“This book was mentioned by a journalism professor of mine one afternoon as we all were reviewing and critiquing our weekly news articles. I put off reading it for four years. I'm glad I finally picked it up. It is not an easy book to read. It is full of facts, it can be described as dry, for those people who are not particularly interested in the history of wars for example. However, there is a deeper story, which the name of the book obviously implies. John Paul Vann, a lieutenant colonel in the army during the Vietnam War, thought fighting the Viet Cong was the right and just thing to do. He did however discover through his years serving in Vietnam that the United States was going about it in completely the wrong way. He thought he could change the way the war was being fought.
In the end I don't consider Vann a hero by any means, and I disagree with both his belief in the war and with his disregard for all the women in his life. He was however a pioneer in his outspoken words against advisers in the Kennedy, Johnson and Nixon administrations who by all means contributed to the needless deaths of many American soldiers and innocent Vietnamese civilians.
For all those who don't fully understand the entirety of the Vietnam War, this book helps see through a major part of the lie.”
Alexa T wrote this review Thursday, November 8 2007.
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