Book Description
Major John L. Plaster, a three-tour veteran of Vietnam tells the story of the most highly classified United States covert operatives to serve in the war: The Studies and Observations Group, code-named SOG. Comprised ofvolunteers from such elite military units as the Army's Green Berets, the USAF Air Commandos, and Navy SEALs, SOG agents answered directly to the Pentagon's Joint Chiefs, with some missions requiring approval from the White House. Now for the first time, the dangerous assignments of this top-secret unit can at last be revealed!
Customer Reviews:
Slide-line observer.......2007-08-13
Excellent! As a Huey pilot who participated in a number of SOG insertions and extractions out of Quan Tri (CCN), it was interesting to read what was happening in between. At the time, we only told "were to put them and when and where to pick them up". We were not told their mission.... we did not have a need to know. I can tell you it was at times very exciting. There is nothing in the world like seeing tracers flying by or having the crew telling you we are taking hits. After my Huey was shot down, it was these guys who clipped me into the harness for my rope ride out. They were also the first faces that I saw when I awoke two days later in a hospital bed. They are truly the bravest of the brave... I recommend this book for anyone who wants to know what war is really about.
Good insight into military actions.......2007-05-19
A very comprehensive account of until recently unknown military activities in Viet Nam. I purchased the book because it had references to my brother-in-law, Walter Shumate and it provided me with some insight on his role in this action.
This is what soldiering is about..........2007-05-15
John L. Plaster is an excellent writer. Furthermore, his chronicling of SOG was a real eye-opener. I almost put this book down, but once I got past the first two chapters, I was there in the jungle.
Talk about Mission Impossible. From passive and active wire taps, snatch n' grabs, recon, and desperate defenses, one will get a little of everything here. These guys are definately masters of their craft. Professional, efficient, and tough.
This book blows all others away and tears open a gaping hole in the status quo, revealing the shadowy and seductive call of the S.O.G. genre, Americas most elite.
-H.G.
Some incredible stories of bravery and adventure.......2007-04-30
MAJ John L. Plaster has written an incredible book. Enhanced by the fact that the stories come from someone who did three tours himself as a SOG recon soldier, Plaster gives a vivid recounting of the missions and activities of the Special Operations Group (later renamed the Studies and Observation Group to make its mission less obvious to the enemy).
SOG retells the stories of multiple Medal of Honor and Distinguished Service Cross winners (as well as a few stories of deserved MoH winners who for whatever reason weren't awarded).
The only weakness of the book that one could find may be the lack of context for the missions undertaken by SOG. Plaster writes with either a lot of assumed knowledge on the side of his readers or else intentionally ignores these political and social considerations, reverting to the role of a Special Forces warrior with no time for politics. Whichever is the case that should in no way discourage someone from taking up this book. It is well worth the time.
Fighting Soldiers From The Sky..........2007-01-29
Having studied under a former college professor who is an ex-SOG member mentioned in Plaster's sequel, "Secret Commandos," I was eager to discover the nature of SOG operations during the Vietnam War, and was left in awe by the insane risks that these men took everytime they went out on a mission with their Nung or Montagnard counterparts. Plaster said it himself that after running an excessive number of missions, it became an oddity that a SOG member was still alive. But then again, these soldiers were forced to confront their own mortality on a regular basis, cheating death on one mission while losing a brother-in-arms on the next. After reading the stories of tremendous courage and selflessness that these men displayed in the face of annihilation by an unforgiveable and numerically superior enemy, readers must wonder what kind of individuals could not only stomach the intensity described by Plaster, but actually succeed in accomplishing their missions and leading their teams to safety. Having known a SOG veteran, I can honestly say that even at his old age, he is one of the few men I have ever met in my life who I would follow to hell and back.
Amazon.com
From October 1967 to March 1968, the United States operated a top-secret radar system in Laos near that country's border with North Vietnam. This was a provocative move: Laos was a neutral country. Yet the air force desperately needed all-weather bombing capability in the region, and so the Pentagon decided to take a chance. When Communist troops learned of Site 85, they hit it hard. The result: "The largest single ground combat loss of U.S. Air Force personnel in the history of the Vietnam War."
The public still does not know what happened to nine of the men posted at Site 85. They may have been killed or captured, or perhaps fell victim to "some atrocity" perpetrated by the Communists. The military establishment isn't talking, and neither are knowledgeable sources in Laos and Vietnam. One Day Too Long combines scholarship, journalism, and detective work to learn all that can be known. Apparently there is plenty to hide. "It was criminal to leave the technicians and the other Americans and their security forces stranded [at Site 85]," writes Castle. Yet one conclusion is certain, he says: there is "an unseemly pattern of U.S. government duplicity" surrounding this forgotten incident. --John J. Miller
Book Description
One of the Vietnam War's most closely guarded secrets -- a highly classified U.S. radar base in the mountains of neutral Laos -- led to the disappearance of a small group of elite military personnel, a loss never fully acknowledged by the American government. Now, thirty years later, one book recounts the harrowing story -- and offers some measure of closure on this decades-old mystery.
Because of the covert nature of the mission at Lima Site 85 -- providing bombing instructions to U.S. Air Force tactical aircraft from the "safe harbor" of a nation that was supposedly neutral -- the wives of the eleven servicemen were warned in no uncertain terms never to discuss the truth about their husbands. But one wife, Ann Holland, refused to remain silent. Timothy Castle draws on her personal records and recollections as well as upon a wealth of interviews with surviving servicemen and recently declassified information to tell the full story.
The result is a tale worthy of Tom Clancy but told by a scholar with meticulous attention to historical accuracy. More than just an account of government deception, One Day Too Long is the story of the courageous men who agreed to put their lives in danger to perform a critical mission in which they could not be officially acknowledged. Indeed the personnel at Site 85 agreed to be "sheep-dipped" -- removed from their military status and technically placed in the employ of a civilian company.
Castle reveals how the program, code-named "Heavy Green," was conceived and approved at the highest levels of the U.S. government. In spine tingling detail, he describes the selection of the men and the construction and operation of the radar facility on a mile-high cliff in neutral Laos, even as the North Vietnamese Army began encircling the mountain. He chronicles the communist air attack on Site 85, the only such aerial bombing of the entire Vietnam War.
A saga of courage, cover-up, and intrigue One Day Too Long tells how, in a shocking betrayal of trust, for thirty years the U.S. government has sought to hide the facts and now seeks to acquiesce to perfidious Vietnamese explanations for the disappearance of eleven good men.
Customer Reviews:
One of those Must Read Books.......2005-06-15
This is a great book. Very well written and maticulously researched. I was flying for Air America when all of this happened. Tim Castle has captured it all. It tells a lot about our involvement in Laos, far beyond just the events at Lima Site 85. Thanks, Tim.
