My friend and agent, Robert Lescher, gave me more than his professional help. He kept faith with me down the years.
Other friends, Mitchell and Sheila Rogovin and Gay Tálese, gave me special help when I most needed it.
William Shawn, the former editor of The New Yorker, warmly encouraged me and came to my assistance at a critical moment. I am grateful as well to his successor, Robert Gottlieb, for his decision to run four excerpts from the book in the magazine; to John Bennet for editing the excerpts; and to Peter Canby and Hal Espen for checking the excerpts for accuracy.
I am thankful for the friendship of Robert Loomis, my editor at Random House, and for his sensitivity and guidance in shaping the manuscript. I thank Victoria Klose and Edward Johnson for copy editing this book and Barbé Hammer for her assistance. I am fortunate to be published by a house headed by Robert Bernstein, and I thank Jason Epstein, Anthony Schulte (formerly with Random House), Gerald Hollingsworth, and Joni Evans for their support.
My daughters, Maria and Catherine, collated my hundreds of interviews and typed a catalogue of them on three-by-five-inch index cards. They extracted news clippings from microfilm and performed numerous research chores uncomplainingly.
My wife, Susan, edited every draft of the manuscript, typed parts of the semifinal draft, listened to all my discussions of John Vann and the war in Vietnam, talked me through my crises, and gave me the love and the grit to press on.
INTERVIEWS
Interviews were indispensable to the writing of this book. So much that is important in the life of a man and in the history of a war is recorded only in perishable memory. Three hundred and eighty-five persons were interviewed between 1972 and 1988. I made two three-month trips to South Vietnam, the first in 1972 and the second in 1973, in order to interview as many persons as possible before the fragile world of the South came apart. The rank given for military personnel is that held at the time of the initial interview. When there is no indication for retirement (Ret.), the individual was still on active service. Some of the interviews were brief exchanges, verbal or in correspondence. Most were substantial and some lasted for days. Public men under pressure kindly kept finding an hour to spare from their schedules. The late Ellsworth Bunker, for example, let me interview him on eleven occasions from 1974 to 1976 while he was negotiating the Panama Canal Treaty. People also bore with me down the years as I returned for additional information. I interviewed Gen. Fred Weyand in 1974 when he was chief of staff of the Army and in 1985 and 1986 when he was retired in Hawaii. Nearly 170 of the interviews were tape recorded. I accumulated almost 640 cassettes. These proved invaluable because years later, when writing a particular episode, I could listen to the pertinent sections of the tapes and rescue details and insights that had eluded my note taking in the 186 stenographer’s pads I also accumulated. The names of many of the interviewees listed below do not appear in the narrative because the book is a distillation of a much larger body of research. Nevertheless, I am as grateful to them as I am to those mentioned in the text. The book is a house built with the contributions of all. If there are flaws in the architecture, they are mine alone.
Samuel Adams
Col. Dwight Adams, USA
George Allen
Mary Allen
T. D. Allman
Joseph Alsop
Pham Xuan An
Tran Van An
Lt. Col. Jack Anderson, USA
“Annie” and her father, mother, and sister
Lt. Col. Bob Armentrout, USAF
Peter Arnett
Candidate Gen. Ly Tong Ba, ARVN
Gene Bable
William Bader
Thomas Barnes
Richard Barnet
Col. Nguyen Be, ARVN
Keyes Beech
Charles Benoit
Col. George Benson, USA (Ret.)
Lt. Col. John Bergen, USA
Amb. Samuel Berger
2d Lt. Gary Bergtholdt, USA
Col. Carl Bernard, USA
Edith Bernard
Lt. Gen. Sidney Berry, USA
Lt. Col. Le Nguyen Binh, ARVN
Master Sgt. Edward Black, USA
Brig. Gen. Frank Blazey, USA
Joy Blazey
Robert Borosage
Lt. Col. Louis Borum, USA
Sgt. Major Arnold Bowers, USA (Ret.)
Capt. John Bozin, USA
Col. Francis Bradley, USA (Ret.)
Maj. Noel Brady, USA
Philip Brady
Peter Braestrup
Henry Brandon
Peter Brownback
Malcolm Browne
Jack Buhl
Everet Bumgardner
Amb. Ellsworth Bunker
David Butler
Fox Butterfield
J. Fred Buzhardt
Dorothy Lee Vann Cadorette
1st Lt. Huynh Van Cai, ARVN
Brig. Gen. Huynh Van Cao, ARVN (Ret.)
