FIGHTING FOR COUNTRY - Jim Webb graduated from Annapolis and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Marine Corps and rifle platoon leader in Company D in the 1st Battalion of the 5th Marine Regiment during the Vietnam War. In addition to the Silver Star, two Bronze Stars, and two Purple Hearts, Jim Webb received the U.S. Navy's highest honor the Navy Cross for "extraordinary heroism," "courage, aggressive leadership, and selfless devotion to duty" for actions on July 10, 1969 in Vietnam.
BEST SELLING AUTHOR AND JOURNALIST - Jim Webb won the Horan award for excellence in legal writing and went on to win an Emmy for his 1983 coverage of the U.S. Marines in Beirut. He authored "Fields of Fire" (considered by critics and veterans to be one of the best books on the Vietnam War). Webb has also written the follwing best-selling books: "A Sense of Honor," "A Country Such as This," "Something to Die For," "The Emperor's General," "Lost Soldiers," and "Born Fighting," Jim Webb also wrote the story and was the executive producer for the top box office movie "Rules of Engagement, " which starred Tommy Lee Jones and Samuel L. Jackson.
FIGHTING FOR FAMILY - Jim Webb seen here with 3 of his 4 children. His son Jimmy, is an enlisted infantry U.S. Marine whose unit is bound for Iraq in late 2006. Webb's father was a career officer in the U.S. Air Force who served as a bomber pilot in World War II (flying B-17s and B-29s) and dropped cargo during the Berlin Airlift. Jim Webb has had a family member serve in every American military conflict.
FIGHTING FOR OUR DEFENSE - Jim Webb served in the U.S. Congress as counsel to the House Committee on Veterans Affairs from l977 to l98l, becoming the first Vietnam veteran to serve as a full committee counsel in Congress. In 1984 Webb was appointed Assistant Secretary of Defense for Reserve Affairs. In 1987 Jim Webb was appointed US Navy Secretary where he expanded the role of women in high-level positions at the Department of the Navy. Webb resigned on principle as Naval Secretary in 1988 after refusing to reduce the Navy's force structure during congressionally-mandated budget cutting.
FIGHTING FOR OUR FUTURE - "The lessons of my life have helped shape my vision for the way forward. As a Congressional committee counsel, I learned the importance of checks and balances against executive authority. As a Marine I learned never to put a life in harm+óGé¼Gäós way unless absolutely necessary. My family+óGé¼Gäós heritage is humble, but strong, and I was raised to believe that fairness was just as American as independence. We must provide for everyone in our community; this is not just our obligation, it is our duty." -- Jim Webb
FIGHTING FOR TRUTH - In a Washington Post article (September 4, 2002) before the Iraq War began, Jim Webb accurately warned us all about the problem of invading Iraq "without broad-based international support" and without an exit strategy; pointing out that: "The Iraqis are a multiethnic people filled with competing factions who in many cases would view a U.S. occupation as infidels invading the cradle of Islam." Webb went on to warn that while: "In Japan [After WWII], American occupation forces quickly became 50,000 friends. In Iraq, they would quickly become 50,000 terrorist targets." and that an "American war" with the Muslim world would allow the Chinese to isolate the United States diplomatically while hampering our ability to win the war against international terrorism.
FIGHTING FOR JUSTICE - There are many monuments on the national mall, but only one statue of a black man. That statue is there because Jim Webb led the fight, to include an African American soldier in the Vietnam War Memorial on the National Mall. Also, during his first year of law school, Jim Webb began representing, pro bono, an African American who had been wrongly convicted of war crimes in Vietnam. Jim fought for six years to clear Sam Green's name, finally winning in 1978, three years after Green's suicide.
BORN FIGHTING - In "Born Fighting: How the Scots-Irish Shaped America," Jim Webb traces the role of the Scots-Irish in the development of American history and culture. In researching and writing the book, Webb re-discovered his strong Democratic policy roots and connection with his hero and father of the modern Democratic Party, Andrew Jackson, who was also Scots-Irish. Webb cites the fiercely independent streak, individualism and political pragmatism of the Scots-Irish as central in defining American working class values and culture which is often overlooked by historians.
FIGHTING FOR EXCELLENCE - Among Jim Webb's many awards for community service and professional excellence are the Department of Defense Distinguished Public Service Medal, the Medal of Honor Society's Patriot Award, the American Legion National Commander's Public Service Award, the VFW's Media Service Award, the Marine Corps League's Military Order of the Iron Mike Award, the John Russell Leadership Award, and the Robert L. Denig Distinguished Service Award. Jim Webb was also a Fall 1992 Fellow at Harvard's Institute of Politics.