Neil Sheehan (1936–2021)

During June of 1971 my commanding officer pointed out the sharply-dressed person talking with a pair of uniformed folks beside the road in Pleiku's MACV Team 21 complex. He told me something to the effect that I was seeing a civilian who'd been appointed to the job of a two-star general. I think CWO2 Walraven also told me a little bit of John Vann's previous history, but his main point was wonder at the oddity. I'd be discharged before Vann died about a year later, but I noticed his name in the news when the death happened. Then from time to time I'd see him mentioned in my reading, which made me interested in his biography.

So: When this book was first published I bought a copy, read it, found it interesting, and had an interesting discussion with my barber about it. Her husband had somehow encountered Vann during his career, so she was also curious about Vann's life. In her mind Vann was an interesting character she'd heard a bit about.

My first reading of this book was largely an effort to understand Vann. My recent reading was much more about understanding my generation's Southeast Asian war. The book serves both purposes well, though I'd certainly not recommend it as your only source of information about the Vietnam war. It is, though, one perspective that certainly merits your attention.

A Bright Shining Lie is well-researched and well-written, with lots of discussion about how the American military approached the Vietnam war. The second chapter is the best short history I've seen of the events that brought the United States into Vietnam, and how it stumbled into a war. It touches on politics, on the biases of American diplomacy and military leadership, and on the serious problems created by the South Vietnamese leadership. There's also a lot of description of operational realities faced by American soldiers. And, of course, it covers the life of John Paul Vann, who was seriously flawed but extremely capable.

Most books about the Vietnam war either concentrate at the command and/or political aspects of the conflict OR they concentrate on the experience of the soldiers who fought it. This book, partly because of the details of Vann's career, manages to address both.

It's a good book. I'm glad I reread it.… (mehr)