Maj. Richard Carey, USA
Lt. Col. Verner Carlson, USA
Col. G. Baker Carrington, USA (Ret.)
Jerry Carta
Sgt. First Class Bobby Carter, USA
Capt. Richard Cassidy, USA
James Chace
Bryan Chastain
Nguyen Van Chau
Tran Ngoc Chau
Brig. Gen. Ernie Cheatham, USMC
George Christian
Candidate Gen. Nguyen Van Chuc, ARVN
Maj. Gen. Frank Clay, USA (Ret.)
1st Lt. James Cloninger, USA
William Colby
Tom Coles, Jr.
Donald Colin
Lt. Col. Lucien Conein
Rev. Robert Consolvo
Robert Craig
Edward Crutchfield
Lt. Col. Cleve Cunningham, USA (Ret.)
Patrick Dailey
Brig. Gen. Bui Dinh Dam
Greyson Daughtrey
Peter Davis
Prof. Vincent Davis
Alan Dawson
Amb. John Dean
Dale de Haan
Vincent Demma
Lt. Gen. William DePuy, USA
Brig. Gen. Tran Ba Di, ARVN
Amb. Bui Diem
Col. Huynh Ngoc Diep, ARVN
George Dillard
Lillian Dillard
Tran Van Dinh
Brig. Gen. Pham Van Dong, ARVN
Tom Donohue
Col. James Drummond, USA (Ret.)
Ronnie Dugger
Maj. Gen. John M. Dunn, USA (Ret.)
Capt. Walter Dunn, USA
Maj. Gen. Ngo Dzu, ARVN
Sgt. Major Charles Eatley, USA (Ret.)
Brig. Gen. Howard Eggleston, USA (Ret.)
1st Lt. Thomas Eisenhower, USA
Daniel Ellsberg
Patricia Marx Ellsberg
Gloria Emerson
George Esper
Eugenia Wilson Evans
John Evans, Jr.
Horst Faas
Lt. Col. David Farnham, USA
Col. Elmer Faust, USA (Ret.)
Myrtle Felton
Capt. Bernard Ferguson, USA
Bea Firman
Frances FitzGerald
Lt. Gen. George Forsythe, USA (Ret.)
Tom Fox
Matt Franjóla
Capt. Dennis Franson, USA
Polly Fritchey
Rev. Harold Fuss
Maj. Frank Gall, Jr., USA
Lt. Col. Norbert Gannon, USA
Lt. Col. George Gaspard, USA
Col. Silas Gassett, USA (Ret.)
Leslie Gelb Philip Geyelin
Maj. Nguyen Van Giong, ARVN
Gen. Wallace Greene, Jr., USMC (Ret.)
Lawrence Grinter
Joseph Gulvas
Amb. Philip Habib
Maj. Gary Hacker, USA
David Halberstam
Michael Halberstam, M.D.
Morton Halperin
William Hammond
Nguyen Hieu Hanh
Col.
Nguyen Tri Hanh, ARVN
Richard Harrington
Roy Haverkamp
Brig. Gen. Michael Healy, USA
William Heasley
Col. Thomas Henry, USA
Brig. Gen. James Herbert, USA
Seymour Hersh
Capt. John Heslin, USA
Gerald Hickey
Maj. Gen. John Hill, Jr., USA
Richard Holbrooke
Lt. Col. Leslie Holcomb, Jr., USA (Ret.)
Lt. Gen. Harris Hollis, USA (Ret.)
Margaret Hopkins
Capt. Donald Hudson, USA
Maj. Do Huy Hue, ARVN
Dick Hughes
Nguyen Manh Hung
Richard Hunt
Mark Huss
Maj. Charles Ingram, USA
Vice Adm. Andrew Jackson, USN (Ret.)
Col. George Jacobson, USA (Ret.)
Robert Joffe
Lt. Col. Harry Johnson, USA (Ret.)
Ralph Johnson
Tess Johnston
Col. Thomas Jones, USA (Ret.)
Howard Jordan
Robert Josephson
Lt. Col. Peter Kama, USA
Col. Phillip Kaplan, USA
Stanley Karnow
Samuel Katz, M.D.
Col. Francis Kelly, USA (Ret.)
Col. Irvin Kent, USA (Ret.)
Maj. Gen. Le Nguyen Khang, ARVNAF Marines
Maj. Gen. Tran Thien Khiem, ARVN
Dang Due Khoi
Eva Kim
Col. Pham Chi Kim, ARVN
William King
Brig. Gen. Douglas Kinnard, USA (Ret.)
