Colby Symposium: Turning Point: 36 Days on Iwo Jima 1945

A panel of top military writers and historians discuss the battle that changed the course of World War II on the eve of the 60th anniversary of the American invasion of Iwo Jima.

Dr. Williamson Murray
Williamson Murray graduated from Yale University in 1963 with honors in history.  He then served five years as an officer in the United States Air Force, including a tour in Southeast Asia with the 314th Tactical Airlift Wing (C-130s).  He returned to Yale University where he received his Ph.D. in military-diplomatic history, working under Hans Gatzke and Donald Kagan.  He taught two years in the Yale history department before moving on to Ohio State University in fall 1977 as a military and diplomatic historian.  He received the Alumni Distinguished Teaching Award in 1987.  He took early retirement from Ohio State in 1995 as Professor Emeritus of History.

Professor Murray has taught at a number of other institutions, including the Air War College, the United States Military Academy, and the Naval War College.  He has also served as a Secretary of the Navy Fellow at the Navy War College, the Centennial Visiting Professor at the London School of Economics, the Matthew C. Horner Professor of Military Theory at the Marine Corps University, the Charles Lindbergh Chair at the Smithsonian's Air and Space Museum, and the Harold K. Johnson Professor of Military History at the Army War College.  At present he is a Senior Fellow at the Institute of Defense Analysis and a member of the National Strategic Studies Group.

Professor Murray has written numerous books and is widely published articles and journals across the country.  He is currently working on a book dealing with the ability of military institutions to adapt to the challenging conditions of combat.

James Bradley
James Bradley burst onto the national scene as an author in 2000 with his New York Times #1 bestseller and Colby Award winning book Flags of our Fathers.  The book is about the six servicemen who raised the American flag on Iwo Jima in WWII.  James' father, John Bradley, was one of the six Iwo Jima flag raisers.  Steven Spielberg acquired the rights and Clint Eastwood will direct the movie, beginning in August of 2005.

Mr. Bradley is also the author of the New York Times bestseller Flyboys.  James is working on his third book The China Mirage.

James is a professional motivational speaker and President of the James Bradley Peace Foundation, which fosters understanding between America and Asia. The foundation sends American students to Japan and China to study.

Mr. Bradley was raised in Wisconsin, studied at the University of Notre Dame, Sophia University in Tokyo, Japan and graduated with a degree in East Asian History from the University of Wisconsin. Before becoming an author James produced corporate films. He has traveled the world, living and working in more than 40 countries for nearly a decade. He has run companies in five countries.

Col. Gerald F. Russell, USMC, (RET.)
Col. Russell enlisted in the first U.S. Marine Corps Officer's Candidates Class.  He landed in assault waves on Guadalcanal in the first U.S. offensive of WWII.  Landed in the third assault wave on Iwo Jima (Red Beach One) and personally witnessed the historic flag raising in February 1945.  Col. Russell was one of the youngest BN Commanding Officers in WWII.  He provided protection of U.S. technical teams covering the atomic bomb site in Nagasaki, Japan.  He accepted surrender of Tsushima Islands of the coast of the Japanese mainland.

Col. Russell served as an instructor at Officers Basic School in Quantico, VA and coached the Quantico Track Team.  Col. Russell served as CO 8th Marine Infantry Regiment and U.S. Ground Defense Forces in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba during the early difficulties with Cuba.  Col. Russell was a member of the 1968 U.S. Olympic Team.

Col. Russell retired from the Marine Corps in November 1968.  He holds a Master of Business Administration from George Washington University and a Master in Education from American University.  He retired from Penn State as Associate Dean, College of HPER.

Col. Russell is currently a member of the Centre County United Way Board of Directors and Chairman of the Centre County United Way Day of Caring.

Marvin Kalb - Moderator
Marvin Kalb, Lecturer in Public Policy, is a Senior Fellow at the Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy and Faculty Chair for the Kennedy School's Washington programs. Kalb was the Shorenstein Center's Founding Director and Edward R. Murrow Professor of Press and Public Policy (1987-1999).

His distinguished journalism career encompasses 30 years of award-winning reporting for CBS and NBC News, as chief Diplomatic Correspondent, Moscow Bureau Chief, and host of Meet the Press. Kalb has authored or coauthored 10 nonfiction books and two best-selling novels.

His most recent book, The Media and the War on Terrorism, is a series of candid discussions with prominent experts and practitioners exploring the interaction between the government and the media during times of war and national emergency (co edited with Stephen Hess, published by the Brookings Institution Press, Spring 2003).