A Bright Shining Lie: John Paul Vann and America in Vietnam (1988) is a book by Neil Sheehan, a former New York Times reporter, about U.S. Army lieutenant colonel John Paul Vann (killed in action) and the United States' involvement in the Vietnam War. He led the unit on reconnaissance missions behind enemy lines for three months, before a serious illness in one of his children resulted in his transfer back to the United States. Vann was buried at Arlington National Cemetery. [citation needed], Vann was highly respected by a large segment of officers and civilians who were involved in the broader political aspects of the war because he favored small units performing aggressive patrolling instead of grandiose engagements by large units. It was before the era of Vietnam protest, before the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Here was this renegade lieutenant colonel. By the time of his death in Vietnam in June 1972, Vann had taken on the highest military authorities in Washington and had earned the respect and trust of a small group of newsmen whose reporting of the war began a general public questioning of how and why the conflict was being fought. 2 July 1924 in Norfolk, Virginia; d. 9 June 1972 in the Republic of Vietnam), career U.S. Army officer and, later, ranking civilian adviser in South Vietnam who, during the Vietnam War, advocated counterinsurgency, pacification, and social revolution while criticizing U.S. dependence on armed forces and massive firepower.Vann was born out of wedlock to John Spry, a trolley . In 1946 Vann enrolled at Rutgers University in New Jersey to earn his bachelors degree. Other duties were the distribution of food and supplies to Vietnamese peasants and training community-defense teams. Vanns key military talent was his ability to see the big picture and establish the priorities necessary to accomplish the objective. heroes like John Paul Vann, and his successful fighting in Vietnam.Sheehan, like Halberstam, had been a Saigon reporter in the early 60s, and saw years of disastrous American defeat. Barring a knife, the best is a rifle you know who you're killing. Unlike many US soldiers, he was respectful toward the ARVN soldiers notwithstanding their low morale and was committed to training and strengthening their morale and commitment. Vann landed under heavy fire at Tan Canh with his helicopter and began evacuating civilians and the wounded. 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", "In one fell swoop [President Thieu's Land to the Tiller Program] eliminated tenancy in Vietnam. Melvin Laird, the Secretary of Defense, was in attendance. But he had what is cornily called charisma, Sheehan said. To his surprise, Vann found one ally among the top brass in the Pentagon: Lt. Gen. Barksdale Hamlett, the Armys deputy chief of staff for operations. Weyand, who had served as an intelligence officer in the China-Burma-India Theater in World War II, valued unconventional thinkers. Many of them we can look up; the generals, journalists, public figures, etc have a continued history that we can see elsewhere online, but for others there is nothing. By the time he died in 1972, Vann had embraced the follies he once decried. During this period, he earned an MBA from Syracuse University in 1959 and completed all course requirements for a PhD in public administration at the university's Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs. When Lieutenant Colonel John Paul Vann, in starched cotton khakis and a peaked green cap, strode through the swinging doors of Colonel Daniel Boone Porter's office in Saigon, shortly before. He underwent pilot training, transferred to navigation school, and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in 1945. Barring a knife, the best is a rifle you know who youre killing.. There is no inkling as so how the surviving characters in this anthology go on to live their lives after the war. Vann. He was a bitter soldier when he left the Army in 1963. ", "The basic fact of life is that the overwhelming majority of the population somewhere around 95 percent prefer the government of Vietnam to a Communist government or the government that's being offered by the other side. It was extremely hard on his wife, Susan, and their daughters; the girls were barely in elementary school when he started, and out of the house by the time he finished, with no family vacations to speak of along the way. Vann, however, publicly called the January 1963 battle of Ap Bac a defeat for American and ARVN forces and a miserable damn performance. Harkins almost fired him, giving him a severe tongue-lashing. The best weapon for killing would be a knife, but Im afraid we cant do it that way. In retrospect, Neil was actually kind to my father and didnt plumb the depths of what was there. (speaking about the, "I will turn this into a burning Hell" speaking to MACV Team 36 advisor CPT RE McCall in February 1972 regarding the planned NVA offensive in Pleiku Province. He would have to take risks that other men were unwilling to take, because he would have to defeat the system in order to scale it., The ambiguities of Vanns character often perplexed Sheehan as he was chiseling away at the complex individual who was the center of his book. Book I tells of Vann's assignment to Vietnam in 1962. Vann and the rest of the influx of Americans were assigned to the newly