I WAS THERE........2001-01-09
As one of the pilots of Jolly Green 67 I simply want to thank Dr. Castle for his comprehensive and historical accurate account of the events at Lima Site 85. This is a story that begged to be told; Dr. Castle pulls no punches, providing a riveting and revealing account. His work was a key factor in the eventual recognition of the heroic efforts of Sgt. Etchberger at the Enlisted Hertiage Hall, Maxwell AFB Annex (formally Gunter AFS), Montgomery AL. A great read.
An American tragedy in Laos........2000-03-21
Congratulations to Dr. Castle for this fine book. A meticulously researched historical work of the finest order that reads like a Tom Clancy action novel. A bombshell that exposes one of the most egregious and hitherto publicly undisclosed tragedies of the Vietnam War. In March 1968 an NVA sapper team avoided detection and attacked a top-secret radar bombing facility (code name Jolly Green) which was manned by sixteen "civilianized" Air Force technicians. The site, LS 85, was located on a mountain top in Laos less than twenty-five miles from the North Vietnam border. The attack caught the technicians off guard and resulted in the loss of the site to the communist forces. Two of those dedicated volunteers manning the site were confirmed killed, five were rescued alive (one died on the evacuation flight) and the remaining nine have never been accounted for and their status remains unknown. This incident holds the distinction of being the largest single loss of Air Force ground personnel during the entire Vietnam War. Why did the Air Force continue to operate this site in the face of considerable evidence the site would soon fall under bombardment and attack by large NVA forces gathering in the area? Was it incompetence or was the site considered so essential to the North Vietnam bombing effort that the loss of the men was an acceptable risk? Dr. Castle looks at these questions in detail. One Day Too Long chronicles the history of Site 85 from its initial concept of operations through the tragic consequence of this miscalculation. But the story does not stop there. It also relates the stoic efforts by one widow to find answers to questions about her husbands death at this site the government was unwilling to provide. This book should be mandatory reading for all future military leaders.
An exposure of a shameful episode in US history........1999-06-26
I have a very personal reaction to "One Day Too Long" in that Mel and Ann Holland were our military sponsors when my family and I were first assigned to an AC&W squadron in southern Spain in early 1961, and I worked with Mel until he rotated to the States. It is embarrassing and shameful to learn how both the military and civilian authorities were willing to sacrifice those men in order to cover up their own mistakes, but I suppose if ALL the truth were known about SE Asia operations, we would not be able to stand it. Dr. Castle has perfomed an invaluable service for democracy. EVERYBODY should read this book! (Ann, we'd love to hear from you!)
Compelling story of a good cause gone bad........1999-06-11
A story of noble sacrifices by military men and their families. Regretfully, those sacrifices were eventually overlooked by those eager to use the PW-MIA issue as a convenient political tool -- first those who strove to keep Vietnam at arm's length, and since 1992 those who set out to use the ploy of alleged "full faith cooperation" to faciliate ties with Vietnam. One Day Too Long shows that when the American people seek to measure foreign government "cooperation" on such humanitarian issues, they must first evaluate the seriousness and good faith of efforts made by their own government.
Average customer rating:
- A good book...
- The end of the MIA mystery?
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Inside Hanoi's Secret Archives
Malcom Mcconnell
Manufacturer: Simon & Schuster
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Honor Bound: American Prisoners of War in Southeast Asia, 1961-1973
ASIN: 0671871188 |
Customer Reviews:
A good book..........2003-07-20
...I'm not sorry I read it.
Throughout, there are hints of "conspiracy theories" but I think that is unavoidable in a topic as sensitive as this one. Did the US knowingly abandon troops in Vietnam and Laos? Do we know they are still there but unwilling to do what's necessary to get them home? These questions are answered, I think, satisfactorily. It's well-documented and the photographs are very applicable.
While not necessarily what I consider a 5-star book, it was recommended to me by an avid history and military history reader whose opinion I regard highly. If these topics are your "cup of tea", I'd recommend this even more.
The end of the MIA mystery?.......2003-05-26
For two decades following the Vietnam war, ill-fated attempts by the United States to obtain conclusive evidence concerning the fate of hundreds of POW/MIA's from the Vietnam war finally found success. In a bold and daring espionage mission, former U.N. refugee officer Theodore G. Schweitzer was the acting agent for the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) in what later became known as Operation Swamp Ranger.
Beginning in March of 1992 and lasting several months, Schweitzer was granted access to Vietnamese war archives that held a voluminous amount of information on U.S. servicemen that were missing in action and others that were held as prisoners of war. Vietnam, up until this point, had strenuously denied for years that they had any useful data on missing servicemen and they blatantly withheld documents that would solve many discrepancy cases on unknown losses of U.S. personnel. Using previously unreleased photographs, meticulously annotated files, and physical evidence, Operation Swamp Ranger completely exposed Vietnam's attempts to bury the POW/MIA issue over the years. Although only suspected by the U.S. government, Vietnam's General Political Directorate (GPD) finally admitted that many U.S. servicemen were killed in cold blood.
Operation Swamp Ranger also proved to be useful in the aspect that it helped dispel the widespread theory that Americans had been abandoned by the U.S. government after repatriation of POW's in 1973. Furthermore, scams and other fraudulent activities aimed at the grieving families of MIA's were exposed and contradicted by evidence gained from Hanoi's archives. Lastly, there appears to be no conclusive facts to date which could verify that there are actual live POW's still held in Vietnam today.
Although limited cooperation with the Vietnamese government regarding POW/MIA's faltered after revelations from Operation Swamp Ranger became known to the public at large, the U.S. government still claimed a large victory in what amounts to a monumental breakthrough in the enduring POW/MIA controversy. Unfortunately, this long and arduous journey does not have a happy ending. Not yet, anyway. Even as the Defense POW/MIA Office (DPMO) continues to negotiate, haggle, bargain, cajole, and mediate with Vietnam regarding additional unreleased material they still hold, there are no clear indications of just how much further progress will be accomplished in the future. As stated in the author's narrative, communist archives are notoriously known for disinformation and forgeries and nothing in Vietnam is ever straightforward or simple.
Inside Hanoi's Secret Archives is a remarkable investigation into previously hidden wartime data. Generously footnoted and offering revealing photographs, this is a fascinating and memorable reading experience. Anyone having the slightest or even most demanding questions concerning the ongoing legacy of missing U.S. servicemen in Vietnam, I would enthusiastically recommend this book to you and to everyone in general.
Book Description
They had the most dangerous job n the Air Force. Now Bury Us Upside Down reveals the never-before-told story of the Vietnam War’s top-secret jet-fighter outfit–an all-volunteer unit composed of truly extraordinary men who flew missions from which heroes are made.
