Post One: True Stories from Marine Embassy Guards

The Man Behind Post One: A Marine Security Guard on Serving in New Delhi, Togo, and Ottawa

In this episode, the microphone turns around. Prior guest Matthew Kearse takes over as host to interview James Curry — Marine veteran, former Marine Security Guard, and c

Beaten in Belgrade: A Marine Security Guard Caught in the 1997 Protests Against Milošević

In February 1997, Marine Security Guard Kevin Chavez was serving in Belgrade during the mass protests against Slobodan Milošević. One night, while showing a friend around

Blood in the Pink Zone: New details on the 1985 Zona Rosa Attack

In 1985, four Marine Security Guards were killed in a targeted attack at a café in the Zona Rosa district of San Salvador — the deadliest strike on MSG Marines in the pro

No Days Off: A Marine Security Guard on the Reality of Embassy Duty in Liberia, China, and Estonia

Marine Security Guard Ken Hayles served three U.S. Embassy posts — Liberia, China, and Estonia — each a completely different world. In this episode, he describes arriving

Embassy in Ruins: A Marine Security Guard and the 1972 Managua Earthquake

When the 1972 Managua earthquake struck Nicaragua on December 23, it killed thousands and destroyed much of the capital. Anthony Trzupek was the senior Marine Security Gu

Breaking Protocol: An MSG's Fight to Save Two Americans in Yemen

Retired Gunnery Sergeant Gregg Jones served as a Marine Security Guard detachment commander in Geneva, Switzerland and Sanaa, Yemen. In Yemen, he heard a distress call ov

Card Declined: How a Failed Transaction Led a Marine to the MSG Program

AJ Inman never planned on becoming a Marine Security Guard. A chance encounter with MSG recruiters in Okinawa — and a debit card that wouldn't work at the worst possible

Ken Kraus: The First American Hostage in Iran

Marine Security Guard Ken Kraus was the first American taken hostage in Iran. On Valentine's Day 1979, the US Embassy in Tehran was overrun by armed militants. Kraus was

Jeanne Jacko: The First Female Marine Security Guard

In 1979, Jeanne Jacko became the first female Marine Security Guard. She served in Amman, Jordan and Paris, France — part of a ten-woman test program that opened doors fe

Trey Salmon: The First MSG Awarded the Combat Action Ribbon for El Salvador

Trey Salmon served as a Marine Security Guard in Calcutta, India and San Salvador, El Salvador. On Christmas night 1989, he found himself in the middle of a firefight bet

Breaking New Ground: The First Career Detachment Commander in Marine Security Guard History

Jesse Wagner is the first career detachment commander in the history of the Marine Security Guard program — a title that didn't exist until he helped create it. In this e

The Replacements: Resetting the Marine Security Guard Detachment in Shanghai

When an entire Marine Security Guard detachment in Shanghai got sent home, the Marine Corps needed replacements they could trust. Chris Wright was one of them. Shanghai

Still Standing: The Luckiest Marine on the MSG Program

Before Mike Pellow held the U.S. Embassy in Panama through a night of RPG attacks during the U.S. invasion (Episode 12), he was a young sergeant on his first MSG tour in

Beirut: When the US Embassy Annex Was Bombed

Melvin "Mac" McField was in a shoe store in Beirut when the walls shook. The radio said the American Embassy annex had just been bombed. He raced back to the compound. Th

MSG DET Uganda: The Uzi, the Coup, the Condoms

In 1986, Staff Sergeant George Holguin arrived in Kampala, Uganda as a brand new detachment commander with one mission — establish the first permanent MSG detachment at t

Under Arrest: The Night the Yugoslav Secret Police Took an MSG

Jim Vetternik was an MSG at the U.S. Embassy in Belgrade when Yugoslav secret police arrested him outside a casino and threw him in an interrogation room. What happened o

Karachi Under Siege: The Female MSG the Marine Corps Tried to Erase

In 1979, the Marine Corps opened the MSG program to women for the first time. Only a handful were selected. Vicki Gaglia-McGuire was one of them — and when given the choi

After the Bombing: Vienna, Yemen, and a Shady Ambassador

In Part Two of our conversation, Marine Security Guard veteran Cody McCabe reflects on life after the 1998 embassy bombing in Tanzania — from struggling through a low-mor

Three Years, Three Posts: What Marine Security Guard Duty Really Looks Like

Darienzo Peña was a Marine Security Guard who served at U.S. embassies in Beijing, Jakarta, and Brussels. He survived the intensity of MSG school, where great Marines get

Abandoned in Panama: The MSG Detachment Nobody Came to Save

In December 1989, the United States launched Operation Just Cause — a full-scale invasion of Panama. Nobody told Staff Sergeant Mike Pellow, the detachment commander at t