With this publication, the Center for The Study of Professional Military Ethics inaugurates its "Occasional Paper" series, and we are genuinely proud to have Vice Admiral James B. Stockdale as the first author we publish. Indeed, we could have had no finer or more appropriate person with whom to launch this new Center program. A 1947 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, Vice Admiral Stockdale is a figure of enormous. stature among midshipinen more than a half century later, as a living embodiment of the Navy's core values-Honor, Courage, and Commitment. In late 1999, the Center hosted Admiral and Mrs. Stockdale for several days, including one major event-"Moral Courage: An Evening in Honor of Vice Admiral James B. Stockdale." Early in 2001, the Naval Academy Alumni Association announced that Admiral Stockdale had been selected to receive the Association's Distinguished Graduate Award. This prestigious award is given to a living graduateowho has demonstrated a strong interest in supporting the Navy and the Naval Academy, has provided a lifetime of service to the nation, and has made significant contributions to the nation through public service. . A long-time student and teacher of philosophy, whose special focus is on the moral obligations of individuals, especially military officers, Admiral Stockdale asked last year if the Center would be interested in publishing some of his reflections on Stoicism and its influence on his life. We readily and enthusiastically agreed. The result will actually be our first two publications in this series, which we are calling Stockdale on Stoicism I and Stockdale on Stoicism II. The first, this publication, is a slightly edited version of two lectures Admiral Stockdale gave to the students at the U.S. Marine Corps Amphibious Warfare School in Quantico, Virginia on April 18, 1995. As you read this man 's biography and his own words to those young Marine officers, you will no doubt conclude, as we have, that he is also the living embodiment of the Marine Corps motto, Semper Fidelis .