In today’s wars, computers, targeting pods, lasers, and precision-guided bombs help FAC (forward air controller) pilots identify and destroy targets from safe distances. But in the search for enemy traffic on the elusive Ho Chi Minh Trail, always risking enemy fire, capture, and death, pilots had to drop low enough to glimpse the telltale signs of movement such as suspicious dust on treetops or disappearing tire marks on a dirt road (indicating a hidden truck park). Written by an accomplished journalist and veteran, Bury Us Upside Down is the stunning story of these brave Americans, the men who flew in the covert Operation Commando Sabre–or “Misty”–the most innovative air operation of the war.
In missions that lasted for hours, the pilots of Misty flew zigzag patterns searching for enemy troops, vehicles, and weapons, without benefit of night-vision goggles, infrared devices, or other now common sensors. What they gained in exhilarating autonomy also cost them: of 157 pilots, 34 were shot down, 3 captured, and 7 killed. Here is a firsthand account of courage and technical mastery under fire. Here, too, is a tale of forbearance and loss, including the experience of the family of a missing Misty flier–Howard K. Williams–as they learn, after twenty-three years, that his remains have been found.
Now that bombs are smart and remote sensors are even smarter, the missions that the Mistys flew would now be considered no less than suicidal. Bury Us Upside Down reminds us that for some, such dangers simply came with the territory.
From the Hardcover edition.
Customer Reviews:
The Big Picture.......2007-10-01
This book will give you the big picture of the Vietnam conflict from the viewpoint of the cockpit, flight surgeon, intelligence officer and wives at home with timely notes on the then-current news of the war. Read it and learn the way it really was.
Very well done.......2007-07-12
Clearly and concisely written account of a little known part of the Vietnam war. Perhaps a bit too much on the political aspects of the time but the rest of the book makes up for that.
The story of men who were Sierra Hotel.......2007-07-06
Bury Us Upside Down is the story of the Fast Forward Air Controller (FAC) and their efforts in Route Pack 1 during the Vietnam War. These men flew the F-100F Super Sabre (a twin seated version of the Super Sabre) looking for Vietnamese targets in Route Pack 1 and guiding the bombing forces to them. This story is told from the foundation of Misty (this was the name for all of the flights that Commando Sabre [Fast FAC's in Pack 1] performed) to its replacement by F-4's later in the war. While focus is on the pilots and their exploits, Mr. Newman and Mr. Sheppard include the Intelligence section and the Flight Surgeon (a character from the word go) for the unit. In addition, the book does bring the families of the Misty's in at the appropriate points (I loved how the book opens with the burial of a Misty pilot that had been MIA, it makes the book read more as a memorial of the unit than a oral history).
In the different chapters we're introduced to the different Misty's and the exploits they perform in executing their missions. Missions for them were from 4-8 hours in length with multiple in-air refuelings. In addition to spotting ground traffic and other targets and directing the bombing, Misty's were important for directing/assisting the recovery of downed pilots (there's a great chapter on the attempted recovery of Lance Sijan along with other exciting recovery opertions) to working with other intelligence gathering operations. We also get to read about Misty's feelings about the different aircraft and their drivers (always positive about the Rescue guys in the Skyraiders and Jolly Green Giants, also for the Thud Drivers [F-105 Thunderchiefs], referencing them as the A-Team).
Rating wise this book is a SOLID 4.5 book. The exploits are well written, there's been great input provided by the former Misty's (yes, in the back they pay great tribute to the contributions from the former Misty's in developing the book). The photo's are a nice addition and the descriptions are crisp. However, this doesn't quite make it to the 5 star bar for me. Given that, Amazons rating system forces me to lower it to a 4 star book. So sorry. However this is a must read for those interested in the air war over North Vietnam.
Pretty good read.......2007-05-16
My favorite war book is "With the Old Breed" by Eugene Sledge. Sledge's book detailed his exploits in World War II. In comparison, "Bury Us Upside Down" details the exploits of a secret fighter pilot squad during the Vietnam War. Bury Us frequently switches focus to different pilots as their tours end or they are lost in combat. You get to read about a few POWs, about the hellish experience the pilots' families back home had to endure and about the war prisons themselves. The book ends with recent investigations into crash sites in Vietnam; so, you get to see Misty's war from start to finish to post-battle events.
I much rather prefer Sledge's style since it was one man's experience versus "Bury Us Upside Down"'s squadron-based approach. Even so, it was a good read and I'd recommend it to anyone interested in war books. This was my first time reading about air combat; I'll probably buy a couple more books like this.
Bury Us Upside Down.......2007-05-07
The book arrived on time and well packaged. It appeared as new upon arrival.
Customer Reviews:
Across The Fence - Stryker & BlackJack - Well done & God Bless!.......2007-08-14
I have read the book and the reviews. This is a combat veteran writing about reality, the pain, anger, brotherhood and secrecy of war during this time. John has brought the reader into the combat as an observer providing detail of his experience never before heard. He has done an outstanding job. Those who critisize the authors wrting skills should read again and know that the author wasn't trying to impress anyone with his writing ability. He was passing on a real life experience of a secret part of the war that wasn't tought in schools. In fact it wasn't too long ago allot of SOG information was still classified. As time moves forward we will lose these great men and any knowledge they retain. I recomend to anyone who is interested in this subject, read as many books written by these men as possible. Support our troops and remember the POW-MIA's. They should never be forgotten!
Great read.......2007-07-04
This book is a must read for anyone interested in first-person accounts of long-range recon patrols during the Vietnam war era. Stryker has offered a very readable, fast-paced account of his experiences particularly as a member and later leader of SF patrols in Laos. One of the best books in this genre.
Tribute to those who were there........2007-06-27
Without a doubt the best book about the war that didn't go on. Must reading for those that can handle the memories.
The Vietnam War in Cambodia..........2007-02-21
I enjoyed this book, although it seemed to me that somewhere below the surface the author was holding back and not giving the full story. Of course, that's purely subjective and I wouldn't let that possibility keep you from buying or reading 'Across the Fence'. Non-fiction, first person accounts of SOG operations are a fairly rare commodity, and this one is well written- I couldn't put it down and don't hesitate to highly recommend it.
Starts a little rough, but the stories are insanely good.......2007-02-02
The intro and beginning of this book didn't impress me as to the writer's ability, especially with the unnecessary description of environments. Perhaps he was trying to set the scene but I don't need a full paragraph description of where buildings are, for example, unless they are essential to the story. Various anecdotes are thrown in at somewhat unrelated points.
It sounds like I'm complaining, but I'm not, at all. Once the stories get started and we are "across the fence," this book is riveting. The combat environments and situations these men were in absolutely floored me.
The one REAL complaint that I have is that the book ends in January but he stayed with RT Idaho until April. The "about the author" page mentioned an incident that lead to him leaving SF, and I wish that Meyer would have taken us through the rest of his time at CCN. Maybe he's just saving that for a followup book. May we all be so fortunate.
