Phillip! Good grief. Kissinger was an evil warmongering criminal, as was Nixon. So says this liberal bastard. :)~

I do want to read your book. I really dig tales of Vietnam, and I really can't identify why. I got a copy of Tree of Smoke recently; did you like that one?

... and I just BET you'd like to "lay the wood" to Jane Fonda!!

Natalie
I knew I could count on you. Can I use your reply to prove to my wife that there really are liberal bastards?

Evil warmongering criminal? Yes, the old EWC charge. Even they have mothers.

The EWC and his pal, Waterboard, er, Watergate Nixon, got us out of war that the wimpish liberal presidents had gotten us into but didn't know how to win. "How many do you think we could kill before they get really really mad at us?" was not a good strategy.
I am not a fan of Tree of Smoke. Great writer, but the book seems to be an overly long story of nothing. Not sure why it was so popular. Lots of great books about Vietnam out there.

I would prefer laying the wood to someone a bit more intelligent. Say, a rubber blow-up doll. Read Jane Fonda's War and then tell me this was a smart woman. Both dope and dupe. I'm not sure which is worse.

Thanks for writing.

PEJ
Perhaps it was a poor choice of words for a mature gentleman of my age and wisdom. But laying the spaghetti to her doesn't seem as literary however literal it might be. Thanks for asking.

Here's a little something that I found today! Liberals and atheists are smarter!

C'mon PEJ - Kissinger was a creepy, foreign-government-toppling madman who viewed the world as his own personal game of Risk.

Hanoi Jane's mostly okay in my book because of her contributions to mainstream feminism.

What's your opinion of JFK?

Natalie
I'll treat you as an adult. You obviously know very little about Kissinger's accomplishments. I'm not talking about whether he's a nice guy or not. He is a brilliant statesman. Did a lot for this country.

Your view of Fonda is unfortunately typical of the generation you represent--all about "me." I cannot think of a single thing she did that would benefit women. Have you even read her own books? She is a parasite on the American scene. She makes women look like tits and ass and no brains. She was used horribly by men all her life. What is it you admire about her? That she got rich? She was rich to start with. That she got famous? That she made exercise videos? That she married Ted Turner? And what, pray tell, is mainstream feminism? The feminism of the sixties was obviously invented by a man who had the brilliant idea of convincing women that sex, drinking, swearing, looking sloppy were the marks of a 'free woman.' Thereby earning the admiration of almost all young horny guys. We enjoyed it immensely. So what is 'mainstream' feminism?

And don't judge Kissinger by what the Nixon haters and the New York Times says about him. You're smarter than that.

PEJ

As to liberals and atheists, I'm a Conservative Christian Mensan so I wouldn't know. I can say that most folks in Mensa are pretty well dopes and losers (in the sociological sense, not a value sense). The people who would worry me would be the people who believe that survey means anything at all about anything. Truly the losers of this world in all senses.

The feminism of the sixties was obviously invented by a man who had the brilliant idea of convincing women that sex, drinking, swearing, looking sloppy were the marks of a 'free woman.'

Now where did you get that idea? Plus, I don't see what's intrinsically wrong about women enjoying sex, booze, and clothing that doesn't restrict movement. We're entitled to the pleasures of life too.

When I say "mainstream" feminism, I'm referring to organizations such as NOW (whom I actually don't even support), V-Day, etc. There are plenty of currents within feminism that are more radicalized, but Jane's played it pretty safe. She's not on my list of heroines by any stretch, but her support of awareness of violence against women, the awful situation of the hundreds of murders of young women in Ciudad Juarez, etc. certainly need their spokespeople.

I don't read the Times myself. :) I'm wary of their habit of declaring national "trends" after interviewing just a handful of privileged people who provide quotes in support of whatever thesis some editor had that day.

Glad you don't support NOW. They're frauds. My wife and I have tried to work with them on rape issues for years. They're worthless hypocrites. Wasn't aware of Jane's work on violence against women. Deb and I have worked in that field for the past ten years and I guess we've missed her big help.
So I don't get the 'mainstream' feminism that you're talking about Jane helping. Here's an awful truth. She supported the communists in Vietnam and helped consign 10 million women in the South to conditions so terrible that they faced rape and death to escape by the hundreds of thousands. That's not my opinion. It's history. Women who support idiots like that (and history's ogres like Mao and Che) deserve to be treated as dopes.
Think for yourself, Natalie. Don't rely on the crap they have taught in school the past thirty or so years.
Yep, women can like sex, drinking and loose clothes all they want. I prefer my wife and daughter a bit more selective and modest on all counts. And being so while working for rape victims and starting non-profits for educating young rape victims who have no access to medical and legal help. And I don't mean volunteering on the phone lines. I'm talking demonstrating at football games, starting organizations, and spending most of their spare time. Proud of them both. The point is, Natalie, that you shouldn't confuse liberalism with good deeds and intent, and conservatism with kitchen-bound housewives.

Our paths might have crossed. When did you fly w Air America.

