Military & Armed Forces

Journalist Fred Kaplan's latest book is "The Wizards of Armageddon," which looks at the politics of nuclear warfare and weapons. He joins the show to discuss Defense policy and the budget and the issue of nuclear war in contemporary politics. (Interview by Dave Davies)

Pat Conroy's abusive father tried to groom him for a career in the Marines. Conroy instead became a novelist who incorporates autobiographical details into his fiction.

Detective writer Charles Willeford. His novels have earned him a cult following in the genre. He's now being discovered by a wider audience as his earlier novels are being re-issued in paperback. A new novel is about to be published, as well as an autobiography about his years on the road as hobo during the Depression.

Adrian Cronauer, the airman disk-jockey whose stint as a rebellious Armed Forces Radio Network announcer during the Vietnam war is the basis for the movie "Good Morning Vietnam," starring Robin Williams. Cronauer, 49, is a former announcer for WQXR in New York and is now studying communications law at The University of Pennsylvania.

Peter Kornbluh, an information analyst with the National Security Archive in Washington, D.C. Kornbluh is the co-editor of Low Intensity Warfare, an analysis of the numerous counter-insurgency operations the United States is engaged in around the world. Low Intensity Warfare looks at the future of American war-fighting capabilities as they are reoriented toward unconventional conflicts in the Third World.

Writer Robert Ludlum. His thrillers, all instant bestsellers, include The Osterman Weekend, The Aquitaine Progression and The Matarese Circle. His latest is titled The Icarus Agenda and places American hostages in the Mideast at the center of a superpower standoff. Ludlum is a former actor and theatrical producer who was 40 when he decided to try his hand at writing.

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Nick Kotz. His new book, Wild Blue Yonder: Money, Politics and the B-1 Bomber, is an in-depth examination of how cost over-runs, politics and s basic pork barrel mentality has compromised the making of the B-1 bomber. Kotz's study of military leadership won the National Magazine Award for Public Service. He also authored the highly acclaimed book, Let Them Eat Promises.

Novelist and essayist Harry Crews. His nine novels include All We Need is Hell and The Gospel Singer. Oftentimes, the main characters of Crews' works are outsiders; The central character of Crews' most recent work, titled The Knockout Artist, is a boxer who specializes in knocking himself out. Crews' three works of nonfiction include the autobiography A Childhood, Blood and Grits, and Florida Frenzy.

The success of Platoon in theaters has led to the development of several television shows about the Vietnam War. Some viewers might be fatigued by their sheer number; for them, TV critic David Bianculli recommends HBO's Vietnam War Stories.

PBS will soon air the documentary Missile, about the fourteen-week training program for launch operators. TV critic David Bianculli says it gives real life context to the hit film Wargames. Director Frederick Wiseman's signature eschewing of interviews sometimes detracts from the narrative, but the movie is overall worth watching.

Colonel David Hackworth was the model for the character of Kurtz in the film Apocalypse Now. He served in the Vietnam War, and grew frustrated by what he saw as a failure of leadership. Hackworth is currently the most decorated soldier in U.S. history. His new memoir, about his experience on the battlefield and his eventual retirement from the Army, is called About Face.

Hamill's first book of fiction is called Loving Women, about a man who joins the Navy in the 1950s. Hamill wrote for a number of New York City newspapers, and recently left the New York Post after an editorial dispute.

Washington Post chief defense correspondent George Wilson. His new book, Mud Soldiers: Life Inside the New American Army, is an analysis of the efficiency and morale of the all-volunteer Army Infantry, the combat branch that would bear the brunt of any war, and which almost certainly sustain the highest loses. Wilson spent a year with 200 recruits, following them from basic training to maneuvers in the Mohave Desert, to their first assignments. Wilson's other books include Army in Anguish and Supercarrier.

Film critic Stephen Schiff reviews "Glory," starring Matthew Broderick and Morgan Freeman. It's the true story of a black regiment during the Civil War.

Military historian John Keegan. His new book, "The Second World War," recounts the strategies and battles of the war by looking at the three major theaters (the West, the East, and the Pacific) in both the early and late years of the war. Keegan, one of today's foremost military historians, is best known for analyzing the effects of war on the individual soldier. He taught for many years at the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst in Britain, and is now the Defense Correspondent of The Daily Telegraph in London.

Journalist Michael Norman. Norman served in the Marine Corps during the Vietnam War, and his memoir, "These Good Men: Friendships Forged from War," he tells the stories of some of the men he served with. Norman, a former columnist for the New York Times, spent 5 years looking for his comrades, traveling from Oklahoma to London, finding out what had happened to them in the 20 years since the war and trying to understand how his own life had been changed.

Richard Barnet, co-founder of the Institute for Policy Studies. Barnet discusses the end of the Cold War and the implications for U.S. domestic and foreign policy. His new book is "The Rocket's Red Glare." (It's published by Simon and Schuster).

Short story writer Stephanie Vaughn. Her first collection of stories is "Sweet Talk." Most of these stories chronicle the childhood, youth, and adulthood of Gemma, the daughter of a career army man. The New York Times says Vaughn "emerges as a thoroughly original writer, blessed with a distinctive voice, by turns witty and lyrical, wisecracking and nostalgic." Vaughn's stories first appeared in "The New Yorker," and in the O. Henry and Pushcart Prize collections. ("Sweet Talk" is published by Random House.)

Writer Allan Bérubé (bah-RUE-bay). To research his new book is "Coming Out Under Fire: The History of Gay Men and Women In World War II," Bérubé spent ten years interviewing gay and lesbian veterans, searching out wartime letters, and consulting newly declassified government documents. Bérubé found that hundreds of thousands of gays entered the military despite a procedure for screening out homosexuals. In his interview with Terry, Bérubé, talks about what it was like in World War II and the situation now for gays in the military.

A new edition of photographer David Douglas Duncan's 1951 book This is War, which captures images of Marines in Korea, has just been published. Duncan is also known for his several photos of Pablo Picasso.