Book Description
Pham Xuan An was a Vietnamese nationalist and member of Ho Chi Minh's army in the 1950s. Knowing that war with the United States was inevitable, the Party sent An to America to study journalism (for his cover) and observe its people and culture. He attended community college in California, worked for the Sacramento Bee and traveled across the country making friends.
Back in Saigon he worked as a reporter for Reuters and Time in the early 60s. He befriended numerous British and American journalists, including David Halberstam, Neil Sheehan and Stanley Karnow who came to regard him as a friend and trusted source. Meanwhile, he was providing intelligence to Hanoi; his early reports were so accurate that a general joked "we are now in the US war room." For twenty years An lived a lie and no one knew because he was so good at his day job, which was interwoven with his assignment in espionage.
Several years after the war, the new Vietnamese Communist government revealed that An had been one of its most effective spies. He was publicly awarded six medals and named a "Hero of the People's Army" – one of only two intelligence officers during the war ever promoted to the rank of General and Hero. But An's disaffection with the new government's treatment of their southern countrymen and his close friendships with Americans made him suspicious in the eyes of the Communist government. He was soon placed under housed arrest and to this day he is banned from leaving the country.
Customer Reviews:
You Cannot Have it Both Ways.......2007-10-01
I might not be as forgiving as some people, but I certainly would have felt betrayed by this man. He seeks to justify everything by stating that he felt the Americans did not belong in Vietnam. Maybe so. But what he did was so deceiful.To just look at the fact that he often helped those closest and known to him from suffering any harm, neglects the hundreds of thousands who died and were wounded as a result of his actions. To top it all off he sent his family to the US when the Communists came !! No doubt for a better life !!This fellow must have been of fairly limited intellect , or at least uneducated.And don't tell me was educated in the US - they let him do some courses... big deal! Did he really believe the Americans would attempt to rule Vietnam the way the French did ? Yes, they would take advantage of economic opportunities ( who does'nt), but what did he think they would have done if the South succeeded ? A good insight into blind nationalism and deceit by one of the most two faced people I have ever encountered. I still cannot understand his mindset.
the worst book to read! just a waste of time........2007-09-18
This book is nothing but full of communist propaganda. To most of the Vietnamese people, I say not including the 2% of the communist population, An is a betrayer. Don't waste your time being brain-washed by communist ideology.
Interesting, and Eerie!.......2007-09-09
Pham Xuan An was recruited by the Communist Party in Vietnam and sent to the U.S. in 1957 to learn journalism as a cover - long before the U.S. took a major role in the conflict. An quickly came to admire the U.S., did well in his studies (Orange Coast College) and internships, and was had several attractive offers for permanent work upon their completion. Yet, despite fear that he would be arrested by the South Vietnamese government upon returning to Vietnam, An returned, first reporting French troop actions, then also working for various government military figures (eg. teaching English to future VN spies; helping set up the Vietnamese spying service), and finally for various American publications - Time magazine in particular. Several times the CIA even tried to recruit An, with no success.
Early in his career An risked exposure to save the life of a Time reporter captured by the VietCong in Cambodia because he knew the reporter had saved a number of Vietnamese children's' lives from various Cambodian army massacres. This conflict between his spy role and friendship with Americans continued up to America's last day in Saigon when An helped a Vietnamese friend who had worked for the Americans escape. These actions, however, did not dull An's effectiveness - his insights and reports based on conversations and documents played key roles in VietCong/NVA tactics and strategy development. After the war ended, An was promoted to Maj. General, and collected his ten top-level medals.
An received no formal spy training - instead, he read a number of books by others who were past masters. Communications involving An were almost entirely one-way - towards nearby VietCong and much farther away NVA leaders in Hanoi. His methods were to use melted rice as invisible ink (revealed by pouring iodine over the paper), and secreting both the paper and film rolls in food materials handed off to a vendor.
An's career spanned 30 years - longer than any other spy. Consequently, after the war there was considerable suspicion by the communists that this was due to his having played both sides. He was even forbidden from leaving VN to attend a post-war correspondent's conference in NYC.
Some of the most impactful portions of "Perfect Spy" involved stories about eg. another VietCong spy who pushed the Vietnamese government to move peasants into more defensible self-contained villages. His rationale - he knew this would greatly upset the peasants and turn them against the government. An himself declared several times that the U.S.'s biggest failure was to develop a new cadre of leaders after Diem was deposed. It was also quite jarring to read details from the "other side" about so many areas that I had been to - Nha Trang, Siagon, Ban Me Thuot, Pleiku, Vung Tau, Khe Sanh.
My one wish is that "Perfect Spy" included more planning details from the VietCong and NVA side. Unfortunately, even the author (Larry Berman) sensed several times that An left much more unsaid than revealed.
Bottom Line: I was taken aback by An's working against the U.S. after having made so many friends here, how well the VietCong/NVA infiltrated U.S. planning, and how long ahead their thinking ran. The book also brings an eerie sense of wondering what is happening along these same lines now in Iraq.
Just another Communist propaganda book.......2007-07-23
It was a good read, but it just followed the line of typical Communist propaganda.
It is laughable for anyone to think An spied for his "country", that he was a "patriot", or a "nationalist" for that matter. An was a Communist through and through. Communist propaganda and the book want you to think that the Vietnam war was about fighting off foreign invaders/aggressors.
Make no mistake. An and his comrades fought for one sole purpose: put the entire country of Vietnam under Communism, and strip the Vietnamese people of freedom and basic human rights.
Hanoi successfully exploited the American involvement to justify their aggression in South Vietnam, and masked their communist proliferation campaign under a "patriotic" theme: war against foreign invaders.
It was Communist activities in South Vietnam that brought in US soldiers, and they made it looked like the American invasion of Vietnam that forced them to start the war to save the country.
An was lying when he implied that he didn't know how bad the Communists were when they took over the country. He fought for a regime that killed hundreds of thousands of innocent land-owners in North Vietnam in the late 50's during the bloody land reform campaign. He fought for a system with outdated economic (communism) theories that turned Vietnam into one of the poorest countries in the world. He fought for a totalitarian state that took away the people's basic freedom and human rights, where free-thinking was not allowed. If An had any doubt during his spying days, he just had to look to the iron curtains of the Soviet Union, China, North Korea, Cuba, East Germany, ... where the people were oppressed, and all would leave if they had a chance.
As well informed as he was, An surely must have known how brutal the Communists were, and still chose to be on their side. Instead of helping to promote freedom in Vietnam, he worked hard to crush it. If An was truly disillusioned after the war, then he was a fool to fight for a system that he knew nothing about.
I am shocked and appalled that many freedom-loving Americans failed to see this, and continued to think of An as a patriot, a nationalist, and that they would probably do the same if they were An. Naive Americans.
Also, the book repeatedly mentioned An's American acquaintances admired him for being a spy without injecting any pro-communist ideas onto them. Are you kidding? That's what he was supposed to do to keep his cover. To this day, many Americans still love this guy and be fooled by his deceiving charm, buying into his Communist propaganda line that he was just fighting foreign invaders to save his country. Naive Americans.
