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

Award winning author Neil Sheehan chronicles America's involvement in Vietnam by reviewing the life of legendary soldier, John Paul Vann. How this man, who rose from humble beginnings to become the equivalent of a major general, railed helplessly against the system that constantly proclaimed victory was eminent when the Viet-Cong were making gains daily, indicts American military and political leaders for deluding themselves on what was happening. His gloom-and-doom prophesies made many enemies up and down the chain of command. Unfortunately, he was proven correct.

The story of Vann's childhood shows how this illegitimate son of an alcoholic prostitute became determined to succeed against all odds. It also showed how the seeds of destruction that ultimately ended his military career and his marriage, were sewn. Readers interested only in Vietnam can skip this part.

As a divisional advisor, Vann observed that the South Vietnamese usually avoided contact and always left the Viet Cong with an escape route. Their deficiencies were graphically displayed at the Battle of Ap Bac in 1963. The Army of the Republic of South Vietnam's (ARVN) defeat and America's whitewash of it established the pattern that was followed throughout our time there. Clearly, we were headed for trouble.

Vann was later forced to leave the Army due to a private vice that would haunt him throughout his life. This section shows how child abuse can affect an individual. If you skipped the part on his early life, go back and read it.

As a military and later civilian advisor through AID, Vann never ceased attempting to sell his plan to power-brokers who could change America's tactics and give us a realistic chance to win. His advice was ignored until it was too late. The reader is left to ponder the question, what if this "voice crying in the wilderness" had been heeded? Where would South Vietnam be today?

John Vann's tragedy is America's tragedy as well. Confronted by a political/military establishment that was convinced of its own invincibility after World Wars I and II, he worked tirelessly to show his leaders we could and would lose if radical changes were not made. His futile efforts at preventing that loss is an indictment of the system that failed to heed the warnings of those on the ground who actually saw what was happening. Every student of the war and every military planner should read this incredibly interesting account because, it could happen again.

John Paul Vann was a highly complex individual with more than the usual weaknesses. I think that this book certainly deserved a Pulitzer, if not more.

Vann was a man who did not need to lie, but did even when he did not need to. I found it very surprising how Vann's mother was just a prostitute. More than that, she was quite abusive to the men in her life. This is not just a footnote. Vann's sex problems were what led to his downfall.

Vann was active in Vietnam while I was there, but at my level, that of a teenager, I had no idea who he was. Vann was quite a soldier in his own right, but I found it less odd than the author that Vann would embellish his war stories. Telling these stories has less to do with making yourself sound great than just telling an entertaining story. Sometimes it is also better to tell a fake story than one that you experienced.

In my opinion, one reason we failed can be seen in the chapter regarding the battle of Ap Bac. Vann is flying overhead and trying to push the South Vietnamese into attacking the VC. They are refusing frontal assaults and casualties, which drives him nuts. Yes, I hated the ARVN too, but who says we had the "right" way to fight that war anyway, considering the casualties?

Vann was a rather manipulative individual--again take a look at his mother. He was certainly brutally honest with some journalists (who in turn got sent out of Vietnam for "negative" reports), but also used them to his own end.

Vann's death was long overdue, based on his taking chances. I was not surprised that his body was looted by the South Vietnamese soldiers. Welcome to my war. The North Vietnamese radio broadcasts not only took credit for downing Vann's helicopter, but condemned his "towering crimes." I only got a group condemnation.

I thought it was great that Sheehan included the problems with who would meet with Nixon after he died. One of Vann's sons wanted to make an anti-war statement, but was very forcefully told not to even think of it. Vann left quite a wake in his life, with many people sorry he ever rocked their boats.

This is a tremendous and unique book in perspective, detail and size. The book is both an in-depth insight of Vietnam from the pre-WWII period and a bio on the Civilian General Vann who dies in 1972 in a helicopter crash. The author tells the story of Vietnam from Vann's critical bench seat. The author was one of many famous reporters who spent a lot of time in Vietnam such as David Halberstam and Morley Safer. The book starts with Vann's funeral in Washington that includes the highest level of Nixon's defense team along with friends of Vann disillusioned with the war such as the "Pentagon Papers" leak Daniel Ellsberg. Vann is a career Lt. Colonel who retires after serving in Vietnam on a tour as a battlefield advisor in the early 60's. He loved to command combat dangerously from the sky in helicopters to observe the fighting personally and command units directly from the front. Notable for his Korean War exploits, he suddenly resigns seemingly in protest as the military brass creates an illusionary picture of how the South Vietnamese are winning the war. In reality, the South's political generals are for the main part political hacks and corrupt with the regime fearful of going far from their bases giving the initiative to the VC. The title of the book reflects what Vann refers to as the COs in Vietnam's "Bright and Shinning Lies". But Vann's true reason for resignation is not just to protest as assumed by many in the media but it is also a bright and shinning lie as reporters find out years later that Vann resigned due to significant personal issues that may have affected his career. The in depth bio of his youth is told in detail as Vann came from a broken in home in Norfolk, VA. where his mother made herself the priority to the determent of her children. Vann literally is a heroic American story of a man who comes from nothing to a most respected leader in Vietnam. He returns to Vietnam as a District leader in a Civilian capacity as part of a pacification program. By the last two years of his life he is actually a civilian general equal to two stars commanding both American and South Vietnam forces. He emerges from Westmoreland's failed battle attrition strategy to the more successful community based programs of the population intermingled with a reasonable military presence that recruits the community and stops indiscriminate bombing. Toward the end he is virtually the victim of his own success by taking too many risks and his untimely death in 1972 appears to be the final loss and noted faiure of the ARVN units that determines America's abrupt exit from the war. Vann is a unique character that knows and touches every major character in Vietnam from General Harker in 1962 to serving with the disillusioned Daniel Ellsberg. Vann's total dedication to Vietnam was a determent to his American family with an already struggling marriage with numerous personal relations in Vietnam that equal his unique energy' and personal high risk in the field. This is a big book of 800 readable pages. The only thing lacking is more maps and a quick reference page for all the acronyms and character names particularly the Vietnamese that are so prominent in the book. My neighbor that served two tours in Vietnam in the 1st Air Cavalry highly recommended this book.