Martial Law in Warsaw: A Marine Security Guard at the U.S. Embassy in Cold War Poland

In December 1981, Marine Security Guard Chuck Mellette was serving at the U.S. Embassy in Warsaw when Poland declared martial law. He takes us inside that night — the failed communications, the armored vehicles in the streets, and the days of continuous watchstanding as Marines locked down the embassy and held it until things stabilized.Chuck describes serving behind the Iron Curtain at the height of the Cold War: the constant counterintelligence threat, the honey traps aimed at young Marines, and how a spy exfiltrated on the night of the Marine Corps Ball turned out to be one of the Cold War's most important intelligence sources.He then moves to the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo, where he stood post in the espionage capital of the Pacific and worked a visit from Secretary of State George Shultz.