An was responsible for thousands of American and hundreds of thousands of South Vietnamese deaths during the war. After the war, tens (if not hundreds) of thousands more died in re-education camps, or during their escape journey from Vietnam.
Unification without freedom is worst than death. To this point, An helped kill his fellow Vietnamese and the country. He was a traitor!
A great read, a great man for his country and a sad commentary of our press corps.......2007-06-15
As a former Marine sniper with two straight years in the Vietnam War, the early part, I couldnt pass this book up. An, the spy, is the perfect spy and by the end of the book you can see he duped our press, his 'friends', not only in Vietnam during the war, but all the way to his recent death. He certainly played a central part in the demise of our strategy and as one soldier to another, my hat goes off to him. He was good at what he did and so were my fellow Marines and I. He fought for his country in his way and we in ours. An incredible man.
Now for my disdain. The author did an excellent job researching and writing this book. Except for his bias to continue to make the North Vietnamese out the good guys and us the bad. I understand they fought for 'their He continues to this day, forty years later for me, to herald the very pr' country and to get foreigners off their soil. But this author contuess corp that were hopefully duped by An, some probably not. They continues the US press corps position that the people in the south had no right to their way of wanting their country back. The author supports the media in their current dismantling of US efforts in Iraq. I do not believe we should have gone to Iraq, but now that we unraveled their lives, we owe it to them to see it to the end. Yet just as it outlined well in this excellent book, they are undermining US efforts to help a people who strive for freedom like the millions of South Vietnamese that are barely mentioned in this work.
This is an important work on the Vietnam War, which I have studied for my forty years since being there. It tells a compelling story of a proud warrior who did what he had to do for his country. He did it well. And it shows the dispicable US media, lead by Time magazine, and their work which ended up aiding our enemy at the time.
And then they proudly, according to the author, pull out all the stops to bring the son of this perfect spy, back to the US to educate him as we did his father. He continued perfect to the end and his great friends in the media still believe his line. We just never learn.
Book Description
Jane Hamilton-Merritt, Nobel-nominated scholar and photojournalist, has followed the plight of the Hmong and the war in Indochina since the 1960s. The staunchest of allies, the Hmong sided with the Americans against the North Vietnamese and were foot soldiers in the brutal secret war for Laos. Since the war, abandoned by their American allies, the Hmong have been subjected to a campaign of genocide by the North Vietnamese, including the use of chemical weapons. Tragic Mountains moves from the big picture of international diplomacy and power politics to the small villages and heroic engagements in the Lao jungle. It is a story of courage, brutality, heroism, betrayal, resilience, and hope.
Customer Reviews:
The Hmong, the Americans and secret wars .......2005-12-28
This is a documentary about unsung heros who paid a deal price working for the Americans from the 40s and on. They were being hired to stop communism working with the French in the 40-50s. As the tide of North Vietnamese infiltration into South Vietnam turned, Vang Pao, a former French colonial officier was put in charge of covert operations working for CIA in the little known secret war in Laos. The book went into details on how much sacrifice the Hmong people made to please Americans.
They gave up just about everything to wage an American war and learned their American sponsors who abandoned them after 1975. Similar to CIA's involvement in Cuba the Hmong fighters who were abandoned had to flee their country. This time they had to accept either slughter or content with refugee camp life in Thailand. The author, Jane Hamilton-Merritt, produced horror pictures and sketches of the effect of chemical-biological toxins on the people and the atrocities committed by the communists. Through some unorganized chapters Jane lost her enthusium and called it quits up to 1992. This may be the weakest part of the fine documentary.
As more and more Hmong immigrants are leaving the refugee camps and re-settled in many parts of the world, we need to understand their heritage and believes. Unlike the Indo-chinese refugees coming into the US who are mostly city dwellers, the Hmong have for 4,000 years able to attain a certain degree of identity/freedom. This is in a way like the Native Americans who do not wish to be fully assimilated. We need to respect and help the Hmong people by not imposing the same attitude as we have done on other immigrants. We also need to understand the cultural and habits of those who fought so hard for the Americans. Unlike other enthnic cultures, this is a hard to find book on the war history of Hmong people in Laos.
the truth? not really..........2005-10-12
this book has some truth...but woopti doo... anyone can research...but until you were actually there...you'll never know.
If you are Hmong and you read hamiltons book and you beleive all that is said, you need help....HA just kidding... but you do need to go to a HMONG SOURCE, someone that was there, fighting in the war, and leading the Hmong people to freedom, to find out what really happened, not rely on someone who wants to make a buck off our culture. Please do not think i'm trying to sound better than anyone, all i'm saying is that the world deserves to know the truth about the Hmongs and how MAJORLY significant we were to the "war". We have been sworn in as an ethnic group recently, but now we also need to map the Hmong into American History for all to learn about. This is not about Hmong pride, this is about education...Again, this book has some truth... but...stay tuned and the truth will soon be out.
Engaging.......2005-07-30
As will be established by many other reviewers, there ARE some significant points of contention, particularly regarding the Yellow Rain element of the book and the occasional heavy-handed romanticizing of the Hmong. But these are not enough to totally undermine the value of the book.
By and large, it really tells a deeply engaging story about the Hmong and should be considered one of the essential reads on the matter.
Considering the large lack of material on the Hmong prior to this book, it is an important step.
One might want to compare it to Backfire/Shooting At the Moon by Warner in particular, or even The Ravens / Air America by Robbins. Another good text to have on hand is Sky Is Falling by Morrisson.
We should all still be waiting for the great Hmong account of the war in Laos from their own perspective however. That should make fascinating reading.
UNTOLD HISTORY.......2003-11-29
THE BOOK "TRAGIC MOUNTAINS" GIVES ME AN UNDERSTANDING OF THE HISTORY IN THE PAST. ALSO, A REASON WHY HMONG WERE VERY SUCCESSFUL PEOPLE WHO LIVED IN THE SHADOWS BECAUSE THEY HAD MADE LOAS A HISTORY BY JOINED WITH THE AMERICANS TO FOUGHT AGANIST COMMUNIST. IT INSPIRED ME IN MANY WAYS WHICH I CAN NOT EXPLAIN BUT WITH TEARS AND FEARS. NOW THAT THE HISTORY IS TOLD IN THE BOOK "TRAGIC MOUNTAINS," I FELT THAT IT IS MY DESTINATION TO MAKE A DIFFERANCE IN AMERICA. "BY MAKING A DIFFERANCE IN AMERICA, IT WILL BECAME PART OF OUR HISTORY," SAID NELSON NAGAI.
