. offensive marines were in the defensive positions throughout the region. the north vietnamese skirted around out well as the nda headed toward the lucrative targets toward the south. davis was determined to change all of that and he knew that the only way to do it was to abandon the bases like the qassam. he needed his marines back on the offensive. he simply stated strategy was to break the armed enclaves, put marines in the hills, in the jungle and in the attack. he would emphasize mobility and movable firebases to counter the enemy build up. we were marines. we were not trained to defend. we were trained to attack. real leadership had arrived at

last. raymond davis was a marine corps legend when he arrived, a native of fitzgerald georgia he was commissioned as a second lieutenant upon graduation from georgia tech in 1938. during the second world war day to string the cross for extraordinary heroism while fighting on guadalcanal. in korea several years later he received the congressional medal of honor for superior leadership, outstanding courage and brilliant tactical ability of the overwhelming and insurmountable odds. by his own description, general davis saw himself as an action. quote, i never saw around and think about what others are doing. i'm aware as a holder of the medal of honor i belong to this nation forever because of a combat situation literally thousands of lives depended on the actions i took when someone had to take action. davis became our division commander on may 21st, 1968. and was quick to observe the

futility of the existing strategy. within days, he had the marine corps mobile again, beginning with charlie company. now i will skip down a little bit. several days later, nagran received the news charlie company, the rugged and he had seen from his jeep was his. having had several days to compared himself he attacked his assignment with vigor and was quickly apparent to all of us that a new day had come to charlie company. although we were on certain at first, we saw and felt as though we were back in the marine corps and nagran would get us back into war. it was a heavy feeling and what all of our training and combat skills back to the forefront. he began to spend time with every marine in the company, not just how are you doing, do you

need anything, but real time over a can of c rations or warm beer. he wanted to know about us and families and our hopes and fears and our dreams. quietly and carefully throughout the process, he was taking inventory. rahm could he tell tom? who had leadership talent? whom would he want nearby when shit hit the fan? he didn't have time that it was in the process he could rush, so he got to know 180 belize one by one. he was eager to check our morrell of inventory, skills and experience so that he could bring us up to combat readiness as quickly as possible. he knew he only had a few weeks to get us prepared for the third division change in direction because it had been decided that we would be the first to execute general davis's new strategy. on his fourth day, negran took the entire company on a three day patrol a mile out the

exterior of the parameter. delta company stood the lines while we were gone. he spent time observing and where appropriate teaching. how good were his officers? surgeons? squad leaders? house killed were the mortar men? who knew how to call in artillery? airstrikes? naval bombardment? haleh tauter gunships? who could still read a map and gunship? the following week bill negran accompanied each platoon leader on daily patrols. he saw that most of the men were proficient in basic skills. they knew how to deploy the 60-millimeter machine guns and could call for air or artillery and medevac. and they did know how to read a map and compass. they were weak however and pre-registering and adjusting support on fire on the patrol roots. these were necessary skills critical to the effective reacting and emergencies that require artillery support.

initially the lieutenant platoon leaders quietly groused about negran's presence on the patrols. they were the ones in charge of the smaller units. it was almost unheard of for a company commander like negran to venture out on something smaller than a company's size petrol. soon, however, they realized he wasn't usurping their authority. in negran began going on squad sized patrols. officers commanded platoons, but the squad's within the platoons were run by enlisted sergeants. egos were quietly defamed leaded has all began to see that the skipper, as he was known, wanted only to make us a solid unit. the early investment he had made in each of less on the unlisted side people of weeks later in gold, pure gold. thanks to that, some of us are still alive. that's bill negran and general ray davis, to absolutely

outstanding marines. ray davis is since deceased. bill negran now lives in supplies, arizona and i am almost in daily contact with him and have been for about 15 years. he was the first member of charlie company that i found and i was the first one to find him after 20 years back. sylvia namib war is the kind of war to go from a tuesday and come back on thursday and never knew what happened to anybody. peter, i will conclude my remarks there if that's fitting and i would be delighted to answer as many questions as the colonel will permit. >> thank you. what we normally do is have q&a

and i would like to thank jack for reviewing his book and laying out some of the important pieces. i founded as i said to be a wonderful read. so, i know a couple of you have questions and who would like to lead off? please. jim stevens. >> jack, if you would i have the honor and thrill of reading your book last week and i was particularly intrigued by the relationship you had with your grandfather and then also i would like to hear your thoughts now on going to harvard after you have been in vietnam. >> my grandfather is a great guy. he was a cigar smoking bourbon

drinking six term republican congressman from elizabeth, new jersey. and he as stunned as my parents were and as stunned as some of the other people were, he and the didn't see much of him. we see him every thanksgiving and maybe some sunday dinners, but he understood about surface and this is really a book about -- service. even though the war was controversial and wasn't really going on that heavily when i went in, and he was one person i say in the book as he would have read that really got it.

