Robin Bartlett

While writing a book about my unusual combat experiences during the Vietnam war as a combat infantry platoon leader, the meaning of courage became a central theme. My presentation addresses the many similarities and lessons I learned about leadership, decision making and courage that apply to business, sports, parenting, education, and life in general.

From reviews of "Vietnam Combat: Firefights and Writing History": "More than fifty years after the Vietnam War, Bartlett's vivid combat experiences are brought to light in a fast-moving, well-written, first person narrative expressing the horror, fear, anguish, and sometimes illogical humor of that war."

John Wayne, may have said it best: Courage is being scared to death, but saddling up anyway.

My presentation is about courage under fire. It is something all grunts (infantrymen) thought about in Vietnam. Firefights came in a variety of forms: a skirmish with one or two enemy soldiers walking down a trail; a short but ferocious ambush initiated by our own soldiers or theirs, often resulting in immediate death of those ambushed. There were firefights after landing in a helicopter combat assault into a hot LZ. The worst firefights were those that occurred at night. Night fights meant fear, chaos, and confusion because of the darkness and uncertainty of enemy movement. Courage is a central theme of the presentation.