Scuttlebutt - Marine Corps Association

November 20, 2025November 19, 2025

#220: Marine Corps Censorship and Combat Correspondents with Douglas K. Daniel

Hey, Scuttlebutt listeners. Thank you for joining us and your continued support. This week, we welcome Douglas K. Daniel to the show. Douglas is a journalist who served for nearly three decades as a reporter and editor for the Associated Press and teaches journalism at Kansas State University and Ohio University. He is also the author of Kill – Do Not Release: Censored Marine Corps Stories from WWII, which explores the use of censorship in the Marine Corps during WWII. He uncovers a trove of previously classified material withheld from the public because of government and public relations concerns at the time. Douglas talks to us about his background in journalism, how he stumbled on this topic and the existence of combat correspondents, and how he came into this topic by researching various journalists who served as Marine combat correspondents during the war. The book is so interesting, and it is great to hear about the experiences of the Marine combat correspondents and the previously unpublished stories from WWII.

Enjoy!

fordhampress.com/kill-do-not-release-hb-9781531510398.html

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November 13, 2025November 12, 2025

#219: War Against the Cartels with Ben Connable

Hey, Scuttlebutt listeners. Thank you for tuning in and your continued support. This week, we welcome Ben Connable back to the show. Ben recently co-authored (with Colin P. Clarke) an issue brief for The Soufan Center titled, “War Against the Cartels,” and we are fortunate that he was willing to go low-brow and come on the show to discuss it. As a former Marine intelligence officer who served during the Long War, he is a true subject-matter expert and has personal experience in the perils of engaging in conflicts thought to be easy wins. Ben talks us through his threat analysis, intelligence preparation of the battlefield, second- and third-order effects of a potential conflict, the significance of labelling transnational criminal organizations as terrorist organizations, and recommendations for dealing with the threat of drugs, trafficking, and the fact that most of these organizations have deep roots in every major US city.

Enjoy!

thesoufancenter.org/research/war-against-the-cartels-prospects-and-perils-for-the-trump-administrations-military-led-campaign

battleresearchgroup.org

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November 7, 2025November 7, 2025

#218: Happy 250th Birthday, Marines!

Hey, Scuttlebutt listeners. Thank you for tuning in and your continued support. This week, we want to start of by saying, Happy 250^th Birthday, Marines! As our final, concluding episode of our Road to 250 series, we have Col Chris Woodbridge, Nancy, William, and me in studio to talk about the Marine Corps’ 250^th Birthday video. In standard Semper Cinema format, we give our reviews, detail some of the messaging and imagery, and give our opinions on what message we think this video is trying to communicate, and what audience is the video targeting.

We also look back at the history of the Marine Corps birthdays by exploring the very first Marine Corps birthday a hundred years ago. You can check out this event in more detail in the pages of the November edition of Leatherneck Magazine. It turns out, the first birthday celebration entailed more than just getting your uniform ready, going to the Birthday Ball, and praying your regrets aren’t unforgivable in the morning.

We are so proud that we were able to bring you various aspects of Marine Corps history throughout this series and hope you all have a wonderful, safe, and fun 250^th birthday celebration. You deserve it. And keep your wits as sharp as your steel. The nation will be calling you to write the stories of the Marine Corps for the next 250 years.