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Heroes of the Vietnam Generation
July/August 2000

Chris Matthews of "Hardball" is fond of writing columns praising the Navy service of his father while castigating his own baby boomer generation for its alleged softness and lack of struggle. William Bennett gave a startlingly condescending speech at the Naval Academy a few years ago comparing the heroism of the "D-Day Generation" to the drugs-and-sex nihilism of the "Woodstock Generation." And Steven Spielberg, in promoting his film Saving Private Ryan, was careful to justify his portrayals of soldiers in action based on the supposedly unique nature of World War II. Read on...

Dear Supe:
July/August 1999

Sir:
This is in response to your letter of 12 May 1964, congratulating me on my acceptance to the Naval Academy and outlining my education and training should I report for duty as a midshipman. Please excuse the 35-year delay, but I did in fact report for duty, and it would not be an exaggeration to say that I have had a busy time of it ever since. Read on...

PEACE? DEFEAT? What Did the Vietnam War Protestors Want?
May/June 1997

It is difficult to explain to my children that in my teens and early twenties the most frequently heard voices of my peers were trying to destroy the foundations of American society, so that it might be rebuilt according to their own narcissistic notions. In retrospect it’s hard even for some of us who went through those times to understand how highly educated people—most of them spawned from the comforts of the upper-middle class—could have seriously advanced the destructive ideas that were in the air during the late ’60s and early ’70s. Even Congress was influenced by the virus. Read on...

Tradition and the Military, An Interview With James Webb
March/April 1997

TAE: How important is tradition for the military?

MR. WEBB: It's the foundation of the military. The thing that sustained me in combat was the notion that I was accountable to the people whom I was leading and to the traditions of the Marine Corps. That's the bedrock.

TAE: The central military tradition is the warrior. How is he made? Read on...