established U.S. Military Assistance Command, Vietnam (MACV), then commanded by General Paul Harkins, who during World War II had been General George Pattons assistant chief of staff. He would have been very unhappy with the Paris peace accords. Vann, the hero, the hell-raiser, the knave and the performer, Sheehan said, didnt miss his exit.. A lot of people could not accept defeat.. In April 1963 Vann returned to America. [9], "John Vann" redirects here. At the time Vietnam was a nation divided. In the early 1940s he was attending junior college as the United States entered World War II. Vann was also strident in his criticisms of the Strategic Hamlet Program, which he thought was a waste of time and energy, and he was critical of the way MACV ran counterintelligence operations. The prologue recounts Vann's funeral on June 16, 1972, after his death in a helicopter crash in Vietnam. He became a starved shark whose only goal was to trash and conquer blindly.. Years later, a few weeks before returning to Vietnam, Vann was staying with Hopkins. Instead of learning from mistakes or correcting the situation, many of the senior officers around MACVs General Harkins had begun to rein in any officers who were deviating from the playbook. November 9, 1988. As the senior adviser to a South Vietnamese infantry division in the Mekong Delta in 1962, the first year American correspondents began to descend on Vietnam, Vann was the de facto contact for U.S. journalists who arrived to cover the war. In April 1963, Vann left Vietnam, and it seemed to all the world that the Pentagon was punishing him for speaking out when he resigned from the Army that July. Richard M. Nixon, the President, sent Secretary of State William P. Rogers. In his reports, Vann used statistical analysis methods to show that the South Vietnamese government was grossly inflating VC body counts, further infurating his superiors. When it finally came out, the political climate in America surrounding the war had changed immensely. Weyand presented Vanns case to Abrams in April 1971. The longer the book took, the worse his anxiety, insomnia and stress became, but the passage of time gave his 861-page masterpiece the breathing room to become a hit. In June 1942, Frank Vann officially adopted John. By 1967, back in the United States as the Pentagon correspondent for the New York Times, Sheehan was declaring his transformation from hawk to dove in an article in the newspapers Sunday magazine. He died believing he had won his war. So too, will Neil Sheehan. He was promoted to lieutenant colonel in 1961. I didnt spend all those 16 years walking around my neighborhood haunted by the book, he said, though neighbors in Wesley Heights say he did often walk around, and he did often look haunted. Books VI and VII give an account of Vann's return to Vietnam in 1965 and his doomed attempt to implement a winning strategy for the U.S. Army and how he eventually compromised with the military system he once criticized. When Vann joined the Army in the spring of 1943, a college counselor predicted he would be the kind of soldier who would go beyond the call of duty., But he was also manipulative, a consummate actor. He was this incredibly vigorous guy who would do things nobody else would do. Vann got by on four hours sleep a night and thought nothing of working two eight-hour shifts a day, then using the remaining time for what might politely be termed personal diversion. Right after Vann graduated from Syracuse University with a masters in business administration, CID recommended that court-martial proceedings go forward, on charges of statutory rape and adultery. There was pretty much of a consensus among the judges that this was the definitive book on the Vietnam experience, said Al Silverman, head of the BOMC. John Paul Vann's Mysterious Death He said to a Washington Post correspondent at that time, "Any time the wind is blowing from the north, where the B-52 strikes are turning the terrain into a moonscape, you can tell from the battlefield stench that strikes are effective." So he completely reversed his position, his professionalism was gone. [4], It received the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights 1989 Book Award given annually to a book that "most faithfully and forcefully reflects Robert Kennedy's purposes his concern for the poor and the powerless, his struggle for honest and even-handed justice, his conviction that a decent society must assure all young people a fair chance, and his faith that a free democracy can act to remedy disparities of power and opportunity. In the face of enemy fire, far too many ARVN officers and soldiers opted not to engage the enemy and took flight. He died believing that the war had been won. Official Register of Commissioned Officers of the United States Army. A specific request from General Dzu was the mechanism needed to make that happen. Vann was a small man, 5-feet-8, and 150 pounds. He further angered senior military leaders by his association and friendship with two young American reporters in Saigon, David Halberstam and Neil Sheehan. By the time of his death in Vietnam in June 1972, Lt. Col. John Paul Vann had taken on the highest military authorities in Washington and had earned the respect and trust of a small group of newsmen. John Paul Vann died in a helicopter crash in 1972 at the age of 47. A jail term and