A Bright Shining Lie: John Paul Vann and America in Vietnam

  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
>
  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.