with it. you know, its -- as i said, it was a captain, lieutenant, sergeant's war that i was in. it was a captain and squad leader's war that bob was in. we were the ones that were nose to nose and the old saying is, we weren't successful, the next act was -- the answer is it is a young people's war. >> that's an excellent question. i would say though that i was very young. brand-new second lieutenant. right out of west point. but, i had two years in hawaii to hone my skills an i was fortunate to have some magnificent officers, non-commissioned officers who mentored me, who train me, and even though i struggled as a second lieutenant, when i took over rifle company as a 25-year-old captain, i was fully prepared. i felt totally confident about

what i needed to do. i understood my leadership prerogatives and so even though i was still young, only two years later i was ready to command and control that company in combat and i understood what the consequences were and i understood that i had to inject all those values in that company on a continuous basis so that they would do the right thing when the time came, when an enemy situation presented themselves. and i think that's one of the most powerful things. as i mentioned, respect is so important. if every soldier respects one another, then on that battlefield you'll have one cohesive unit that's going to be able to do what they need to do in a difficult period of time. >> and i find myself in a little different situation. i was an artillery man. you know, in the marine corps, all officers are infantry platoon commanders first, and all marines are riflemen first.

you go through the infantry type training. of after that training is completed, then you go on to be a helicopter pilot or a tanker or artilleryman. so my training was really a little different thrust than bob's. knowing that i would be in the supporting arms. but thank god that the marine corps concept is all lieutenants or infantry men first because i went from being an artillery man to being an infantry man in the snap of a finger. >> yes, ma'am. >> hi. first of all, thank you for your service. we really appreciate it. also, how did those experiences on those early days of your future help you in future missions? how did it change you? >> well, since i've worn this medal now for 45 years, when i go to make tough decisions, whether it was in uniform, or in the civilian government jobs that i have had since my

retirement, i have held this medal and said what would those young troops think about this decision i'm about to make? i got to make some tough decisions in their presence and we were successful. i'm a caretaker and i've worn this medal in their honor for all these years and it's helped me make some tough decisions. because i've said what would they say? what would they think? would they be proud? would they concur? so this is one thing that i've always looked back on. >> i think it's an excellent question. i think it again gets back to this notion of values and training and education that you get when you're very young. i know i spent four years at west point, and an awful lot of time spent on honor and integrity and trying to do the right thing. and which is why i believe that

you have an obligation to pass that on so that other people also would appreciate those values so that when they're put in difficult situations, then they can respond. and i think that really transcends across the united states army and our armed forces. all of our soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines and coast guardsmen not only are providing training and tactics and techniques and how to avoid ieds and all those things, there's training ining in values. loyalty, duty, respect, selfless service, honor, integrity and personal courage. those aren't there just so we can rattle them off or look on posters. they're there because leaders take those as very important parts of our ethos and that we're going to have those values, it's very important in the judgments we take, actions

we take and words we speak so when we have a soldier on point who goes into a village or difficult situation or walks down a line as the head of an ambush, we hope that that soldier is making all the right decisions based on those identified army values that are so important to the united states army and our armed forces as an institution. >> before gi to the next question, let me inject one thing here on how we try to perpetuate the legacy of what these men stand for, these men who wear the medal of honor. we would say that embodied in the medal of honor are some important values that you've heard about here already this morning. i would characterize them as primarily courage, sacrifice, selflessness to think of others before yourself. those are attributes you don't need to be in combat to apply. can you do that any day. so the programs that the medal of honor foundation has instituted to try to perpetuate

what these men respect are aimed that way. character development program and a lot of our education programs are aimed at trying to get people to want to do the right thing in difficult situations, and to think of someone else on their right or their left before themself and apply that in day to day. it won't even be close to the magnitude of the situation that these men faced, but wouldn't our world and our country be a better place if we all thought that way? it's just a basic principles. >> thank you for your service and thank you to any of the men and women in the theater who have served or are serving in the military. i would be interested in knowing the nature of the investigation that is conducted from the time someone is nominated for the medal of honor to the time the decision is made. i presume it is made ultimately by the president of the united states but i don't know that for

