  richard "dick" marcinko (born november 21, 1940) is a retired u.s. navy seal commander and vietnam war veteran. he was the first commanding officer of seal team six and red cell. after retiring from the united states navy, he became an author, radio talk show host, military consultant, and motivational speaker. ==early life and education== marcinko was born in lansford, pennsylvania and is of slovak descent. at a young age, his family moved to new brunswick, new jersey. after attending admiral farragut academy in toms river, new jersey, marcinko enlisted in the united states navy in 1958 as a radioman. later commissioned as an officer, he received a bachelor of arts degree in international relations from auburn university and a master of arts degree in political science from the naval postgraduate school. ==career== ===vietnam war=== on may 18, 1967, marcinko led his men in an assault on ilo ilo hon (ilo ilo island), where they killed a large number of viet cong and destroyed six of their sampans. this action would be called âthe most successful seal operation in the mekong deltaâ by the u.s. navy. for leading it, marcinko was awarded the first of his four bronze stars, as well as a vietnamese cross of gallantry with silver star. marcinko returned to vietnam with seal team 2 after a few months stateside as officer-in-charge of eighth platoon. during the tet offensive, marcinko ordered his platoon to assist u.s. army special forces at chÃ¢u Äá»c.{{cite book |last=marcinko |first=richard |authorlink=richard marcinko |author2=weisman |title=rogue warrior|year= 1992|publis
1940_births Admiral_Farragut_Academy_alumni American_military_personnel_of_the_Vietnam_War American_military_writers American_people_of_Slovak_descent American_talk_radio_hosts Auburn_University_alumni Living_people Naval_Postgraduate_School_alumni People_from_Carbon_County,_Pennsylvania Recipients_of_the_Bronze_Star_Medal Recipients_of_the_Legion_of_Merit Recipients_of_the_Silver_Star Recipients_of_the_Vietnamese_Cross_of_Gallantry United_States_Naval_Special_Warfare_Command United_States_Navy_SEALs_personnel United_States_Navy_officers