olonel James "Bo" Gritz is a highly visible talk show host, Green Beret veteran, former Presidential candidate and Patriot leader. Gritz is a very controversial figure who has repeatedly attracted mainstream media attention. Bo became relatively well known to many Americans when he made several high profile trips to Southeast Asia looking for POW's in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia.

A highly decorated veteran, Bo is convinced that Americans are still being held in the former political hotspot. In each case, the elusive proof of Americans being held to this day continued to elude him - however, many are still convinced that the government of North Vietnam is now committed to hiding their long term American captives and dare not allow the public to become aware of their true fate.

In one of his many trips to the area, Gritz communicated with a well known drug lord in the region, who convinced him that the US government, through various black budget agencies, was deeply implicated in the importation of drugs from the area. The so-called "Golden Triangle" was at one time considered the prime source for the heroin and opiate trade in the modern world.

After learning about this illegal and immoral trafficking, Gritz produced videos that exposed the practice. He even brought video footage back from Southeast Asia that was used in his A Nation Betrayed video. The results were always inconclusive, as each call to action to combat the problem has gone unheeded by the government of the USA - the very party accused of being behind the illicit trade.

There is a certain naivete associated with Bo Gritz. He truly seemed shocked and surprised to find the government he had served was deeply involved in such nefarious activities; yet in multiple tours of duty in the area it's almost incomprehensible that he never had any clues as to who is actually behind the smuggling activities. This makes Bo Gritz an enigmatic figure and something of a contradiction in terms. On one hand he is a consummate warrior who is battle hardened and aware of the cold realities of military conflict. On the other hand, he seems genuinely surprised to find certain aspects of the conspiratorial practices of the demonized leadership of our country. In several direct conversations with the man, I found him to possess the very innocence that comes across in his video and live speaking presentations.

Bo next achieved public notoriety when he arrived at the Ruby Ridge compound and helped to negotiate the safe surrender of Christian Patriot figure Randy Weaver, after the bastards in the government murdered his wife and son. Weaver was subsequently victorious in court, but the criminals in the ATF and the FBI were not prosecuted for murder, as they should have been. Bo's popularity greatly increased as his efforts helped put the spotlight on the gestapo government group that surely would have killed Randy and his associate if the media and Bo had not been there to expose their lying and treacherous dealings.

Bo then became a favorite on the patriot speaking circuit. He made appearances all over the place and was always the key speaker at the Preparedness Expos. At some point in the last decade he founded a community in Idaho, known as Almost Heaven, where many Patriots are clustering to prepare for the inevitable confrontation with the Satanic leadership of America.

Bo has had a very difficult time for the last couple of years. He's been soundly criticized for several dubious statements related to his claimed conversion to Christianity. A former Mormon, Bo has made some theological comments that raised red flags among those in the scriptural know. Some of these comments were related to theological basics regarding the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This has brought a great deal of scrutiny from various Christian talk show hosts, newsletter writers, and others.

Some time later, Bo got tangled up in the Linda Weigand campaign, wherein her children were allegedly being molested by her ex. This is a high profile case that Weigand has promoted in the Patriot ranks through many interviews on Short Wave, Christian/Patriot Magazines, and other media. Weigand has been a regular at the Preparedness Expos, and other similar types of events. After much deserved scrutiny, numerous writers have now claimed the Weigand story is a fabrication and a distorted custody battle that has been manipulated by her to raise money, gain a counter-culture form of celebrity, and sell books and tapes. When the consensus of opinion went against Linda Weigand, as many previously undisclosed facts came out, Bo continued to support her assertions.

Before the criticism emerged on Weigand, an effort was allegedly made to take back her children in defiance of a judge's custody order. Bo was involved in this and subsequently arrested with high profile media coverage. As far as we know, he still faces ridiculously trumped up kidnapping charges in the effort to assist Ms. Weigand in regaining custody of her unfortunate children.

Then the former Green Beret and advocate of MIA's went off to the Carolinas in an abortive attempt to expedite the safe surrender of fugitive Eric Rudolph. This seems to have been an attempt at repeating the diplomatic coup involving Randy Weaver, a move that really cemented his leadership position in the Patriot ranks in the first place. Many believe the effort backfired on Bo Gritz.

Readers will recall Rudolph was the accused abortion clinic bomber hiding out in the woods, and all the kings horses and all the kings men couldn't seem to catch him. Eric Rudolph has subsequently become something of a folk hero, particularly among pro-life activists, for his uncanny ability to elude capture. One clever survivalist vendor has even marketed a 'bug-out bag' (survivalist supplies) they've labeled the "Rudolph Getaway Kit." The publicly stated idea behind the Colonel's intervention was to collect the reward and give the money to Rudolph's defense, as the still at large political zealot is now being accused of everything since the sinking of the Titanic; but the fact this one man has eluded the best the beast can offer and has generated tremendous sympathy - so that probably didn't help Colonel Gritz' PR. Bo was, after all, trying to get the elusive fugitive to surrender.

Then Bo's wife left, amid a high profile feud with patriot publisher Clay Douglas and The Free American Newsmagazine, John Trochman of the Militia of Montana, and Texe Marrs of the Prophecy Of Power Newsletter. To put it bluntly, life was really lousy for the decorated Vietnam war hero. As his popularity deteriorated, Bo became the butt of jokes on the Republic Radio Network - a Paytriot Satellite radio network.

Then things progressed from bad to worse. By now most have heard of the tragic episode wherein Bo Gritz suffered a gunshot wound to the chest with a .45 calibre handgun. That leaves a big hole and Bo was found lying face down on the road, but survived and mended. The alternative media has definitely turned against him and the injury is now being thought of as a suicide attempt.

One of the problems of being a high profile leader who converts to Christianity is the fact that such folks don't have the benefit of any anonymity when they suffer their inevitable spiritual growing pains. Bo wouldn't be the first convert to make some bigtime mistakes - assuming his born-again experience was indeed genuine. Many don't think it was. Others have accused Colonel Gritz of being a mind-controlled asset of the CIA, due to certain aspects of his Green Beret service. In short, it's very difficult to know precisely where Bo is coming from, and his ambiguity doesn't help his popularity.

It's quite feasible that Bo Gritz has accepted Christ and is simply ignorant of many basic scriptural principles that he hasn't had the opportunity to learn. Clearly, he is a complicated individual. He has, however, made certain definitive statements concerning his still emerging spirituality.

As a point in fact, when I was a guest on his nationally syndicated radio show Freedom Calls, Bo freely confessed to me his humiliating mis-identification of himself as an Identity Christian to the secular media outside of the Randy Weaver stand-off. He was asked by a reporter if he held Mr Weaver's Identity views, and as a person inexperienced in the many streams of theological thought involved in Christianity, Bo thought the term simply described an end-times Christian.

After learning of some of the more undesirable racial views of certain sects involved in Identity, Bo publicly recanted of any identity doctrinal views. He does, after all, have some Amer-Asian children, which doesn't exactly make Bo Gritz the poster boy for a theology frequently linked with white separatist views. This demonstrated to me that he was willing to make an inconvenient public confession, if he thought that he had been wrong on something as important as one's beliefs. That is an encouraging fact that leads me to believe there is real hope for this much maligned man.

As a Patriot and a soldier who fought for his country, we highly respect Bo Gritz. As a public spokesperson who has decried the encroachment of government sponsored immorality in America, we applaud his efforts. As a Christian, the jury is still out.