His life changed forever at a place in the Pacific dubbed "Suicide Creek." A Marine in World War II, he went on to be one of the most respected historians and sought-after battlefield guides in the nation. He is credited with locating and helping to raise one of the most significant artifacts of the Civil War, the ironclad gunboat Cairo . Referred to by many as a national treasure and acclaimed as one of the stars of Ken Burns's award-winning PBS series, The Civil War , the historian emeritus of the National Park Service talked recently with Naval History Editor Fred L. Schultz at his office in Washington, D.C.