Candlestick Fac analysis.......2001-07-17
Jane Hamilton-Merritt's research and reporting is outstanding.After serving as a Candlestick fac (NKP 1969-1970),I have spent the last three years reading about these poor people who gave so much for the American aircrews.. I spent a two week'Sabbatical" at 20 alternate and was shocked by the yound age of V.P.s troops.Ms. jane has portrayed it brilliantly....Her work is phenomenal and should be required reading for the war colleges She correctly questions why any country would sign a treaty with the United States.. The genocide which we have supported by "sticking our heads in the sand" is grievous.I retired early from the USAF since I lost confidence in our government.Indeed even the services spent a great deal of their time trying to absorb each other's missions,rather than dealing with the losing battle in SEA in the 1970s.. The administration never told the American people that we were actually fighting against Russian and Chinese advisors leave alone that we were in Laos for almost ten years. .Every congressman should also read about this stain on our moral fiber .Somehow,there are more important things in this life than being reelected .Thank you and Bless Ms. Hamilton-Merritt for trying to wake up Washington. The best treatise ever on our Laotian allies !
Amazon.com
When John Halliday arrived at Thailand's Nakhon Phanom Air Base in 1970, he thought the next year would bore him out of his skull. He believed his mission in the Vietnam War would be to fly cargo around Thailand. What could be easier? A couple of nights later, Halliday found himself dodging dozens of anti-aircraft shells in an aging cargo plane over the Ho Chi Minh Trail. Flying Through Midnight is his riveting account of his top-secret black-ops assignment--one of the most dangerous of the war.
Halliday flew slow propeller-driven relics at night deep into guerrilla territory in the "unofficial" war in Laos. His task with the 606th Special Operations Squadron was to help pinpoint guerrilla truck convoys for U.S. planes to bomb. Meanwhile, President Richard Nixon denied U.S. forces were fighting in Laos. Halliday wasn't even supposed to tell his wife what he was doing. His mail and phone calls were monitored, and soon he went from being a jittery FNG ("f---ing new guy") to a decorated war hero who logged 800 combat flight hours in Vietnam and the Gulf War. He was awarded the Air Force's Distinguished Flying Cross for one particularly amazing feat of bravery--a nighttime crash-landing on an unlit airstrip amid soaring mountains, which saved his crew. Flying Through Midnight does a remarkable job bringing to life Halliday's dramatic combat experiences, the foibles of his superiors, the brutalities of war, and the colorful quirks of his fellow flyboys, including his roommate whose favorite hobby was reading canned-food labels. There's not much here about the deeper rationale of the Vietnam War, but it's a gripping read. --Alex Roslin
Book Description
Riveting, novelistic, and startlingly candid, John T. Halliday's combat memoir begins in 1970, when Halliday has just landed in the middle of the Vietnam War, primed to begin his assignment with the 606th Special Operations Squadron. But there's a catch: He's stationed in a kind of no-man's-land. No one on his base flies with ID, patches, or rank. Even as Richard Nixon firmly denies reporters' charges that the United States has forces in Laos, Halliday realizes that from his base in Thailand, he will be flying top-secret, black-ops night missions over the Laotian Ho Chi Minh Trail.
A naive yet thoughtful twenty-four-year-old, Halliday was utterly unprepared for the horrors of war. On his first mission, Halliday's C-123 aircraft dodges more than a thousand antiaircraft shells, and that is just the beginning. Nothing is as he expected -- not the operations, not the way his shell-shocked fellow pilots look and act, and certainly not the squadron's daredevil, seat-of-one's-pants approach to piloting. But before long, Halliday has become one of those seasoned and shell-shocked pilots, and finds himself in a desperate search for a way to elude certain death.
Using frank, true-to-life dialogue, potent imagery, and classic 1970s song lyrics, Halliday deftly describes the fraught Laotian skies and re-creates his struggle to navigate the frustrating Air Force bureaucracy, the deprivations of a remote base far from home and his young wife, and his fight to preserve his sanity. The resulting nonfiction narrative vividly captures not only the intricate, distorted culture of war but also the essence of the Vietnam veteran's experience of this troubled era.
A powerhouse fusion of pathos and humor, brutal realism and intimate reflection, Flying Through Midnight is a landmark contribution to war literature, revealing previously top-secret intelligence on the 606th's night missions. Fast-paced, thrilling, and bitingly intelligent, Halliday illuminates it all: the heart-pounding air battles, the close friendships, the crippling fear, and the astonishing final escape that made the telling of it possible.
Download Description
A powerhouse fusion of pathos and humor, brutal realism and intimate reflection, Flying Through Midnight is a landmark contribution to war literature, revealing previously top-secret intelligence on the 606th's night missions. Fast-paced, thrilling, and bitingly intelligent, Halliday illuminates it all: the heart-pounding air battles, the close friendships, the crippling fear, and the astonishing final escape that made the telling of it possible.
Customer Reviews:
One of the best books I have ever read.......2007-08-29
I have been reading aviation books since I was 10 years old. The first one was "God is My Copilot". This book rates at the very top. I read it for 5 hours straight. It is an amazing story, almost not believable. If you like aviation books, books about war, books about human failings and overcoming impossible situations, this is a book for you.
A Gripping Read.......2007-07-15
I read this book because a friend of mine wrote to me about it and picqued my interest in it. I'm glad he did.
I found the first part of the book somewhat disquieting as to what it was like to be twenty-four years old, an air force pilot and sent to the war in SE Asia and end up flying in the secret war in Laos, where the President of the United States said we were not fighting. (but that's another story)
Halliday is introduced to that aspect of warfare by a guy named Wiley, who over time indoctrinates him into what he has to know to both fly and survive. The plane they are flying is the C-123-J Provider. The airframe was initially intended to be a cargo glider, but over time it morphed into a twin engined troop transport and cargo hauler. The J model had jet engines added under the wings to give it extra boost when needed. Their mission, dubbed "Candlestick" is to provide illumination at night dropping flares over enemy troop convoys so that the "fast movers", F-4's and F-105's can come in and bomb the crap out of them.
There are numerous stories that Halliday tells wbout his coming of age as a pilot on these missions, however the one that starts at Chapter 31 and essentially carries through to the end of the book, is as gripping a recounting of flying and surviving as I have ever read.
I am aware that one of the reviews of this book by a reader claims it is fiction. However the other reviews, both by readers and writers do not make that claim and many of them have also been there. I believe Halliday and I thank him for taking the time to share this most remarkable story with us.
Been There...Done That.......2007-06-21
This book is virtually complete fiction. The author gives a hyper inflated description of his "heroic" deeds which is sickening to those of us who served in the same squadron at the same time he did. It's especially disturbing to see that some of his reader's actually buy his apocryphal meanderings. Very, very little of his descriptions of the hazards involved in the Candle Stick mission are true. What makes a person write a make believe tale of their own false heroism?