sure. what do they look for to determine that courage and those kinds of attributes have been demonstrated in the action that you took? >> first of all, there's an award manual. military awards manual. and it has medal of honor, navy cross, silver star, bron star, right down. every medal and it has criteria, what someone needs to do to be considered for that award. so when there's an action and people see it, then they recommend someone for an award. then the first thing that happens is, people have to have statement. you have to have people who have seen the action. okay? and they have to write up statements. then you have to have a commanding officer who gathers those statements and forwards them to battalion. the marine corps or -- they go to battalion. the battalion commander has a

board and they look at them to make sure that the criteria for the award that's been recommended has been met. if he concurs then it goes to regiment, the division. back to washington. it depends on what level of the award as to what level can approve it. okay? division commander in marine corps can approve bronze stars. silver stars are the secretary of the navy. okay? navy cross, secretary of navy. medal of honor, the president. at each level the award package is looked at and scrutinized to make sure that the statements support the action and then they determine what level is that. and at any level it can stop. it can be downgraded. a board can make that determination. in the case of the medal of honor, it comes to the joint

chiefs of staff, then the secretary of defense, and the secretary of defense takes it to the white house. now, it's presented by the president in the name of the congress. and that's generally how the system goes. and it has worked very well and as i said, it's -- people have got to see it, people have got to write it up. i have to admit that i feel bad as a commander. there are young whipper-snappers out there that have done phenomenal things and didn't get awards. a number of reasons is -- the battle went on for ten days. by the time it was over, then people forgot about what sergeant smith did. and didn't sit down and write it up. so i think in the fog of war there are great soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines that do phenomenal things but they don't get an award. so as i said, someone's got to see it -- bob carrey, governor

of nebraska, now president of the new school, navy s.e.a.l. says to get the medal of honor, you have people who have to have seen it, they have to be able to write and they can't be your enemies, they got for like you. okay? that's a little simplification but bob carrey had a great sense of humor. >> i would echo barney's comments saying it is a very comprehensive process. on the day after my action i received a silver star from general gigi o'connor who was the acting division commander of the 25th infantry division. then i went on to continue being part of the war in vietnam. i mean it was just another day, kept going. i left vietnam, i came back home, i never knew anything about the award process until -- and i received the award on 1 may 1968. so now we're a year-and-a-half later and somebody came to me and said president of the united states is going to present this award to you. i was astonished.

i was flabbergasted because this had all happened so long ago. but it takes a long time to go through that process. i would add to the fact that since world war ii, the criteria for the award has never changed. it's always been given to an individual who has achieved the gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty. there must be incontestable proof. they have to have eyewitness statements of individual statements who were right there and had seen precisely what happened. but it is a comprehensive process because that process has to be consistent all the way through. i would say based on what i know about it that an awful lot of people look at it to ensure that it is authentic and meets the criteria as stated in the regulations. >> thank you. one more question then i'm going

to ask a question. we're getting close to the time where we're going to finish. yes, sir, go ahead. >> gentlemen, first, just thanks for being here. it is a great opportunity for us. i'm one of the instructors at the basic school. i got some of my lieutenants with me. we were able to break flee free the day. this is a great thrill for us. my question is, sir, you said in one of your responses, the marines, they look to you and they saw the shiny bar. they were what now lieutenant thing. and when you gave your order they of course went and executed. i would submit it is probably more than that. you all can answer this. it is more than just giving the order. there's something that you've all done that instilled some desire in them to push past some preconceived notion towards greatness to do these great things to accomplish the mission. and as a leader, different leadership styles an personality traits, sir, you brought up

caring for the soldiers, caring for the marines and sometimes it's hard to do that and not come off as disingenuous. but along with caring, what can we do to really instill this desire to our marines to go train harder, to fight harder and act as a unit? >> you know, there are two styles of leadership. per swa swasive. authoritative. i didn't ask anybody to do anything -- i led the first counter attack. i was out front. and they were following me. and for those lieutenants who are here, i taught at basic school and i've been there a number of times. that's where it all begins. and once you leave there, you've got the basics, the foundation

and the main thing you have to continue to do is hone in on the things that you are -- you wish could you do better at and work at those. but you be prepared. every lieutenant wonders can i do it. well, once you get shot at the first time you find out real quick you can do it. you can do it. you pull that thing together. believe me. and that's the reason we train, we train, we train. when we get through, we train some more. but it is all about what bob said and that's caring. you got to show your troops that you care about them. you've got to be seen in front of your troops at all times. 4:00 in the morning. 8:00 at night. you cannot come in behind a desk. you got to be out front. you got to be seen. and if you show that you have concern and care for your marines, they will do anything for you. but they can figure out a phony real quick.

