John Paul Vann
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John Paul Vann (July 2, 1924 – June 9, 1972) was a Lieutenant Colonel in the United States Army, later retired, who became well-known for his role in the Vietnam War.
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[edit] Biography
Vann was born in Norfolk, Virginia, and grew up in near-poverty. Through the patronage of a wealthy member of his church he was able to attend boarding school at a junior college. With the onset of World War II, Vann sought to become a pilot. In 1943, at the age of 18, he earned a degree and managed to enlist in the Army Air Corps. Vann underwent pilot training, then transferred to navigation school, and graduated as a second lieutenant in 1945. The war ended before he could see action, however. He married Mary Jane Allen at the end of that year; they would go on to have five children together.
When the Air Corps broke away from the Army in 1947 to form the separate Air Force, Vann chose to remain in the Army and transferred to the infantry. He was assigned to Korea, and then Japan, as a logistics officer. When the Korean War began in June 1950, Vann coordinated the transportation of his 25th Infantry Division to Korea. Vann joined his unit, which was placed on the critical Pusan Perimeter until the amphibious Inchon landing relieved the beleaguered forces. In late 1950, in the wake of China's entrance into the war and the retreat of allied forces, now-Captain Vann was given his first command, a Ranger company. He led the unit on reconnaissance missions behind enemy lines for three months, before a serious illness in one of his children resulted in his transfer back to the US.
In 1954 Vann joined the 16th Infantry Regiment in Schweinfurt, Germany, becoming the head of the regiment's Heavy Mortar Company. In 1955 he was promoted to Major and transferred to Headquarters US Army Europe at Heidelberg where he returned to logistics work. In 1957 Vann returned to the US to attend the Command and General Staff College, a requirement for promotion to Lieutenant Colonel, and in 1961 Vann was promoted.
Vann was assigned to South Vietnam in 1962 as an advisor to Col. Huynh Van Cao, commander of the ARVN 7th Division. In the thick of the anti-guerrilla war against the Viet Cong, Vann became cognizant of the ineptness with which the war was being prosecuted, in particular the disastrous Battle of Ap Bac. Vann, directing the battle from a spotter plane overhead, earned the Distinguished Flying Cross for his bravery in taking enemy fire. He attempted to draw public attention to the problems, through press contacts such as New York Times reporter David Halberstam, focusing much of his ire on the US commander in the country, MACV chief Gen. Paul D. Harkins. Vann was forced from his advisor position in March 1963 and left the Army within a few months.
Vann returned to Vietnam in March 1965 as an official of the Agency for International Development (AID). He then was assigned as the senior American advisor in II Corps Military Region, which put him in charge of all United States personnel in his region, where he advised the ARVN Commander to the region. He was acting in that capacity when killed, immediately after the battle for Kontum.
He was buried on June 16, 1972 in Section 11 of Arlington National Cemetery. His funeral was attended by such notables as Maj. Gen. Edward Lansdale, Lt. Col. Lucien Conein, Senator Edward Kennedy, and Daniel Ellsberg.
On June 18, 1972, President Richard Nixon posthumously awarded Vann the Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian citation, for his 10 years of service as a top American in South Vietnam. Vann was also awarded (posthumously) the Distinguished Service Cross for service from April 23 & April 24, 1972, ineligible for the Medal of Honor due to his status as a civilian, and he was the only civilian to be awarded a DSC in Vietnam.
Journalist Neil Sheehan wrote a Pulitzer Prize-winning Vietnam history and biography of Vann, A Bright Shining Lie: John Paul Vann and America in Vietnam.
[edit] Quotes
- "It was a miserable damn performance." (speaking of the Battle of Ap Bac)
- "If it were not for the fact that Vietnam is but a pawn in the larger East-West confrontation, and that our presence here is essential to deny the resources of this area to Communist China, then it would be damned hard to justify our support of the existing government."
- "This is a political war and it calls for discrimination in killing. The best weapon for killing would be a knife, but I'm afraid we can't do it that way. The worst is an airplane. The next worst is artillery. Barring a knife, the best is a rifle - you know who you're killing."
- "We were not in Vietnam for 10 years, but for one year 10 times."
[edit] Sources
- Sheehan, Neil (1988). A Bright Shining Lie: John Paul Vann and America in Vietnam.