dismissal from the Army were distinct possibilities. I never thought I wouldnt finish the book, but it was extremely draining.. Journalist Neil Sheehan watched the ceremony in the chapel at Arlington National Cemetery with a curious set of emotions. But they're good people and they can win a war if someone shows them how." Even in a world of macho libertine behavior, Vann stood out, bedding women everywhere he lived, traveled and worked, often multiple times a day. Vann had retired from the Army by then. After North Vietnamese troops marched into Saigon (now Ho Chi Minh City) in 1975, Chau was put to . All rents were suspended. $24.95 ALL . Subscribe to receive our weekly newsletter with top stories from master historians. Despite the shadow of the charges and the investigation, Vann was promoted to lieutenant colonel in 1961. The Criminal Investigative Division was able to verify some elements of the accusers story. In June 1942, Frank Vann officially adopted John. Born John Paul Tripp in Norfolk, Virginia, out of wedlock, to John Spry and Myrtle Lee Tripp. Hes a compelling figure: tough, brash, energetic, hardheaded, and with enough charisma for a dozen Audie Murphy movies. In the run-up to the Tet Offensive of 1968, Vann was one of the few Americans besides Weyand who saw and correctly interpreted the intelligence patterns that indicated a massive VC/NVA assault on the SaigonLong BinhBien Hoa area. The Vann family realities are murky. (Their lone daughter had just given birth.) I hope it endures as a piece of history to be read again and again. [3] The New York Review of Books proclaimed it "An unforgettable narrative, a chronicle grand enough to suit the crash and clangors of whole armies. By now, the pastor had been left by his wife and child, dismissed by his church, and was facing prosecution for his continued pedophilia. [5][3], Vann was voluntarily assigned to South Vietnam in 1962 as an adviser to Colonel Hunh Vn Cao, commander of the ARVN IV Corps. In 1971, Vann was made a senior adviser for the Central Highlands in charge of all military personnel, effectively a major general in the Army. All I can say in my later days, I am deeply satisfied.. He had five children by his wife, Mary Jane, and though they were divorced at the time he was killed in a helicopter accident in Vietnam, at the funeral she placed a rose on the coffin and told the man inside she loved him. Vanns major test as a field commander came during the Easter Offensive of 1972. Back home, for my father, was close to being captured. At 14, Vann unburdened himself to Hopkins, who persuaded him to join his Boy Scout troop. Vann also was highly critical of South Vietnamese tactics, noting a tendency to make excessive use of airstrikes and artillery, rather than putting ground units into VC territory. He soon befriended Vann, a distinguished veteran of the Korean War serving as an adviser to the South Vietnamese Army. Mr. Sheehan found himself standing in the back of the chapel. When he was killed, I went to his funeral at Arlington in 1972, and it was like an extraordinary class reunion. Although he succeeded there for nearly two years, he missed Vietnam and angled to return. Rather than large maneuver units, however, most of the U.S. combat forces remaining in Vietnam by that time were advisers and aviation units. The worst is an airplane. Initially, the Office of Civilian Operations had been established to manage all U.S. government civilian agencies working in Vietnam under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Embassy. When I tried to tell dad about it, he beat me. They Say He Burned Down the Reichstag. At Dads funeral, I had long hair, but I was never a radical. Book V tracks back to give Vann's personal history before his involvement in the war, explaining how his career path to becoming a. In his report, Vann backed up with hard statistical analysis his assessment that the number of enemy troops actually killed was less than two-thirds the number claimed by MACV. In late 1950, in the wake of China's entrance into the war and the retreat of allied forces, now-Captain Vann was given his first command, a Ranger company, the Eighth Army Ranger Company. Many of those counted as enemy dead were in reality civilians caught in crossfire. The civilian general had won his major battle, but he didnt live long to enjoy his victory. The ambassador and the commanding general in South Vietnam were telling the Kennedy Administration that everything was going well and that the war was being won., Vann believed then and continued to believe that the war could be won if fought with sound tactics and strategy, Sheehan recalls. I dont see how anyone could survive that kind of childhood without pretending.. Neil Sheehan has Parkinsons, and his career has slowed down, but he is still writing about Vietnam and was most recently seen in The Vietnam War. His dapper appearance and the Irish lilt in his voice offered a fitting tribute to his writing life. I talked to Susan that night and she said it sounds like this is a book., (Had I known how long the book was going to take, I wouldve committed hara-kiri, Susan Sheehan said with a laugh. Vietnamese woman and children surrounded by baskets, ca. In 1942, Aaron Vann officially adopted him. The citation read in part, Soldier of peace and patriot of two nations, the name of John Paul Vann will be honored