Charles D. Melson was the Chief Historian for the U.S. Marine Corps, at the Marine Corps University at Quantico, Virginia. Chuck also served as a joint historian with the U.S. Central Command and U.S. Special Operations Command. He was the author, co-author, or editor of several official publications and series. He was the recipient of the General Edwin Simmons-Henry Shaw Award for public historians and the General Leonard Chapman Medal. His education includes degrees in Liberal Arts from St. John’s College, Annapolis, and in History and Fine Arts from Sonoma State University, California. Chuck and his family currently live on Kent Island in Maryland.