\nDear Classmates:<\/p>\n
My first novel – “The Deadliest Weapon” is now Almost all of the My initial motivation to write this story was To tell the story I intertwined Most of the American side of this saga When a story of war is told, part of that story is about those I was part of intelligence briefings to Vietnam was our first war on which the media had an instantaneous I hope “The Deadliest Weapon” properly represents the dedicated
\npublished. My goal was to write a military techno thriller in the Tom Clancy
\nstyle. Some of the first readers of my book sensed the story sounded real. For
\nthe most part it is real – fiction based on historical <\/span>fact. Along with others I was
\nfortunate to receive great editing remarks from Jack Grubbs and Tom Anthony,
\nboth successful authors, which helped me<\/span>
\nimprove the content and flow of the story. Helen did a great job of editing the
\nbook many times<\/span>. <\/p>\n
\nevents in the story associated with the Army Security Agency (ASA) actually
\nhappened as part of our operations in the Radio Research (RR) units I commanded
\nin Vietnam (RR was supposed to hide the fact from the enemy that ASA units
\noperated in Vietnam by disguising us as Signal Corps – the only ones fooled were
\nour own guys). The Infantry patrols in the story were a combination of stories
\ntold to me by friends who served in Special Forces and Long Range Patrols.
\n Frank Lambert was nice enough to review this part of the story for
\nauthenticity. I was never actually certain how the Viet Cong (VC) and North
\nVietnam Army (NVA) personally reacted to our successes but what I read in
\ncaptured documents and what I heard from interrogations gave me a pretty good
\npicture of what was going on within their ranks. Finally, Gen. <\/span>Barry McCaffrey,
\nLTG Buster Hagenbeck, LTG Ted Stroup and Jim Price, the voice of the Detroit
\nTigers<\/span> were<\/span> very gracious in their<\/span> words of praise for the book which are
\nwritten on the back cover. <\/p>\n
\nto applaud the actions of the men in ASA, whose story has never been told. Also
\nto honor the sacrifices of the American fighting forces both in Vietnam and
\nsubsequently. The public still is not truly aware of the tremendous sacrifices
\nthey and their families give executing the orders of their country.
\n Interestingly, most of them do not think of it as a sacrifice but a call of
\nduty to serve. I am eternally grateful that we have such men and women who year
\nafter year allow us to live the wonderful lives we live. I told their story
\nusing a subject with which I am familiar and wrapped it in a good old fashioned
\nthriller that I hope all will enjoy. <\/p>\n
\nseveral themes. The most important theme is the story itself which details the
\nemergence of electronic intelligence (ELINT) as an important intelligence source
\nsupporting our combat forces. The deadly cat and mouse intelligence war within a
\nwar between an American Captain and a VC Major weaves the threads ultimately
\nleading up to the TET offensive. <\/p>\n
\nhappened. The bright young men who operated our intelligence gathering
\nequipment were out there on the front lines with our combat units. They set up
\ntheir equipment anywhere they could get a good signal; Special Forces Camps on
\nthe border of Cambodia, Fire Support Bases, Infantry Base Camps, and other sites
\nclose to the Area of Operation of the enemy. The enemy side of the story is
\nfiction but since it is based upon good intelligence it very well could have
\nhappened this way. We did have our sights on a certain VC intelligence officer
\nwho our Division G-2 wanted to capture. At one point I actually had an air
\nmobile infantry company assigned to this mission ready to pounce on him at a
\nmoment’s notice. Using our electronic intelligence gathering information we had
\nhim spotted on several occasions but when we moved in to capture him the cunning
\nbastard was gone. My VC Major Pham is based on this formidable adversary. The
\nexcellence and high morale of our ASA troops is a major part of this saga and
\ndemonstrates not only their competence but the competence of all our military
\nforces. <\/p>\n
\nwho start wars and their influence on them. Part of a politician’s hand in
\nnegotiating war or peace agreements is the war card. If it is ever to be played
\nit should be the last card shown. It should be the ultimate negotiating tool
\nsignifying that a peaceful settlement has failed. It should not be dealt
\nlightly since resorting to that card results in death. Once that card is dealt
\nthe military should be allowed to do their job to the best of their ability
\nwithout the interference of politicians. Over and over again during the Vietnam
\nconflict, politicians who may have never been in the combat line of peril were
\nmaking unintelligent rules of engagement and combat decisions they had no
\ntraining to make. <\/p>\n
\nWestmoreland and Abrams and inevitably the conversation turned to the conduct of
\nthe war. Both were visibly distressed by the meddling of politicians and the
\nlayers of difficulty they placed on the ground commanders. I recall in one such
\nbriefing, with only about twelve people present, the MACV Commander in a
\ndistressed tone stated that this war could be over in six months if the
\npoliticians would leave the conduct of the war up to those who are best
\nqualified to do so – the military. Unfortunately, they almost never do. One
\nwould think we would learn from our mistakes, but again, we almost never do. <\/p>\n
\nimpact. The public was privy to every action as they watched the Vietnam War
\nunfold on TV. This phenomena provided the media a major stake in the outcome of
\nthe war. I witnessed firsthand how the media colored their reporting of the
\nVietnam War and in many cases wrote their stories to fit their agenda. Their
\nbiased reporting hurt the war effort. Walter Cronkite, the dean of American
\njournalists, touring Vietnam after TET was given several military briefings
\n detailing the outcome of TET. What Cronkite heard was not what he reported to
\nthe American people in his news program after he returned to the U.S. He
\nreported the war was lost and we needed to get out of Vietnam. He was wrong.
\n The TET offensive was a major loss to the enemy and it was a major victory for
\nour military. Dissidents joined with the media to become a formidable anti-war
\ncoalition. This group combined with a mixture of celebrities was enough to
\nconvince many Americans that the war was lost. In many ways it demoralized our
\nown troops when they watched the television images of demonstrators chanting
\nanti-war slogans. The efforts of those dissidents did not go unnoticed by the
\nenemy. We captured flyers after TET written by the NVA and VC to their field
\nforces imploring them to not give up; that American celebrities were on their
\nside and would help them win the war. This combined group did a grave
\ndisservice to our country and the American Military had to battle them as much
\nas the enemy throughout this crisis. How these negative efforts affected the
\nmilitary is part of my story. The negativity surrounding that war still exists
\ntoday. In a recent article the press refers to the Vietnam War as modern
\nAmerica’s most controversial war while reporting a recent gathering of Vietnam
\nVets. <\/p>\n
\nAmerican fighting men (now men and women), who despite the cards being stacked
\nagainst them by their own, fought gallantly to defeat the VC and NVA. And
\ndefeat them they did. This is my message and one that needs to be reiterated
\nover and over until the negativity toward that time is purged. We should
\ncontinue to thank God for each young person who fought gallantly in Vietnam and
\nthank God for the dedicated men and women who continue to serve. We are all
\nbetter off for their efforts. I am convinced that the reason so many Vietnam
\nVets have never recovered from that war is the sense of abandonment they felt
\nfrom the politicians, the dissidents, the many celebrities, and the negative
\npress that turned against them. Hopefully we will not forget that! <\/p>\n