The Officer Profession: Perspectives on the Profession

"Beyond Band of Brothers is Winters's memoir-based on his wartime diary-but it also includes his comrades' untold stories. Virtually all this material is being released for the first time. Only Winters was present from the activation of Easy Company until the war's end. Winner of the Distinguished Service Cross, only he could pen this moving tribute to the human spirit. "

"As part of the USAHEC's annual Army Heritage Days living history event, General (Retired) Barry McCaffrey presented a lecture entitled, 'Vietnam -- Our Veterans in Perspective,' about his service during the Vietnam War and his view of Vietnam Veterans' service today."

"COL (Ret) Roger Donlon, Recipient, Medal of Honor. Captain Roger H.C. Donlon commanded Special Forces Team A-726 at Camp Nam Dong, Vietnam, west of Da Nang near the Laotian border. The Green Berets provided physical security and health and welfare service to over 5,000 local villagers, and advised some 300 South Vietnamese personnel assigned to the camp. On July 6, 1964, more than 900 Viet Cong soldiers attacked Nam Dong with mortars, grenades, small arms fire and automatic weapons. The attack proceeded all night, and many of the South Vietnamese defenders were wounded in the fierce fighting. Donlon was wounded, and two of his team were killed. For his actions, Donlon received the Congressional Medal of Honor, the first Special Forces soldier so honored. In this talk, Donlon reflects on the influences from childhood through his Army career which shaped his life."

"Traveling back to the red-dirt battlefields, commanders and veterans from both sides make the long and difficult journey from old enemies to new friends. After a trip in a Russian-made helicopter to the Ia Drang Valley in the Central Highlands, with the Vietnamese pilots using vintage U.S. Army maps and Galloway's Boy Scout compass to guide them, they reach the hallowed ground where so many died. All the men are astonished at how nature has reclaimed the land once scarred by bullets, napalm, and blood. As darkness falls, the unthinkable happens-the authors and many of their old comrades are stranded overnight, alone, left to confront the ghosts of the departed among the termite hills and creek bed. "

"What was it like to kill German soldiers, or to watch a comrade succumb to a violent death at the hands of a hated enemy? Or to return home after facing such violence? Telling the stories as only a doughboy could, American Soldiers answered these and similar questions upon returning home from the Great War in 1918. Thousands of Soldiers completed questionnaires detailing their experiences, duties, interactions, and frustrations about their time spent in Europe while it was still fresh in their minds. Dr. Edward Gutiérrez, in a lecture based on his recent book, Doughboys in the Great War, will examine the shell-shocked stories and use the doughboys’ own voices to paint a picture of their experiences, from volunteering or being drafted to their involvements in dangerous battles. Gutiérrez discovered, from the Soldiers’ own opinions and views, a distinct contradiction between the accepted popular history of Soldier-level warfighting and the truth from stories of the men in the trench. By using their reflections, Gutiérrez learned these Soldiers were not disillusioned by the mud and slog of trenches and shell holes; instead, he argues the war-hardened doughboys were proud of their service, duty, honor, and country."

"With breakers smashing into the darkened hulk of Corregidor Island behind them, the passengers and crew of Motor Torpedo Boat PT-41 strained their eyes, simultaneously looking for the Japanese Navy and holding down the onset of sea-sickness. For one man on the boat, the 'retching' feeling was not necessarily caused by the choppy seas. In General Douglas MacArthur’s case, the tight knot in his stomach was due to the men and women he was leaving behind in the Philippine Islands on that cold night in March 1942. General of the Army MacArthur was one of World War II’s most controversial figures; by the end of the war, he was a leader of both stunning triumphs and terrible defeats. Only days after his harrowing escape from the Japanese on PT-41, he announced to a crowd in Australia, 'I came through, and I shall return!' In this video, Mr. Walter Borneman presents his lecture entitled, 'Macarthur at War: World War II in the Pacific.' Borneman discusses the war from a MacArthur-centric point of view, paying particular attention to the myths and realities surrounding his method of command."

"The grandson of the legendary World War II general George S. Patton Jr., documentary filmmaker Benjamin Patton explores his family legacy and shares the inspirational wit and wisdom that his grandfather bestowed upon his only son and namesake. In revealing personal correspondence written between 1939 and 1945, General Patton Jr. espoused his ideals to Benjamin's father, then a cadet at West Point. Dispensing advice on duty, heroism and honor with the same candor he used ordering the Third Army across Europe, the letters show Patton to be as dynamic a parent as a military commander. Following in those famous footsteps, Benjamin's father became a respected and decorated hero of both the Korean and Vietnam wars. Ironically, as he rose to Major General, he also proved himself just as brave, flamboyant, flawed and inspiring as his father had been. A study of a great American original, Growing Up Patton features some of the pivotal figures in Benjamin's father's life, including Creighton Abrams, the WWII hero who became his greatest mentor; Charley Watkins, a daredevil helicopter pilot in Vietnam; Manfred Rommel, the son of German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel; Joanne Patton, the author's mother and a resourceful fighter in her own right; and Benjamin's mentally challenged brother, George. Growing Up Patton explores how the Patton cultural legacy lives on, and in the end, reveals how knowing the history of our heritage-famous or not-can lead to a deeper understanding of ourselves."

"It was the last-chance moment of the war. In January 2007, President George W. Bush announced a new strategy for Iraq. It became known as 'the surge.' Among those called to carry it out were the young, optimistic army infantry soldiers of the 2nd Battalion, 16th Infantry, the battalion nicknamed the 'Rangers.' About to head to a vicious area of Baghdad, they decided the difference would be them. Fifteen months later, the soldiers returned home — forever changed. The chronicle of their tour is gripping, devastating, and deeply illuminating for anyone with an interest in human conflict. With The Good Soldiers, David Finkel has produced an eternal story — not just of the Iraq War, but of all wars, for all time. In this lecture, Finkel will describe his experiences as an embedded journalist with the battalion, and will be joined by the unit's former commander, COL Ralph Kauzlarich."

"From the USAHEC Audio Visual Archive, this oral history interview was conducted with SGT James Clark in 1984 at Fort Huachuca. Take a moment and listen as SGT Clark describes his experience as a Buffalo Soldier in the U.S. Army."

"General Creighton Creighton Williams Abrans Jr presents a short speech on serving in the United States Army. General Abrams commanded military operations in the Vietnam War from 1968-1972. He later served as Chief of Staff of the United States Army until shortly before his death in 1974. In honor of Abrams, the U.S. Army named the XM1 main battle tank after him as the M1 Abrams. This clip was taken from a film of General Abrams funeral, a ten minute color film located in the "Soldier's Personal Film Collection at the United States Army Heritage and Education Center's audio visual collection."