Col. Alfred Kitts, USA (Ret.)
Amb. Akitane Kiuchi
Col. Wendell Knowles, USA (Ret.)
Prof. Gabriel Kolko
Amb. Robert Komer
Lt. Col. Albert Kotzebue, USA (Ret.)
Maj. Gen. William Kraft, Jr., USA
Col. Charles Krulak, USMC
Lt. Gen. Victor Krulak, USMC (Ret.)
Col. Jonathan F. Ladd, USA (Ret.)
Prof. Walter LaFeber
W. Anthony Lake
Maj. John Lang, USA
Maj. Gen. Edward Lansdale, USAF (Ret.)
John Lax
Lorraine Layne
“Lee” and her sister
Jacques Leslie
John Levinson, M.D.
Thomas Lewis
Capt. John Litsinger, USA
Col. Samuel Loboda, USA (Ret.)
Emily Lodge
Hon. Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr.
Col. Hoang Ngoc Lung, ARVN
Col. Paul Lunsford, USA
John McAlister, Jr.
George McArthur
Daniel McCreadie
Frenchy Zois McDaniel
Morris McDaniel
Capt. Robert McDonald, USA
Lt. Col. George MacGarrigle, USA (Ret.)
Col. David Maclsaac, USAF (Ret.)
Amb. Allan McLean
Harry McPherson, Jr.
Joachim Maitre
John Malott
Col. Richard Manion, USA
Charles Mann
Robin Mannock
John Marks
Richard Marks, M.D.
Nora Bowling Martin
Col. Jack Matteson, USA
CWO Russell Maxson, USA
Lt. Col. Robert Mays, USA (Ret.)
Robert Mellen
Robert Mendenhall
Gen. Edward Meyer, USA
Harvey Meyerson
Joel Meyerson
Harry Middleton
Lloyd Miller
William Miller
John Modderno
Charles Mohr
Brig. Gen. Robert Montague, USA (Ret.)
Robert Moore
Kenneth Moorfield
Richard Moose
Ron Moreau
Doris Allen Moreland
Maj. Gen. John Murray, USA
Mark Murray
Edmundo Navarro
Amb. John Negroponte
Hoang Due Nha
Col. Ma Sanh Nhon, ARVN
Robert Odom
Minoru Omori
Maj. Gen. Frank Osmanski, USA (Ret.)
Lt. Col. Billy Owen, USMC (Ret.)
Gen. Bruce Palmer, Jr., USA
Lt. Gen. Theodore Parker, USA (Ret.)
Lt. Col. Warren Parker, USA (Ret.)
Richard Parkinson
Maj. Gen. George S. Patton III, USA
Mary Payer
Robert Payette
Maj. Donnie Pearce, USA
Robert Pell
Capt. Tim Petropulos, USA
Rufus Phillips
Douglas Pike
Col. Joseph Pizzi, USA
Thomas Polgar
Col. Daniel Boone Porter, Jr., USA (Ret.)
Thomas Pownall
Col. Herbert Prevost, USAF (Ret.)
Lamar Prosser
Jean Puckett
Col. Ralph Puckett, Jr., USA (Ret.)
Kenneth Quinn
Joseph Raby, Jr.
Melvin Raby
Col. Paul Raisig, Jr., USA
Kathleen (Doughtie) Ralston
Douglas Ramsey
Marcus Raskin
J. Donald Rauth
Benjamin Read
James B. Reston
Col. R. M. Rhotenberry, USA
Sgt. First Class (formerly CWO) Robert Richards, USA
John Roberts
Mitchell Rogovin
Lt. Col. James Rose, USA
Gen. William Rosson, USA (Ret.)
Walt Rostow
Hon. Dean Rusk
Anthony Russo
Harrison Salisbury
Willie Saulters
Lt. Col. James Scanlon, USA (Ret.)
Sydney Schanberg
Jonathan Schell
Frank Scotton
Lt. Gen. Brent Scowcroft, USAF
Capt. Christopher Scudder, USA
Lt. Gen. Jonathan Seaman, USA (Ret.)
Brigadier Francis Serong, Australian Army (Ret.)
Theodore Shackley
Robert Shaplen
James Sheldon
Jack Shulimson
Alvin Shuster
Samuel Shuster, M.D.
Merrill Shutt, M.D.
Maj. Gen. Winant Sidle, USA
Richard Silverstein, Esq.
Col. Ivan Slavich, USA (Ret.)