understood my reasons for joining and treated me like a hero and when we went back to thinks giving up their house in the elizabeth about a month or two after i got back he had the whole family, cousins and stand around holding hands around with me in the middle. i was 21 and i couldn't have possibly been more embarrassed and sang three verses of when johnny comes marching home again so i will never forget that. and the coming back starting as a freshman in harvard college in september fall of 1968 was surreal. i will read one very brief peace

on my registration de. later that afternoon i was sitting on the steps of the for all card museum preparatory and patient. lovely girls sat on the step nearby. nervously i took a deep breath and opened. hi. she turned slowly as though lost in thought. hi, she responded. here for the orientation, i continued. yes. where are you from, i asked? she didn't particularly appear to be responsive. connecticut, ethel walker, she answered. this was an all gross spread school out of harvard. she did not ask about me so i stumbled forth anyway. i'm from near here. i went to andover. this was going nowhere. [laughter] but i felt as though i was in a battle with neither a rifle or

training. i was devoid of all social skills. this was tough. andover, she lit up suddenly. did you know freddie witherspoon? he went there. i met him last summer. well, no, his name sounds familiar. he would have been a soft more when i graduated. now what i thought. might as well come out with it. i actually drudge bid from andover to years ago. i've been serving in the marine corps. i just got back from vietnam. oh. that was it. oh. know how great it must be -- how great it must be to be home. no thank you for your service. know you were a fucking baby killer. no white always wanted to do with a marine. [laughter]

no nothing. just oh. with that, she rose and head up the steps into the building. the conversation such as it was was over. i had learned a valuable lesson. few if any people at harvard cared about military service particularly vietnam service. from that point on for the next four years and well beyond, i barely mentioned it. thanks for the question. >> i have a question. >> an aggressive commander, aggressive as compared with his predecessor is not always met with enthusiasm as you described.

i experienced that a few times and i want to repeat what i and understood you to say and that was marina fourth regiment and presumably others in the division reacted in a very positive fashion to raise aggressive intent which became obvious that wants. was that true or not? >> yes, but not that simply. if i go back and read my letters about the first patrol we took and this doesn't make the book but we took the first patrol with bill negran, the company cies paltrow, he got us lost. i was adv typical grousing corporal. who is this jerk, he doesn't know his way around and thinks this, that. but over time the process being these few weeks that over time%i

as well we came to appreciate from davis and up the chain of command we didn't have the same feeling for our battalion commander who was the one who was responsible for putting us on loon and not getting us out of loon. it was in fact gray davis himself who got us off loon and made the call. and you will see i talk about it somewhat in the book. so, no, not a first. we were, you know, we were all grouchy about something. but negran never complained about anybody. just said let's get the job done. he was a mustang. he'd already been in the marines 25 years as an enlisted man and now as a captain. and he earned our confidence. >> just the same way, negran's connection with his earlier

combat? >> bill negran was from new jersey. actually from the bronx and was a golden gloves boxer. thought he might have a pro career. got a football scholarship to the university of miami in ohio. went out there, got screwed up, came home, decided to be a pro boxer, got beat up in his last fight at madison square garden. took the train to paris island in 1955i guess, became jay marine, served four years in the marine corps, got out as a sergeant i suppose, was an okinawa in the 50's and became a pretty good 60 mortar guy and then came back and was able to get into miami and he did well and was in his senior year and got a call from a lieutenant he

had known and okinawa that he met in a bar one night and he remembered to things about negran that he always remembered. first that he was a pretty good guy but he was absolutely good at calling five-year, calling and registering fire and second was that he was hispanic. and there were not many of those in the marine corps. so he said he had a project for him so he met him in new york and said that he had a little -- that he would call if bill was willing to get involved in this. and he called and -- like can't remember exactly what time of the year it was, but all sorts of code, you know, this is bluebird, this is singsong and jersey boy i guess was his handle. and they said it's time. so he took a leave of absence from the miami and he told the