ONE OF THE BEST WAR BOOKS EVER.......2007-04-17
I have been reading non-fiction war books since I was about 10 years old and this is one of the best I have ever read. As a flyer in my younger days the author made me relive the feelings of being free. This book also tells it like it was in the secret war in Laos and Cambodia when they were asked to do so much with so little and under the type of leaders above them who cared only about their next step up the ladder. J.T makes you laugh, cry, and shake your head in disgust throughout the book. The self thoughts as he is trying to get down with zero fuel is better than any suspense drama ever written. If you have any interest in flying and the war in South East Asia, read this book, You will not be sorry. Thanks J.T for one of the greatest reads of my life. BY the way, I am 76 years old,with a collection of over 300 non-fiction mmpb war books. I have read about 2 times that many more. Happy reading. PS. I hope Mr. Halliday writes another one as I love his style.It keeps you on the edge of your seat.
authentic.......2007-04-06
Very much enjoyed this title, myself, but the acid test was when I handed it to a friend to read who had ACTUALLY BEEN to some of the places cited (at very close to the same time). His mouth locked into perpetual smile mode and every minute or so (at least during the first couple of chapters) he laughed out loud, saying, "Yeah, it was exactly like that. We had a guy in our unit who..."
Book Description
The leading historian of SOG, the elite commando unit in Vietnam, tells the astonishing story of the SOG warriors who penetrated enemy lines in operations directed at the Ho Chi Minh Trail.
The warriors of SOG -- code-named the Studies and Observations Group -- were a secret operations force in Vietnam, the forerunner of today's Delta Force and SEALs. Highly skilled Green Berets, they were the bravest of the brave, the most highly decorated unit in the war. Chief among their activities was observing the Ho Chi Minh Trail, the main North Vietnamese supply route into South Vietnam, and disrupting its operations. SOG warriors secretly penetrated deep into Laos and Cambodia to identify bombing targets, destroy troops, ambush trucks, mine roads, and, in their most difficult assignment, capture North Vietnamese soldiers for intelligence purposes.
Operating in the most dangerous conditions imaginable -- always outnumbered, often by as much as 100 to 1 -- SOG commandos matched wits with an un-relenting foe that hunted them with trackers and dogs. They suffered an extraordinarily high casualty rate. Ten entire teams disappeared and another fourteen were overrun and annihilated. Many of the missions run by SOG fighters were rescues and attempted rescues of fellow soldiers and downed helicopter pilots who supported SOG missions.
In Secret Commandos, a riveting account of his years in SOG from 1969 to 1971, John Plaster describes his own remarkable covert missions as well as those of dozens of his comrades. He takes readers from his grueling training for SOG to his heart-stopping first assignments to his experiences as a SOG veteran and team leader. Even as SOG's field of operations became more limited late in the war, these accomplished warriors continued to give their all, fighting for each other.
Customer Reviews:
I couldn't put it down.......2007-05-18
I had chills after reading the first three pages. The action is incredible. I was on pins and needles, like it was all happening for the first time right in front of me. Plaster also conveyed his love for his friends through these pages. There were several places that I cried just for feeling the sacrifice of these incredible, selfless warriors. I love this book.
Great Book!.......2007-02-19
I loved this book- couldn't put it down. I liked it even better than Maj. Plaster's other book, 'SOG-The Secret Wars of America's Commandos in Vietnam', which was itself a doggone fine book. Based on what I've read to this point, this is the difinitive book on SOG in Vietnam. But I did come away with a question after reading it: How did those guys move through the jungle so quietly with cannonballs for gonads?
I had no idea.......2007-01-12
I am not old enough to remember the tail end of Vietnam. Most of what I know came from history class or the movies. But this book allowed me to read about a part of the Vietnam war, I did not know existed. In fact, I believe a lot of people had no idea what was taking place in Cambodia and in Laos during this time period. Special forces, secret missions, thousands of North Vietnamese in "de-militarized" areas and only the Green Berets to keep them in check. Experience the first hand accounts of american special forces units as they are dropped deep behind enemy territory only to be hunted and attacked by forces who outnumber them significantly. Overall, the book is extemly interesting and a different kind of read. Real soldiers in real situtations, where any mistep means death.
Extraordinary bravery wasted in Washington.......2006-08-26
Having spent more than enough time in SEA before Plaster got there, I could relate to his willingness to fight the good fight to fight Communist aggression since I've been there and done that.
What was truly remarkable about this book is that despite the fact that his efforts to win the battles on the field of battle were really for naught, he does not spend much time dealing with the "cut and run" crowd in Washington who made any victory impossible. The willingness of his teams to insert into the forbidden zones of Cambodia and Laos in order to protect the boots on the ground further down the Ho Chi Minh trail, at a time when Congress shaking in its shoes seems remarkable even to this day. The personal stories to confront the enemy in the face of almost certain death will leave you shaking your head. But this is the military that one former president "loathed" as he visited Moscow and committed a felony in lying to his draft board in order to maintain his "political viability."
The bravery and dedication of men like Plaster was not only undermined, but desecrated as the draft dodgers and phony heroes with four months of service in the theater went back to testify in front of Congressional committees who did more to assist the Viet Cong than anything that the Soviets or Chinese did at the time. What a waste of brave men who gave their all while those who gave nothing rose to elected office on the bodies of their fellow Americans. Plaster names all the brave men who died during his tour of duty as he sings "Hey Blue" to acknowledge their deaths, and it is a list far too long. His detailed accounts of his many missions would make a great movie, but Hollywood has no taste for true bravery when it has important issues to deal with, like orcas in a tank.
This is a well written book, but it is too kind to those who stabbed men like Plaster and his fellow SOG teammates in the back and dishonored their patriotism and sacrifice. But nothing has changed. The same kind of heroism is being undermined today as politicians in Washington demand a similar end in Iraq, without a single minute of thought to their last "victory" in ending the war in Vietnam, costing millions of lives as they ran away. But their grandfathers did the same when they carried Chamberlain on their shoulders as he delivered "Peace in our time" and sent 80,000,000 humans to their deaths in the process.
Another great read..........2006-08-14
While both of Plaster's other books outline the historical aspects of this unit, I feel closer to these men, in a way, after reading this book. I can almost hear Pete "Fat Albert" Wilson bursting through the door bellowing "Wine for my troops," and I can nearly place Bob Howard's raked smile after defying the odds along the Trail.
While John's other books stand alone in their own historical significance to SOG, this book delivers the intensity of sudden combat and the heartbreaking tragedy of losing close friends like Pete Wilson, Fred Krupa, and Chuck Hein.
All of John's books have proven to be an invaluable asset to my research on SOG.
