Kontum: The Battle to Save South Vietnam

Acknowledgments

Acknowledgments Special thanks go to Lieutenant Colonel (Ret.) John G. Heslin, who launched his Battle of Kontum Web site (http://www .thebattleofkontum.com) on the 30th anniversary of the start of the Easter Offensive. Many of the people I interviewed found me through this Web site, and it serves as a continuing, growing collection of information and memories about the battle. His own book Reflections from the Web will be a permanent record of individual postings on his Web site. Dale Andradé’s Trial by Fire: The 1972 Easter Offensive, America ’s Last Vietnam Battle is the first account of the Easter Offensive throughout Vietnam; it and the newer version, America’s Last Vietnam Battle: Halting Hanoi’s 1972 Easter Offensive, are still the best accounts of the offensive. Andradé motivated me to write my own account by saying, “The advisers have not really told their own story.” At the time, marine colonel G. H. Turley’s The Easter Offensive : The Last American Advisors [sic], Vietnam, 1972 was probably the only published book written by a former adviser. Dale Andradé also made helpful suggestions for my own research. I also owe thanks to Neil Sheehan, author of A Bright Shining Lie: John Paul Vann and America in Vietnam, who donated more than 250 boxes of his own research materials and collected information to the Library of Congress. Using these materials, I was able to listen to hours of his recorded interviews with two of the most important participants in the battle, Brigadier General John G. Hill and Colonel R. B. Rhotenberry—who died before I was able to interview them—and to read or hear descriptions by others who were speaking while their memories of the battle were still fresh. Maps prepared during or immediately after the battle by Colonel Rhotenberry and Colonel Phillip Kaplan as well as other valuable documents given to Sheehan were available to copy at the Library of Congress. Merle Pribbenow gave me English translations of important 270 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS North Vietnamese accounts of the battle. They provided information on which North Vietnamese army units participated in various attacks and an interesting Communist perspective on the battle. Staff members at the following repositories were knowledgeable and especially helpful: Modern Military Records of the National Archives at Archives II; US Army Center of Military History; US Army Heritage and Education Center; Library of Congress; Library of the US Army Command and General Staff College; US Marine Corps Historical Center; and US Air Force Historical Research Agency. Some of the most important and interesting parts of this book came from interviews with 35 men. They gave their own firsthand accounts (most to me, but a few to Sheehan) and in many cases lent me photos, maps, and documents to copy and use. I thank all these men, whether still living or now deceased: Ly Tong Ba, James N. Barker, James W. “Bill” Bricker, James M. Cloninger, William A. Duck, Bart J. Engram, John R. Finch, Stanislaus J. Fuesel, Richard C. Gudat, Giap Phuc Hai, Raymond W. Hall, John G. Heslin, John G. Hill, Richard S. Ivars, Stephen James, Phillip Kaplan, Martin S. Kleiner, Wade B. Lovings, James R. McClellan, Hugh J. McInnish Jr., David M. Millard, Reed C. Mulkey, William B. Page, John E. “Jed” Peters, John L. Plaster, R. M. Rhotenberry, Christopher E. Scudder, James E. Stein, Lowell W. Stevens, Brian Sweeney, John O. Truby, Stephen M. Truhan, James T. Vaughan, Cao Van Vien, and George E. Wear. (Complete information about the interviews can be found in the notes and the bibliography.) ...