as long as free men remember the struggle to preserve the independence of South Vietnam., Saigon fell less than three years after Vanns victory at Kontum. His approach made him an ally of US operatives such as Edward Lansdale and John Paul Vann, . Vann was born in Norfolk, Virginia, and grew up in near-poverty. The worst is an airplane. The war was accelerating and Vann could not stand to be away from it. A Bright Shining Lie forced the Vanns to publicly reckon with their fathers failings, but at least for John Allen and Jess, there is no ill will for the author. Book IV details Vann's criticism of the way the war was being fought, his conflict with the U.S. military command and his transfer back to America. Komer supported the appointment, but General William C. Westmoreland, now in command at MACV, was less than enthusiastic. Dad allowed him to be around his sons unsupervised. There was a duality in the man, a duality of personal compulsions and deceits that would not bear light, he writes, and a professional honesty that was rigorous and incorruptible.. Vann took the polygraph without incriminating himself, and the Article 32 convening authority subsequently concluded that there was not enough evidence beyond a reasonable doubt to convict him. William Colby (executive director of the CIA) was another pallbearer. In May 1971, Vann moved north to become the senior adviser in II CTZ. The high point of my first trip to Vietnam was getting acquainted with one of the most remarkable figures I have encountered in a lifetime of meeting strong personalities: John Paul Vann,. The 2nd Regional Assistance Command was redesignated the 2nd Regional Assistance Group, and Vanns title was director. Sheehan spent five years researching Vanns life, interviewing seemingly anyone who ever met him, and nine more writing. In the end, the meeting was canceled. Neil Sheehan orchestrates a great fugue evoking all the elements of the war". The two first met in 1963 when Sheehan, a reporter in Asia for United Press International, and later for the New York Times, arrived in Vietnam. Vann received his wings and was commissioned as a lieutenant, fulfilling his boyhood ambition to become a flier. The 16 years it took him to produce A Bright Shining Lie may have served to his benefit in Americas willingness to accept the book, Sheehan said. From Tet forward it was an anticlimax, maintained Sheehan, who left Vietnam in 1966. With only a handful of U.S. military advisers and troops on the scene, Americans believed the war seemed easily winnable. In the end, however, it was air power, and specifically around-the-clock Boeing B-52 strikes, that broke the back of the offensive and destroyed the better part of two NVA divisions. We were burying a whole era of boundless self-confidence. This article was written by Peter Kross and originally published in the April 2007 issue of Vietnam Magazine. By late 1961 and early 1962, the Kennedy administration started to focus its attention on the conflict in South Vietnam. Although he was a gung-ho warrior type and always believed the Vietnam War was winnable, Vann came to realize the attrition strategy was a failure, the constant bombing of the countryside was helping Vietcong recruitment, and the rampant corruption in the Saigon leadership, funded through American dollars, was devastating to the cause. John Paul Vann became an adviser to the Saigon regime in the early 1960s. [citation needed], On one of his trips back to the U.S. in December 1967, Vann was asked by Walt Rostow, an advocate of more troops and Johnson administration National Security Advisor, whether the U.S. would be over the worst of the war in six months: "Oh hell no, Mr. Rostow", replied Vann, "I'm a born optimist. Reasoning that the odds did not apply to him, Sheehan writes, Vann flew his own helicopter while assaults were in progress, defying the enemy gunners to kill him., Part of Vanns own bright shining lie, as Sheehan was to discover in researching his central character, was a troubled youth that produced a defiant adult who, Sheehan writes, followed his own star. Vann spoke little about his childhood, but Sheehan learned he was the illegitimate son of a man called Spry. John Vann was my friend, I had known him in those three years I'd been in Vietnam and I'd see him periodically afterwards. In this magisterial book, a monument of history and biography that was awarded the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize for Nonfiction, a renowned journalist tells the story of John Vann"the one irreplaceable American in As the North Vietnamese mounted a massive three-prong conventional attack from the north, Vann planned to defeat the thrust against II CTZ using the mobile defensive tactics he had seen Lt. Gen. Walton Walker use to defeat the North Koreans at the Pusan Perimeter in 1950. Tripp married Aaron Frank Vann in 1929, and young John took his new father's name. He was accepted into the Army Air Forces training program that June and took his initial training in Rochester, N.Y. Moving from one base to the next, he finally was accepted for pilot training. From Korea, Vann was sent to Japan to supervise the procurement of supplies for the 25th Infantry Division, based in Osaka. Lone daughter had just given birth. but they 're good people and they can win a war someone. 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