sky where to go and four weeks later was waist deep in water at the bay of pigs, completely overrun, devastated, barely made it to the shore and then spent two or three days escaping an invasion until he could finally get, but finally steal a little boat, he and two other guys. everyone else with him was killed. found a little boat to go out to be rescued >> lt. jim tabare and maybe my lack of hair will reveal what branch line and as well. >> i sympathize. >> i'm curious i appreciate your presentation and look forward to reading your book. i'm wondering if you have any thoughts on what happened in a generational shift in vietnam? i also went to boarding school

in the northeast and only recently mike kawlija dartmouth did they react that and i was wondering what disconnection happened for the individuals who went to these schools and in the up teaching at the schools who had gone to world war ii, stop going into the military and why is that still persistent kilobit, sir? >> that is a good question and i talk about that a little bit in the book. mosul much why, but the fact of it. i went back to my 25th car for reunion and had a chance to ask in a forum like this to speak to then the president and i asked him about a question that had probably never been asked as his full-time of president why is harvard and schools like it so completely disconnected from the military. we have -- i've got to be quick to add that it was the guys from

harvard that got us into via mahlon the first place, the so-called best and brightest. so maybe it was just as well, but the 60's were -- he didn't have an answer and my thought was we should be you know if you want the best scientists, the best teachers, all the best lawyers and business people, why not? ayman obviously as we saw in world war ii with the remarkable leadership the country had a you would want your best and brightest people as well leading the military outfits and make sure you are represented everywhere. it was so divisive and also as you will see when you read the book the generation gap was so big and the draft was such a target that it became -- it was easy to take and then he got

thrown off the campus of dartmouth, all the others. and all of the people who had become -- this is a sort of generalization that discreetly true. all of the people who are teaching in the universities now and for the last 20 years are the people who stayed in school to get graduate degrees so they wouldn't have to go to the war so there's automatically preselected towards, you know, what their politics would be. so there is no hard for anyone to bring back, to bring back rothsy. it's too bad but that is where the idea is. that's a good question. >> one more question. >> [inaudible] >> colin we will give you a microphone. >> i am looking at the overall perspective of what happened for

ten more years. i was on active duty in nablus during the middle of the war. if one looks at a map between australia and taiwan, the strategic to look points that the soviet union and its allies wanted to take over, they never succeeded. so, is it not true that we succeeded in vietnam and that it was worth all of it? >> in a word, yes. i think that -- i felt that we actually until we went into iraq. i thought we had so exhausted ourselves as a country through vietnam and then the russians so exhausted themselves as a country in afghanistan and i think when a was over, when the wall fell in all that and both sides looked at each other and said well, we are not going to

do that again and then we went into iraq and i thought i wonder if we learned anything about that kind of engagement, but you're point is valid. thank you. >> is there one more question on loon? >> jack, i haven't read your book yet either, but i cheated a little and did look up in the official marine corps history for 1968 and found out essentially it was an operation to disrupt activity on the ho chi minh trail and you described your portion of it involved york landing and evacuate a couple of days later having a heavy firefight and attacked in the va troops and how did you feel? i'm interested in how you felt

afterwards. did you consider it a mistake on the part of the command that they had tactically undertaken something that they couldn't handle or did you feel -- >> we didn't think too much about that stuff. the first thing i heard when i got off of loon was somebody come over and say you, you, and you, whatever your next task is we didn't have much time to think about the politics of the country, of the war, of the battalion. we were a squat and our company was macrosize. so you go out some days and stuff happens and you get a bomb dropped on your people attacking, there is not a lot of good that happens when war

begins, and there is going to be good decisions and bad decisions and good things are going to happen for the wrong reasons and certainly being a corporal sitting there, you -- you couldn't conceivably feel more powerless where you are going to go or what you are going to do other than the customary $)s the offis are a bunch of jerks. but we were mostly teenage kids, you know. >> thank you, jack. i would like to thank jack very much for his presentation on "loon: a marine story." thank you for coming. [applause] >> jack mclean served in vietnam with charlie company first battalion first marine

regiment, third marine division. he was the first vietnam veteran to attend harvard university. the army navy club in washington, d.c. hosted the event. for more information, visit armynavyclub.org. ..