so don't try to be somebody you're not. don't try to be somebody you're not. be yourselves. because the troops will figure it out. but if you're in their presence, and show concern, there isn't anything they won't do when you ask them. >> i would just add to that that, as i've mentioned before, i think one of the most important things that any leader can do is to ensure that those values are instilled in every single soldier, marine, every member of your organization on a continual basis. how you choose to do that, whether it is through instruction or it is through council, however you want to do that, but you've got to carve out time to do that, because i know you have all sorts of other priorities over there, but you've got to carve out time to ensure those values are instilled now. because it is too late when you get on the battlefield. i'm rooi eminded of colonel jos

lawrence chamberlain when he arrived at gettysburg. his commander said you need to go to the left flank of the union line, little roundtop. as he arrived up there on the other side, on confederate side was a fellow name long street, a corps commander who said i think we can achieve victory at gettysburg if we can turn the union left flank so they attacked once, twice, three, four times, and all of chamberlain's company commanders came to him and said, sir, we've got to move off the line. we've suffered heavy casualties, we're low on ammunition. and chamberlain immediately assessed it and gave this command -- refuse to lie and sidestep to the left which was a very intricate maneuver in an open field. they were on a rocky, sloping terrain. when he said that, the entire regiment, rose and moved to the left and prevented the left flank of the union line from being flanked. how is that -- why was that able

to happen? i would argue that it was because he had injected this trust and cohesion in that organization well before they got to gettysburg and so when he said that, the entire line rose because every soldier knew if he said it, it must be the right thing to do. and chamberlain said it because he knew that his soldiers would do precisely that, because they had those values injected in them and at that point in time he didn't have to worry about it, they were going to go ahead and do it. that's why i think on a continual basis you got to keep doing that. i'd add only one more thing, advice i gave to my son when he went to afghanistan. i said, think about the number one danger on the battlefield and don't tell me it is the enemy. it's complacency. if you ever think the any time when you are going through any theater or combat that you're comfortable, that you're in a routine, that you don't have anything to worry about, raise a big red flag because complacency

has set in and you can't allow that to happen. you've got to have those antennas up every single time, have tactics on everything you're doing, how you get there. but complacency to me is the killer on the battlefield. >> many of you came here on your lunch hour so i'm going to culminate this with one final question and then we'll see those of you who would like to follow up with us later up on the upper level when they have the book signing. a question that always seems to come up, we could go on for a long time, as you well know. these are all very short sessions. it comes up, how does receiving the medal of honor, which is the -- our nation's highest award for valor, change your life? i would say that these men, since 40-plus years since they've received the many of honor have experienced many things and it's always very interesting to know how them or

their families have been affected by that particular award. you saw how it was described in the video where to a man they will tell you that they wear it for others. they wear it for those who can't. it's something that it represented the medal, not just the fact that they personally wear it. that's where i'd like to end up today, your reflections on how your life has changed or been affected by this award that you've received. bob? >> well, i think it's one of the adjustments is that we are coming to programs like this, which we find to be very good, because we're being able to provide our perspectives on things about the military so that others can educate, so that the gentleman that brought his soldiers -- i mean marines or platoon leaders or whoever with us, that to me has been something which regardless of the medal of honor, as a leader

in the military i have always appreciated the mentoring that i have received over the years and i want to be able to give back. so give back. so i think that's an adjustment that you make because you want to get out to these kinds of programs. it is important not just within the military but outside the military so that the american people have a better understanding and appreciation of the perspectives of leaders and values that are associated with united states armed forces. the other thing i would say is we all get requests for autographs in the mail, get them on a weekly basis from all over the country. they come from school teachers, moms, dads, from school children. and what they're doing is collecting autographs of individuals in the military who have been leaders in the military and they just want to have that because their uncle, their father, their brother, somebody has served in the military and they want to know more about that and they respect

it, and they want to take that information, that collection or whatever and they want to pass it on to the next generation, which i think is absolutely terrific. i think that's one of the things that from the standpoint of our adjustment, i think that's a very important part of it. if you look at the preamble to the constitution, it talks about securing the blessings of liberty for ourselves and our posterity. and that's so important to have that. i think it is one of the most important things i would pass onto anybody is to ensure that the contribution we make, we are passing it onto posterity. the only other thing i would add to that is that this is adjustment to make to come to these programs with other things we do, i am director of army, to me it is providing financial assistance to soldiers and families. i make adjustments to do these

