charvey in Vietnam

Book Review: "A Better War"

 “You know, it’s too bad.  Abrams is very good.  He deserves a better war.”

Robert Shaplen
New Yorker correspondent
Saigon 1969

Lewis Sorley’s “A Better War: The Unexamined Victories and Final Tragedy of America’s Last Years in Vietnam” is a thought-provoking book that casts doubt on whether the outcome of the Vietnam War (known here in Vietnam as the “American War”) was as inevitable as the conventionally-accepted view suggests.  I discovered it by reading a review in the “Wall Street Journal” that described how the book has influenced the thinking among military and political strategists for America’s current effort in Iraq.

The book primarily covers the reign of General Creighton W. Abrams’ years as commander of US forces in the allied effort from 1968 to 1972.  Abrams took over from the previous commander, William C. Westmoreland, in mid-1968.  Westmoreland had been in command since January 1964, presiding over a massive American escalation to pursue his disastrous strategy of “search and destroy.” 

Abrams saw the war differently.  “The tactics changed within 15 minutes of Abrams’ taking command,” said his deputy, General Fred Weyand. 

Abrams believed that a high body count would not lead to a victory.  Instead, he emphasized the political nature of the conflict.  He saw that military victory in battles was pointless unless territory could be held by a stable government where the people felt safe.  Among other things, he de-emphasized large unit actions combing through the jungle to find nothing and re-emphasized small unit actions to protect the population and disrupt enemy logistics and infrastructure.  He also gave a great deal of attention to increasing the strength and effectiveness of provincial militias.

By 1972, Sorley argues convincingly that allied forces had gained a large measure of success under Abrams' leadership.  The insurgent “shadow government” that had held sway over much of the countryside largely had been destroyed or rendered ineffective.  Life returned to normal in many places, with record agricultural harvests and economic activity.  Regular enemy forces had been dealt a series of setbacks and were on their heels.  The Northern Easter Offensive of 1972 was defeated decisively by South Vietnamese ground forces supported by US air power.

Things fell apart after that.  Despite the Nixon Administration’s repeated assurances that the US would stand by its ally in case of violation of the 1973 Paris Peace Accords, a war-weary US Congress limited the President’s freedom of action to respond to nearly immediate violations through operational restrictions and cutting off funding.  In rapid succession, the US pulled all political, logistical, financial and air power support for the Southern government.  Sorley argues that US withdrawal of support was the key factor in the outcome of the conflict, and that with more time or support things may have ended differently.  Although that certainly was a key factor, I'm not entirely convinced.  Large swathes of the Southern military were poorly led, a result of political meddling by a Southern government fearful of a coup.

Politics aside, “A Better War” contains some powerful leadership lessons.  Among my favorites:

• The Top Leader is Key.  “A Better War” shows yet again the importance of the top leader.  Everything flows from him.  He sets the direction and tone.  He decides on strategic direction and what is important.  Only he and he alone can steer the ship in a new direction.  Abrams had a different philosophy on how to manage the conflict and changed the direction of the ship immediately.  And he got results.  I love the quote “The tactics changed within 15 minutes of Abrams’ taking command.”  That says it all. 
  
  
• Other Leaders are Key Too.  While the top leader sets direction, it’s the leaders on the ground that make things happen.  A poor leader renders everyone below him or her ineffective no matter how good top leadership is.  The Southern army suffered greatly from incompetent leadership at the middle and high levels.
  
  
• Simple Strategy Guides Action.  The most powerful ideas are the simplest ones.  Abrams boiled his strategy down to a few simple ideas – “Protect the population” and “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” [referring to cutting the “logistics nose” of the enemy].  These simple ideas provided clarity and guided action. 
  
  
• Repeat Repeat Repeat.  Leaders set the direction, but one word or one meeting is rarely enough to get others sharing your vision and moving with you.  Abrams never missed an opportunity to repeat his message. 
  

