Fitz #2: Addressing Systemic Racism in the United States Marine Corps in 1973:

by John Campbell

Overview

A novel about a young military lawyer ("Fitz") who is assigned to defend court-martials that are then going forward at the First Marine Aircraft Wing in Southeast Asia in 1973, towards the end of the Vietnam Conflict. At the time, Black-White race relations in the Marine Corps were facing new challenges. Fitz finds his passion in defending young Black Marines against systemic racism that was often the source of the charges being tried.

This is also a coming-of-age story as to how Fitz decides to abandon his conservative ways from having grown up in New England, over-analyzing everything in his life up to this point. Fitz decides to exorcise his Catholic guilt and start embracing everything, including moving off base with a wonderful Chinese-Japanese lady of the evening ("Yuasan").

As for Fitz, Yuasan wants to marry him; his CO respects him; his XO wants to kill him; all of the prosecutors at the Law Center want to crush him; and a conservative "under the radar" group of Senior Marine officers and noncommissioned officers are bent upon revenge.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9798881173036
Publisher:	Barnes & Noble Press
Publication date:	04/17/2024
Series:	Fitz Series , #2
Pages:	530
Sales rank:	461,659
Product dimensions:	7.44(w) x 9.69(h) x 1.07(d)

About the Author

Mr. Campbell presently lives in California with his supportive wife of 44 years, having raised three successful adult children. He is still a full-time, civil trial lawyer in his community, preparing litigated cases for trial, in the event they do not successfully settle along the way towards trial. Recently, he has found the time (late nights and early mornings) to address this bucket-list item that he had put off for so many years: a series of novels about the adventures of Lieut. Thomas Fitzpatrick (AKA Fitz).

After graduating from Harvard Univ. in 1970, and Boston College Law School in 1973, Mr. Campbell served as a Lieutenant in the U.S. Navy JAG Corps, specializing in criminal litigation. While serving first with the United States Marine Corps in Southeast Asia, and then with the United States Navy in San Diego, Mr. Campbell prosecuted and defended well over 250 general and special court-martials that were tried to completion.

During Mr. Campbell’s 13 months with the First Marine Aircraft Wing that was stationed throughout Southeast Asia, Mr. Campbell defended more than 175 court-martial proceedings at a very busy Law Center, where he finished as the lead defense attorney. During the remainder of his 4-year active-duty commitment, Mr. Campbell then served with the Naval Legal Service Office at Naval Station San Diego, where Mr. Campbell tried well over 100 additional general and special court-martials, typically involving serious felonies. Because of Mr. Campbell’s trial experience that he gained from his time in Southeast Asia with the Marines, Mr. Campbell was typically responsible for defending felonies such as: murder; attempted murder; financial fraud; sale of illegal substances; assault; rape; etc. It was a very busy 4 years.

Since starting his civil practice in 1977, Mr. Campbell has since tried over 35 civil jury trials to judgment. Many of those trials involved millions of dollars of exposure for Mr. Campbell’s clients. He has also handled hundreds of binding and non-binding arbitrations, many of which went on to trial; as well as more than 1,000 mediation proceedings over the past 44 years. For 33 of those 44 years, Mr. Campbell had his own insurance defense law firm with a backlog of approximately 100 case referrals every year, many of which made their way towards trial.

Mr. Campbell is now moving on to his next phase of life: storytelling, which is what every trial lawyer does.