things, i think they're important. the biggest adjustment that i see and have great sympathy, adjustment for wounded warriors that may have had traumatic brain injury, lost a limb, an eye, whatever. they're making terrific adjustments in their lives, and i think focus ought to be on them, as it properly is today, and as well on the families of our fallen soldiers, sailors and marines. there has been tremendous sacrifices made and it is good to see the kind of focus and emphasis and care and legislation and all kinds of things being done for them, because they are the true heroes in my view of this current conflict in iraq and afghanistan. >> first of all, the day i got decorated, general green said you have a good career ahead of you. you have a good career of because of or in spite of that medal that you received today.

and i hope that i used the latter. i never used this for personal gain, never used it for special orders. i would be naive to believe that it has not assisted me because the way itou are not just a major or lieutenant colonel, lieutenant colonel barnham with a medal of honor. i have been introduced to people i would never have met, congressmen, senators, kings, queens, celebrities. the most important thing is now that i am retired, when i put this on and go visit bethesda and visit the wounded warriors, when i was assistant secretary of navy, went six times to iran and afghanistan, been there, done it, understand it, here to tell you i'm proud and i always felt this medal is the mettle of

america, it is the mettle that those of us that have worn the cloth of our nation, served our country, stand for. so i've worn it with pride. i feel very honored to be able to wear it on behalf of the marines and corpsmen that i had an opportunity to lead on the field of battle. >> thank you very much, gentlemen. thank you, ladies and gentlemen, for coming today. taking the time to come here. i hope you believe richer than when you came. and particularly in spirit. this has been valuable to you, and again, it has been short, but i think very meaningful and we will continue to try to perpetuate what the men who wear this medal of honor represent. one last point i could macon

that. how many women received the medal of honor? one, that's correct. you heard marvin pickard. there was a doctor in the civil war, mary walker that received the medal of honor, a surgeon on the battlefield. tended to troops at bull run, was captured, was a prisoner of war for a period of time, and tended to wounded and troops there on both sides, by the way, then was released. her medal was taken away during a review in 1918 i think it was because she was a contract surgeon, not a member of the military. it was reinstated by president jimmy carter a number of years later. so there is one woman, dr. mary walker, who received the medal of honor, and the story goes, she never took it off any time throughout her life, despite the demands to take it back. she kept it. and she received it more officially, was reinstated later

on. thank you very much for your time. we'll be upstairs later on. [ applause ] you're watching american history tv. 48 hours of people and events that helped document the american story. >> there's a new website where you can see the schedules and preview upcoming programs. watch featured video and history tweets. history in the news and social media from facebook, youtube, twitter, four square. follow american history tv all weekend every weekend on cspan3 and online at cspan.org/history.

i would like to start with a couple of questions, then open it up to everybody else to come in with things you may like to ask these men. the first one i want to bring out is during the action, if you read their stories, you would see during the action for which they received the medal of honor, it is like chaos. they're under attack, their lives are on the line, things going off all around. some people are wounded. there may even be someone killed in that action that they're concerned about or trying to bring to safety, and there's a lot of things going on that you say how do you cope with all that. and what's going through your mind. i would like to start by just asking if they can recall back to the time when this action was going on for which they received the medal of honor, what was going through your mind and what were you thinking about in terms of how you're going to deal with this. how are you going to deal with

this and make some sort of difference. i'll start with bob maxwell. he has a unique story. bob? >> actually, i wasn't thinking. imagine three seconds, what can you do in three seconds. the enemy hurled a grenade at you. has six or seven seconds to go off from the time it leaves their hand. as a sales through the air, it is eating up two to three seconds and lands somewhere in your feet in the middle of the night. how much time can you do any thinking in two seconds? the only thing i thought about initially was trying to find it and throw it back. i realized this was impossible because there wasn't enough time to really do that.

it would have gone off. if it had been in my hand in the air, act of throwing it back, i might have gotten three or four of my buddies killed as well as myself. not much thought goes into it. you sort of act instantaneously, and unconsciously i suppose. whatever needs to be done, drop in place, that's it. >> thanks. brian? >> well, i find it hard to say i was thinking. that implies that you're anticipating something in the future. i was reacting to what was going