Charles Allen, born in Washingtonian, D.C. in 1946 to the late Helene and Eugene Allen, is a product of the District of Columbia school system.  After a less than stellar year at Morgan State College Charles enlisted in the United States Army in 1966.  After a shortened tour of duty in Europe he was transferred to A Company 1/502 Infantry, 101st Airborne Division at Ft. Campbell, Kentucky and deployed with that unit as a combat infantryman to the Republic of South Vietnam on December 13, 1967.  I first met Charles while filming a documentary on his father's home, who was a retired White House Maitre D` and the inspiration for the movie “The Butler.”  One of the things I came away with from my conversations with Charles was the high esteem in which he held for his fellow 101st brothers in arms but none more so than that for one Jorge Otero Barreto, who he described in what I would call almost mythical terms.  I became fixated by Charles’s stories about this remarkable man and found myself compelled to interview him on film and tell his story in his own words.

 

After his military service Charles worked in all phases of the Federal Criminal Justice System, from Building Guard to Special Agent, retiring in 2002 after 37 years.  He is a Past President of the 101st Airborne Division Vietnams Veterans Organization (2010-2012) and its current Historian. As my co-Producer we have collaborated from day one in the making of “Willing to Kill, Willing to Die.”  It has been an honor and a pleasure to have worked with him, one of my great life’s experiences.