Col. Edward P. Smith, USA
Lt. Col. J. Lapsley Smith, USA
Frank Snepp
Ed Sprague
CWO Clifford Spry, USA (Ret.)
Col. Alfred Earl Spry, USA (Ret.)
John Paul Spry, Jr.
Vaughn Stapleton
Ralph Stavins
Richard Steadman
Laurence Stern
Steve Stibbins
Lt. Gen. Richard Stilwell, USA
Walter Stoneman
Edward Story
Patricia Vann Stromberg
Lt. Col. John Swango, USA (Ret.)
Norman Sweet
2d Lt. Gary Swingle, USA
Lt. Col. William Taylor, Jr., USA
Col. Doan Van Te, ARVN
Thomas Thayer, Jr.
Sir Robert Thompson
Kieu Mong Thu
Lt. Col. Trinh Tieu, ARVN
Maj. Gen. Charles Timmes, USA (Ret.)
Jerry Tinker
Maj. Gen. Nguyen Van Toan, ARVN
Peter Tomsen
Seymour Topping
Mollie Tosolini
Robert Traister
Archie Treadwell
William Arthur Tripp
Col. John Truby, USA
Amb. William Trueheart
Col. Jack Van Loan, USAF (Ret.)
Aaron Frank Vann, Jr.
Chief Master Sgt. Eugene Vann, USAF
Jo Vann
Jesse Vann
John Allen Vann
Mary Jane Vann
Peter Vann
Thomas Vann
1st Lt. Charles Vasquez
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Lt. Gen. Cao Van Vien, ARVN
Paul Warnke
William Watts
Lt. Gen. Richard Weede, USMC (Ret.)
Yao Wei
Cora Weiss
Gen. William Westmoreland, USA (Ret.)
Gen. Fred Weyand, USA
Amb. Charles Whitehouse
Craig Whitney
William Wild
Lt. Gen. Samuel Wilson, USA
Col. Wilbur Wilson, USA (Ret.)
Maj. Jon Wise, USA
Amb. Frank G. Wisner II
Alex Wong
Prof. Alexander Woodside
Lacy Wright
Rev. William Wright, Jr.
Lt. Gen. Robert York, USA (Ret.)
Florence Yonan
Earl Young
Lt. Col. Richard Ziegler, USA (Ret.)
Barry Zorthian
DOCUMENTS
John Vann’s papers were the primary source of written material for this book. His family turned all of them over to me when they were shipped home from Vietnam after his death. The classified documents and letters among them were culled by a military historian in Saigon and sent separately to the U.S. Army Military History Institute at the Army War College at Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania. These were, except for a small number of documents lost by the State Department, declassified by the relevant agencies under a Freedom of Information Act request I submitted and copies were made for me by the institute. Because permission was granted by his family, the Office of The Adjutant General also arranged for the retrieval and release to me of Vann’s entire Army record, including that of his enlisted service in World War II. Friends of Vann, such as Prof. Vincent Davis, director of the Patterson School of Diplomacy and International Commerce at the University of Kentucky, added material they held. Davis, for example, had safeguarded all of his correspondence with Vann and had tape recorded the not-for-attribution lectures Vann gave for him each year while on home leave. I had the lectures transcribed. I further supplemented Vann’s papers with much that I had gathered in the course of newspapering and with other correspondence and documents given to me by people I interviewed for the book. The result filled the better part of five file cabinets.
The Pentagon Papers were the second major source of documentation for the book. Despite the years that have passed since they were first published in condensed form by the New York Times in 1971, they remain the most complete and informative official archive on the Vietnam War. Regrettably, no full edition of the papers has ever been published. The Times series was first printed in book form in paperback by Bantam as The Pentagon Papers, followed soon afterward in 1971 by a hardcover version by Quadrangle Books. Beacon Press of Boston also published a four-volume edition with a fifth index volume, The Pentagon Papers: History of United States Decision Making on Vietnam, Senator Gravel edition, in 1971 and 1972. The most extensive but unfortunately censored version is the one declassified by the Department of Defense and published in a twelve-book set in 1971 by the U.S. Government Printing Office as United States-Vietnam Relations, 1945–1967. I relied on the copy of the original, approximately three thousand pages of narrative history and more than four thousand pages of appended documents, that I first obtained for the Times. It was reasonably complete except for four sections on the secret negotiations with Hanoi. I later acquired these after they were obtained and made public by Jack Anderson.
A Bright Shining Lie: John Paul Vann and America in Vietnam Page 108
