That is the title of Michael Maclear’s documentary published in 1981.The book is an excellent, comprehensive historical review of the war. It is one that I used along with over thirty other references as background for my historical narrative RECALL published late last year.
I highly recommend Maclear’s book for history buffs. The in-depth documentary is objective and does not apportion blame or praise. It is full of facts and interviews with all the major players.
His interviews with the New Zealand AP reporter, Peter Arnett, who was present in Vietnam from 1962 to 1975, left a lasting impression with me, especially Arnett’s account of North Vietnam’s troop arrival in Saigon after the South’s surrender. Also, I learned things I didn’t know from reading other documentaries. Most importantly, I learned about some troubling, possibly treasonous activity by LBJ’s administration concerning telegraphing the next day’s bombing run targets in North Vietnam before LBJ called a halt to the bombing in 1968.
In fact, after attending two Vietnam vet functions over the recent Veteran Day events, I discovered many other vets are still unaware of some despicable political foul play that occurred during LBJ’s administration. The Pulitzer prize reporter, Arnett, exposed this perfidy in his CBS Canadian documentary 1980 TV series by the same name, THE TEN THOUSAND DAY WAR-VIETNAM.
I called attention to this deplorable disclosure in the epilogue of my historical narrative, RECALL. I excerpt the passage below for you to assess whether this action aided and abetted the enemy. I would be interested in your comments, if civil and objective.
The most egregious example of LBJ’s ignominious behavior and duplicity came to light in 1980 almost twenty years after the bombing of North Vietnam commenced. War correspondent, Peter Arnett of CBS interviewed LBJ’s former Secretary of State Dean Rusk in a Canadian documentary, The Ten Thousand Day War.
Rusk confessed that he and Defense Secretary Robert McNamara provided the North Vietnam government the list of targets the U.S. planned to bomb the next day. Our detailed aerial attack plans were relayed through the Swiss Embassy in DC to their Swiss Embassy in Hanoi. Rusk attempted to justify this policy by saying the National Security Council wanted to demonstrate to North Vietnam that America could strike at will, but wanted to avoid killing innocent people causing collateral damage. A utopian goal on paper, but untenable, impractical, and not well thought- through for real life solutions. Typical of DC’s naïve and fuzzy thinking.
There are no noble wars, just noble warriors. LBJ’s administration’s flawed policy vainly attempted to conduct a “noble” war, one at great risk of putting our pilots in harm’s way. The reckless nature of telegraphing of our bombing raids ignored the peril to our flyers, the “noble warriors.” LBJ once bragged our air force could not bomb an outhouse without his approval. On another occasion, he stated wars were too important to leave decisions with generals. That is the essence of astounding conceit and arrogance.
Those pompous statements should leave no doubt LBJ was onboard with this contemptible “tip off” policy instituted by Rusk and McNamara. Many principled critics would consider it an act of treason. If not, they should. Where was the outrage? MIA? Like the fate many pilots suffered as a consequence of this deceitful policy?
Our pilots soon suspected the enemy had foreknowledge of their objectives, facing heavily fortified ground fire upon arrival at their classified missions’ targets in North Vietnam. Not without reason, the enemy possessed inside information. It was not an uncanny coincidence. North Vietnamese intelligence was not that good.
The telegraphing of proposed classified bombing missions represented a reprehensible betrayal of our military by LBJ’s administration, an irresponsible, despicable perfidy, if not treason.
There is no final reckoning of how much this outrageous folly contributed to our loss of aircraft and crews. Or, how many POWs or MIAs resulted from the cause/effect of the betrayal of classified information. Or, how much the LBJ administration’s deceit contributed to the following statistics. Documents verify that ten percent of Vietnam War mortalities were associated with aircraft fatalities.
This information for some reason has remained buried. Where is the outrage?
This information is shocking – our warriors need support not deceit.
Pete- This revelation by premier war correspondent, Peter Arnett, was not well publicized then and remains a little known fact. Where was the outrage? I address this shameful incident in my historical narrative, RECALL. I recommend reading it.
I knew about this. Acts of traitors. Despicable. Unforgiving. I’m a God loving man, but McNamara, Johnson, and Rusk should rot in hell. I’m sure glad that you posted this article. Lyndon Johnson was a disgrace.
I was a Ranger, master paratrooper for two Vietnam tours. Wounded twice; in over 30 firefights. Long stories.
Here is something compelling and maybe new to you. The B-52 bombings in South Vietnam were also telegraphed to the Viet Cong the day before. My elite Vietnamese battalion would follow these bombings immediately after, via helicopter assaults. Huge holes in the ground. Never any damage to the enemy. Sometimes ,on the ground ,we would find enemy soldiers bleeding from their ears due to the powerful noise from the bombs. I never could figure out why we didn’t nail them with the powerful bombing raids. The only benefit to the expensive B-52 raids was that we all got water from the bottom of the gigantic holes in the ground.
BTW Peter Arnett accompanied me with my Vietnamese Battalion to Cambodia to find the National Liberation Front, which we did find. Lyndon Johnson didn’t know about it…excursions into Cambodia were forbidden at that time…1965.
Charles- Thanks for sharing! Terrific story. Peter Arnett’s revelations have remained pretty much buried by biased press and media.I’m trying to get the message out re LBJ’s admin’s perfidy in my blogs and in my historical narrative, RECALL. Tell all your friends, esp the vets.
Can you provide the episode of the 10,000 day war that contains the comments by Rusk? It is a 26 episode documentary – a lot to weed through.