• Straight Talk.  Abrams insisted that his staff deliver all news in a straight manner – the complete truth and no sugar-coating or downplaying of bad news.  This allowed him a clear-eyed view of the situation, vital to making proper decisions.

I'd like to learn more about the leadership and viewpoints of the Northern side of the conflict.

Charvey, Film Critic

Back in February I posted a review of the romantic comedy "Passport to Love."  Much to my surprise, I recently discovered that the film's promoters have listed my lil' ole review on their official site.  Check it out, below.  Roger Ebert, move over!!

"Passport to Love" will start playing on October 9 on a limited basis in Orange County, San Jose, Dallas, Houston and Atlanta [thanks commenters BuuNghi and Debra]. 

Book Review: "Joker One"

I just finished reading "Joker One: A Marine Platoon's Story of Courage, Leadership and Brotherhood" by Donovan Campbell.  It's excellent.

Campbell was a Marine Lieutenant in his first combat deployment as an infantry leader in Ramadi, Iraq in the spring and summer of 2004.  The insurgency was beginning to pick up steam at this time.  Campbell and his men patrol the squalid city seething with insurgents and try to do what good they can.  He realizes, though, that rather than of heroics the best he can do is achieve his missions and bring his men back alive.  But even that objective proves elusive -- his Company ends up taking a casualty rate higher than any Marine or Army unit since Vietnam.

The book chronicles not only the Marines' fight against Ramadi insurgents in captivating detail (I could smell the smoke, sweat and grit) but also Campbell's journey from fresh lieutenant to combat leader.  There are powerful and timeless leadership lessons in here.  Among my favorite passages, below.

On the importance of doing small, difficult things
right again and again:

"I had thought that the key to earning my men's respect was to demonstrate excellent tactical judgment in combat, a strong set of individual skills...and a general willingness to make large, spectacular sacrifices....

I could not have been more wrong.  Being a good leader and being a hero, I was beginning realize, were not at all the same thing.  For the young lieutenant, much more difficult than thirty second acts of courage, and ultimately much more telling, are the small, quiet, almost unnoticeable acts of service that he must perform day in and day out if he wants to appropriately ensure the welfare of his men."

On the importance of never asking your men to do something you yourself won't do:

"Marines will only really listen to you if you have suffered alongside them, and if you want any credibility as a leader, you not only have to bear the same burdens as they, but you also have to try, try to your utmost ability and every single day, to transfer those burdens from their shoulders onto yours."

And, ultimately, on how the most important emotion of a leader is love:

"Love was joy at the growth of my men, even when it diminished my own authority.  It was giving credit for our successes to the team while assuming all the responsibility for our failures on myself.  It was constantly teaching my men, sharing everything with them until I had nothing left to give, with the expectation and hope that they would become greater than me.  It was making myself less so that they might become more."

This is not a political book.  Campbell does not express his opinions about the wisdom of invading Iraq.  He writes simply as a soldier on a mission who does the best he can to achieve the objective and take care of his men.  The action often is riveting, and the leadership lessons timeless.

Click here to visit the "Joker-One" official website.

Film Review: "Passport to Love"

I saw a hilarious, sweet and a little sad film last night, Passport to Love, aka Chuyện Tình Xa Xứ.  The writer and director is a Vietnamese-American named Victor Vu.  The film was in Vietnamese with English subtitles, and takes place in the present day Saigon and Southern California. 

The central characters are Khang, a spoiled playboy son of a business tycoon, and Hieu, the studious and serious devoted son.  Khang and Hieu go to SoCal to study and the experience changes both.  Khang falls in love with the sexy Viet-American policewoman when she saves his life, then books him for DUI.  His father cuts off his funding and he gets a menial job to support himself and win the policewoman's respect.  Khang is hysterical, always mugging for the camera and stealing scenes with his over-the-top shennanigans.

Meanwhile, Hieu pines for the angelic, too-perfect fiancee he left back in Saigon.  Things get complicated when he falls for the beautiful daughter of his mother's friend when he is hired to tutor her in Vietnamese.  He agonizes -- who to choose? 

