Dear Classmates:
My first novel – “The Deadliest Weapon” is now
published. My goal was to write a military techno thriller in the Tom Clancy
style. Some of the first readers of my book sensed the story sounded real. For
the most part it is real – fiction based on historical fact. Along with others I was
fortunate to receive great editing remarks from Jack Grubbs and Tom Anthony,
both successful authors, which helped me
improve the content and flow of the story. Helen did a great job of editing the
book many times.
Almost all of the
events in the story associated with the Army Security Agency (ASA) actually
happened as part of our operations in the Radio Research (RR) units I commanded
in Vietnam (RR was supposed to hide the fact from the enemy that ASA units
operated in Vietnam by disguising us as Signal Corps – the only ones fooled were
our own guys). The Infantry patrols in the story were a combination of stories
told to me by friends who served in Special Forces and Long Range Patrols.
Frank Lambert was nice enough to review this part of the story for
authenticity. I was never actually certain how the Viet Cong (VC) and North
Vietnam Army (NVA) personally reacted to our successes but what I read in
captured documents and what I heard from interrogations gave me a pretty good
picture of what was going on within their ranks. Finally, Gen. Barry McCaffrey,
LTG Buster Hagenbeck, LTG Ted Stroup and Jim Price, the voice of the Detroit
Tigers were very gracious in their words of praise for the book which are
written on the back cover.
My initial motivation to write this story was
to applaud the actions of the men in ASA, whose story has never been told. Also
to honor the sacrifices of the American fighting forces both in Vietnam and
subsequently. The public still is not truly aware of the tremendous sacrifices
they and their families give executing the orders of their country.
Interestingly, most of them do not think of it as a sacrifice but a call of
duty to serve. I am eternally grateful that we have such men and women who year
after year allow us to live the wonderful lives we live. I told their story
using a subject with which I am familiar and wrapped it in a good old fashioned
thriller that I hope all will enjoy.
To tell the story I intertwined
several themes. The most important theme is the story itself which details the
emergence of electronic intelligence (ELINT) as an important intelligence source
supporting our combat forces. The deadly cat and mouse intelligence war within a
war between an American Captain and a VC Major weaves the threads ultimately
leading up to the TET offensive.
Most of the American side of this saga
happened. The bright young men who operated our intelligence gathering
equipment were out there on the front lines with our combat units. They set up
their equipment anywhere they could get a good signal; Special Forces Camps on
the border of Cambodia, Fire Support Bases, Infantry Base Camps, and other sites
close to the Area of Operation of the enemy. The enemy side of the story is
fiction but since it is based upon good intelligence it very well could have
happened this way. We did have our sights on a certain VC intelligence officer
who our Division G-2 wanted to capture. At one point I actually had an air
mobile infantry company assigned to this mission ready to pounce on him at a
moment’s notice. Using our electronic intelligence gathering information we had
him spotted on several occasions but when we moved in to capture him the cunning
bastard was gone. My VC Major Pham is based on this formidable adversary. The
excellence and high morale of our ASA troops is a major part of this saga and
demonstrates not only their competence but the competence of all our military
forces.
When a story of war is told, part of that story is about those
who start wars and their influence on them. Part of a politician’s hand in
negotiating war or peace agreements is the war card. If it is ever to be played
it should be the last card shown. It should be the ultimate negotiating tool
signifying that a peaceful settlement has failed. It should not be dealt
lightly since resorting to that card results in death. Once that card is dealt
the military should be allowed to do their job to the best of their ability
without the interference of politicians. Over and over again during the Vietnam
conflict, politicians who may have never been in the combat line of peril were
making unintelligent rules of engagement and combat decisions they had no
training to make.
I was part of intelligence briefings to
Westmoreland and Abrams and inevitably the conversation turned to the conduct of
the war. Both were visibly distressed by the meddling of politicians and the
layers of difficulty they placed on the ground commanders. I recall in one such
briefing, with only about twelve people present, the MACV Commander in a
distressed tone stated that this war could be over in six months if the
politicians would leave the conduct of the war up to those who are best
qualified to do so – the military. Unfortunately, they almost never do. One
would think we would learn from our mistakes, but again, we almost never do.
Vietnam was our first war on which the media had an instantaneous
impact. The public was privy to every action as they watched the Vietnam War
unfold on TV. This phenomena provided the media a major stake in the outcome of
the war. I witnessed firsthand how the media colored their reporting of the
Vietnam War and in many cases wrote their stories to fit their agenda. Their
biased reporting hurt the war effort. Walter Cronkite, the dean of American
journalists, touring Vietnam after TET was given several military briefings
detailing the outcome of TET. What Cronkite heard was not what he reported to
the American people in his news program after he returned to the U.S. He
reported the war was lost and we needed to get out of Vietnam. He was wrong.
The TET offensive was a major loss to the enemy and it was a major victory for
our military. Dissidents joined with the media to become a formidable anti-war
coalition. This group combined with a mixture of celebrities was enough to
convince many Americans that the war was lost. In many ways it demoralized our
own troops when they watched the television images of demonstrators chanting
anti-war slogans. The efforts of those dissidents did not go unnoticed by the
enemy. We captured flyers after TET written by the NVA and VC to their field
forces imploring them to not give up; that American celebrities were on their
side and would help them win the war. This combined group did a grave
disservice to our country and the American Military had to battle them as much
as the enemy throughout this crisis. How these negative efforts affected the
military is part of my story. The negativity surrounding that war still exists
today. In a recent article the press refers to the Vietnam War as modern
America’s most controversial war while reporting a recent gathering of Vietnam
Vets.
I hope “The Deadliest Weapon” properly represents the dedicated
American fighting men (now men and women), who despite the cards being stacked
against them by their own, fought gallantly to defeat the VC and NVA. And
defeat them they did. This is my message and one that needs to be reiterated
over and over until the negativity toward that time is purged. We should
continue to thank God for each young person who fought gallantly in Vietnam and
thank God for the dedicated men and women who continue to serve. We are all
better off for their efforts. I am convinced that the reason so many Vietnam
Vets have never recovered from that war is the sense of abandonment they felt
from the politicians, the dissidents, the many celebrities, and the negative
press that turned against them. Hopefully we will not forget that!
“The
Deadliest Weapon” is on sale at
amazon.com. A portion of the proceeds from the sale goes to support
the important work of the Disabled American Veterans (DAV). If you choose to
read my story and you enjoy it I would appreciate your recommendation on Amazon.
Best regards,
Ian Carter ‘64