Book Description
In 1971 former Cold War hard-liner Daniel Ellsberg made history by releasing the Pentagon Papers-a 7,000-page top-secret study of U.S. decision-making in Vietnam-to the New York Times and Washington Post. The document set in motion a chain of events that ended not only the Nixon presidency but the Vietnam War. In this remarkable memoir, Ellsberg describes in dramatic detail the two years he spent in Vietnam as a U.S. State Department observer, and how he came to risk his career and freedom to expose the deceptions and delusions that shaped three decades of American foreign policy. The story of one man's exploration of conscience, Secrets is also a portrait of America at a perilous crossroad.
Customer Reviews:
History behind the Pentagon Papers.......2007-09-03
This provides Ellsberg's history behind his release of the Pentagon Papers. Included is (obviously) his motivation and reasoning behind why he thought they had to be released to the press. In addition, there is a discussion of his the papers themselves but, ironically, the weakness of the book was not enough discussion/analysis of the papers and the conclusions reached therein.
Rare History.......2007-07-23
Ellsberg is a driven man--driven toward solving puzzles and righting that which is wrong. The intensity of his intellect and the breadth of his insider experience would have made Daniel Ellsberg an amazing historian of the Vietnam War even if he hadn't become an anti-war activist. The fact that he had--in the end--studied both sides, and that eventually he had access not only to the Pentagon Papers but also the Nixon Whitehouse tapes allowed him to explain the war and its perpetrators with a rare combination of vividness and authority.
Judging from what is written in today's newspapers, the patterns Ellsberg describes in Secrets are repeating themselves in the Iraq War. _Secrets_ deserves to be widely read, as a lesson in courage, as history, and as a warning to those of us who might be tempted to sit back and trust unquestioningly those who would lead us into war then resist bringing us back out.
book.......2007-01-19
Just got it today, but know that my son will enjoy reading it. He loves history and asked for this book specifically.
how and why our government lies to us.......2007-01-18
A year into the Iraqi war, an increasing number of people are comparing the debacle to the quagmire that was Vietnam. In one interview about the American torture of Iraqi prisoners, even Secretary of State Colin Powell made an unsolicited comparison with the Mai Lai massacre. Most people now acknowledge that the Bush administration has been less than candid about not only the war in Iraq but also its policies and decisions before and after the 9/11 attacks. Enter Daniel Ellsberg.
In this memoir Ellsberg documents how five successive presidential administrations (Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson and Nixon) systematically lied to the American people and to congress about the Vietnam war. His story is especially compelling because (similar to John Kerry in at least this regard), he served patriotically in Vietnam, only to have that experience convince him how terribly wrong his own government was about the war. As a Marine company commander in Vietnam, Ellsberg was an enthusiastic supporter of the war. But two years of wading through swampy jungles, and extended study of classified documents, convinced him that government rhetoric and empirical realities were two very different things. Ellsberg came home and became an outspoken critic of the war, and in an aggressive effort to stop the war he leaked the so-called Pentagon Papers to congress and then to the media, 7,000 pages in 47 volumes of top secret documents.
The lesson? Citizens would be naïve to believe all that its government says or to support all that it does. Christians, especially, believe that Caesar is not God. This was a radical notion in the early centuries of the faith, for in the Roman Empire Caesar was god, and believers paid dearly for it with two centuries of martyrdom. In fact, as Bernard Lewis has observed, it is to Christianity that we owe the novel idea of a distinctly secular state, as opposed to theocracies such as ancient Israel or modern Iran (or emerging Iraq?). If the state is secular and not sacred, if Caesar is not God, if our recent governments have shown their near pathological propensity to lie about matters large and small, and if most all governments must as a practical necessity use brutal and coercive powers to protect national interests and deliberate neglect of the weak where there is no national interest (Rwandan genocide), then it might deserve our allegiance, yes, but also our loyal opposition.
An insider's account of the abuse of power of consecutive presidents and their administrations.......2006-08-13
After finishing this book, I think the one thing that I'm left awestruck by is how little we as a country have learned in the intervening years. Daniel Ellsberg's detailed, yet gripping account of how he went from an anti-communist cold-warrior to an anti-Vietman war protestor and activist is, at times draining, at others infuriating, and yet always thoroughly engrossing.
He starts the book detailing how, as a political analyst he was eventually allowed access to some of the most highly classified documentation the goverment has, including the 7000 page collection known as the Pentagon Papers. A highly detailed look at the behind the scenes machinations that led the U.S. to go from an advisory role to the French in Vietnam, to actively participating in and continued escalation of the conflict. Those documents allowed him to see exactly how far from the truth official statements from the various administrations to the public and Congress were, even to the point of outright lying about getting out of Vietnam when they were in fact escalating involvement in the war.
Mr. Ellsberg goes on to inform the reader how his access to this information led him to eventually denounce the war as criminal, how he attempted to help stop it through "proper channels", which led to nowhere, and eventually how he decided to leak the Pentagon Papers to the press, knowing full well the toll that it would likely take on his friends and family. Although, this singular act of courage wasn't enough to stop the war in and of itself, it was a stepping stone to its end.
What struck me most as I was reading, was the incredible similarity to events going on now, right down to almost vertabum administration statements made to the public. At that time, administration officials would question the patriotism of those who didn't support the war. They called papers that printed leaked classified information, and the leakers themselves, criminal and claimed that to do so was harmful to national security. There are numerous other examples, but I encourage you to read the book for yourself. If for no other reason than to learn how easily it is for our elected officials to lie to us, and get away with it.
I wish that after reading this book I could say that we've moved past all of this, that our country has learned and it could never happen again. However, I think the similarities between this dark time in our history and the Iraq war has gone a long way to proving that isn't the case.
Read this book. Even ignoring my view of the parallels to the Iraq war, this is a highly gripping and educational look at the history and policies that led to our involvement in the Vietnam war. It's a viewpoint that you will never see in any dry classroom textbook and I think that everyone needs to learn just how humanly fallible our elected officials can be.
Books:
- Stonewall Jackson: The Black Man's Friend
- Suite Française
- The Battle Between the Farm Lanes: Hancock Saves the Union Center: Gettysburg July 2, 1863 (Discovering Civil War America Series, V. 4)
- The Battle for the Falklands
- The Battle for the Falklands
- The Battle for the Mind: How You Can Think the Thoughts of God
- The Dirty War
- The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid: Eradicating Poverty Through Profits
- The Guilt of Nations: Restitution and Negotiating Historical Injustices
- The Hunters (A Presidential Agent Novel)
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
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- Against the Wall
- Physical-Chemical Treatment of Water and Wastewater
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- Behavior in Organizations: Understanding and Managing the Human Side of Work
- Too Big to Miss: An Odelia Grey Mystery
- Splendours of Imperial India: British Architecture in the 18th and 19th Centuries
- The Fireplace Design Sourcebook
- El Mundo De Las Plantas Peligrosas/The world of the dangerous plants
Secret Commandos: Behind Enemy Lines with the Elite Warriors of SOG
15 Months In Sog: A Warrior's Tour
SOG: A Photo History of the Secret Wars
Gone Native: An NCO's Story
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