The film is well done and contains several scenes that had me doubled-over in laughter.  One great one is when Hieu and Khang move into a cheap room in a bible-thumper's boarding house and the proprietor is lecturing them on the rules of the house.  Fantastic.

I highly recommend this film.  Although some characters are a bit underdeveloped, it is thought-provoking in its exploration of the romantic tangles we sometimes find ourselves in, as well as exploring some themes of maintaining ethnic identity in a new country.  Vu frames his shots artfully and it's frequently laugh-out-loud funny.  Charvey gives two thumbs up!

Good Books Regarding Vietnam

After visiting Vietnam for the first time over three years ago I've read many books about Vietnam, mostly focusing on the history in Vietnam since 1945.  The best are:

• "A Bright Shining Lie: John Paul Vann and America in Vietnam" by Neil Sheehan.  An absolutely outstanding non-fiction account of American involvement in Vietnam.  It follows John Paul Vann, an early US Army adviser to the South, through his nearly 10 years in Vietnam.  Vann was an early critic of US and Southern tactics and strategy.  It reads like a novel, with extraordinarily deft prose.  This book won Sheehan the Pulitzer Prize in 1989.
• "When Heaven and Earth Changed Places" by Le Ly Hayslip.  This is the autobiography of a woman caught in the middle of the conflict, quite literally, in the mid-section of Vietnam near Da Nang.  She recounts in harrowing detail she and her family's fight for survival over 20 years of conflict.  A fabulous book written from a perspective I had never heard from before.
• "The Things They Carried" by Tim O'Brien.   This book is a mix between fiction and non-fiction autobiography.  O'Brien draws on his experience as a soldier in Vietnam to write stories that illustrate with great power the realities and feelings of his characters.  The imagery and cadence is riveting and poetic.  For example:

"They carried all the emotional baggage of men who might die. Grief, terror, love, longing--these were intangibles, but the intangibles had their own mass and specific gravity, they had tangible weight. They carried shameful memories. They carried the common secret of cowardice.... Men killed, and died, because they were embarrassed not to."

• "Fields of Fire" by James Webb.  Another work of fiction, but drawn on real experiences.  Webb was a young Marine officer in Vietnam and spins a tale of men at war in a conflict that seems pointless and crazy.  Webb spends a lot of time developing his characters, and action unfolds against the backdrop of the color he as given us -- people react to situations and each other according to their personalities.  It's a powerful drama.  Tom Wolfe gave it high praise when he said   “In my opinion, the finest of the Vietnam novels.”  An interesting side note is that Webb was Secretary of the Navy in the Reagan Administration.  Last fall he was elected to the US Senate from Virginia.
• "Street Without Joy: The French Debacle in Indochina" by Bernard Fall.  Written shortly after the fall of Dien Bien Phu in 1954, Fall recounts French frustrations and ultimate defeat in Vietnam in the "First Indochina War."  Fall was a French journalist and academic and often traveled with the troops.  I found the book a bit dull and poorly written, but the historical context is fascinating.  The French experience was eerily prescient of the American one in the "Second Indochina War" 10 years later.  Bernard Fall ultimately was killed by a land mine while accompanying American troops on patrol in 1967.
• "The Quiet American" by Graham Greene.  A classic work of fiction also written in the 1950s.  This is the first and only book I've read by Graham Greene.  His worldview can be quite dark at times, but I found the book ultimately uplifting.  Greene has a lot of things to say about life and the meaning we draw from it.

Conspicuously absent from this list are books written from the Vietnamese soldier's perspective.  I currently have on my nightstand "The Sorrow of War" by Bao Ninh.  It is another fictional account, but written by drawing on Ninh's personal experiences as a Northern soldier during the conflict.

I'd love to hear if My Public has read other books they can recommend about Vietnam and its history.  I'm particularly interested in a book that details Vietnam's history prior to 1945, including the dynasties, history with China and beginning of French involvement.