Symposium registrants are invited to the Steve W. Shepherd Theater on Friday evening for a free film showing. Cuban Missile Crisis presenter, Michael Absher, will present the Hollywood film, Thirteen Days, starring Kevin Costner and Bruce Greenwood. Thirteen Days is a dramatization of President Kennedy's administration's efforts to contain the Cuban Missile Crisis of October 1962. Following the film, Absher will be present for a discussion/question and answer period. There will be no charge for registered symposium guests.
5:00 PM

Professor Craig Symonds presently occupies the Class of 1957 Distinguished Chair of Naval History at the United States Naval Academy. He served in the History Department of the U. S. Naval Academy from 1976-2005. In 1994-1995, he was a visiting lecturer at Britannia Royal Naval College in Dartmouth, England. He is the author of numerous books and publications including the highly acclaimed, "The Battle of Midway." In 2009 he won the prestigious Lincoln Prize for his book, "Lincoln and his Admirals: Abraham Lincoln, the US Navy, and the Civil War."

Richard Frank, a Vietnam veteran and lawyer, is the author of "Guadalcanal," "Downfall: The End of the Imperial Japanese Empire" and "MacArthur" for the Palgrave Great Generals series. He was a consultant for the HBO miniseries, "The Pacific." Currently, he is working on a narrative history trilogy about the Asiatic Pacific War, 1937-1945 for Random House, Inc.

Michael Absher is currently a Fellow with the Scowcroft Institute of International Affairs, the Bush School of Government and Public Service, at Texas A&M University. He retired from the Central Intelligence Agency as a member of the Senior Intelligence Service, having served over 31 years in the clandestine service. He provided direct intelligence support to the US handling of major Cold War events such as the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis.

Dr. Lewis Sorley retired from the US Army in 1976; he later served with the Central Intelligence Agency, and is a member of the advisory council for the National Defense Intelligence College as well as the International Institute for Strategic Studies. He is the author of many award winning works, most recently, "Westmoreland: The General who Lost Vietnam."

LtGen Holder served in Vietnam and then was assigned, for the second time, to the 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment and deployed to Saudi Arabia for the first Gulf War. In Desert Storm, the regiment led the VII Corps main attack and earned the Valorous Unit Award in combat against units of the Iraqi Republican Guard. He is currently one of six Battle Command Training Program Senior Mentors and has participated in the advanced training of Army corps, divisions, and brigades worldwide.