Arrived in Udorn January '68, flew H-34s in Laos until Dec '69.

PEJ

Just discovered your blog and agree with much of which you write.
I was a SEA specialist in the Army ('62-'82) and spent approximately seven years in SEA. I was a consumer of Air America's services '63 -'64 when they were still operating out of Vientiane.
Sounds as if you have written some fictionalized versions of your experiences over in SEA. After reading Graham Greene's "The Quiet American" a few years ago, I've been tempted to take a stab at a short novel based on some of my experiences. I'd like to read some of your books to see how you did it. Do you recommend I read them in any particular order?
Thanks

The first of the SEA/CIA novels is Nam-A-Rama. Then Goodbye Mexico.
The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Vietnam War (my only non-fiction so far) was just published in February.

I keep in touch with a number of 'customers' these days. You might know some of them. Fred Cunningham was at 118 and 118A. Have you read Mr. Pop? or Tragedy in Paradise? Both good books. Reported to Be Alive, is good. And of course The Ravens, which was written about times after you were there.
Keep in touch.
PEJ

Didn't know them.
We were highly compartmentalized in my day and discouraged from maintaining our contacts. I have one who is still a good friend but we have never compared notes about our specific activities. I ran into AF Gen Richard Secord (your boss?) about 10 years ago who I believe was the one who moved the project base from Vientiane to Udorn, but I'm not sure what year that was. Even though it's been declassified, he's still very closed mouth about it.

Saw your name in the new book by the Vietnamese "fighter pilot". I'm alive and well doing some farming in South Dakota. Drop me an email.

Gordy Williamson

Gordy!
Is this the Gordy of God's gift to Naval Aviation? The farming in South Dakota doesn't seem to fit the Gordy I'm thinking of.
I too am alive and living in the Seattle area. Not farming at the moment. Working on some screenplays and new books. One of my books will finally hit the screen in 2012. It's about damn time.
cheers
PEJ

Yes that God. I wrangled my way into fighters and flew about 300 missions off the Constellation. You probably saw my contrails, and I your dust trails.
Add me as a friend on Facebook and I will fill you in. Was Zappardino a character in your books? Toman?

GW

Bitter much? I've got to give you credit for the way you name drop mensa to prove your smarts and then act like that's not what you're doing by claiming it's a stupid organization. Well played.

As to us "liberal bastards" (which seems to mean anyone that thinks Nixon wasn't exactly the high water mark of American leadership) reading your book and commenting, no thanks. I find nationalist jingoism as delusional as pacifism and have seen enough political talk shows to know the difference between a reasonable person wanting an intelligent discussion and a devoted ideologue trying to bait people.

All that said, thanks for the review of Tree of Smoke. You spared me a lot of wasted time reading another one of those endless navel-gazing post-modern snoozers. I'll take a crack at Matterhorn instead, which seems to be considered a much better Vietnam novel.

Glad I could help, Conor. Of course I didn't like Matterhorn either but seeing as how the fellow was a Marine and won the Navy Cross, he's earned the right to write about the war as he saw it. As to the "Mensan,"-- crap, you've seen right through me. Just my insecurity peeping through I guess, although the very lovely Natalie had deftly played the "liberals are smarter" card and I was swinging wildly to land a punch.
The only advice I might offer is to quit watching political talk shows. Diogenes' mission was a piece of cake compared to finding a reasonable man debating politics. And I'm afraid I'm just that devoted ideologue you disdain.
As to "bitter." I guess so. You liberal bastards have the country in such a peachy position that I admit to waking up cranky every once in a while.
"I yam what I yam" Popeye
PEJ

Hi Philip. I have a question about something you wrote in The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Vietnam War. I was recently (just last week) debating a leftist on a message board on the subject of the Vietnam war (he's a proponent of the traditional Karnow/Cronkite/NYT narrative) and the subject of Diem's anti-Buddhist prejudice and persecution came up. Using your book as a major source, I contested the traditional claim that Diem was anti-Buddhist in some overall sense, and not primarily hostile to the radicalized groups actively opposing him and shilling for the North.

In one paragraph (page 47) you mention that South Vietnam was "not a strictly Buddhist country," and provide numbers of "probably no more than three to four million." In doing some research online, I haven't found any estimates of the Buddhist population below 80% of all religions in the country, and many estimates are around 85%, with Confucianism, Taoism, Christianity, and a few other smaller sects well below Buddhism in rates of participation.

Could you proved a reference, or some ideas for research of my own regarding your unusually low numbers for the relative presence of Buddhism in the South Vietnam of the Vietnam war era? I'd like to be able to get back to my leftist interlocutor and clarify that claim. Based on some of the cursory research I did then, I defended it as best I could given some theoretical assumptions I was able to make based on descriptions of the mix and cultural blending of various religious schools of thought in Vietnam, but your unusually low numbers, given standard estimates, beg for some clarification.

Believe me, I've long been aware that probably well over 90% of everything I was ever taught to believe, or think in school textbooks or in the MSM (I was born in 1959) about the Vietnam war is (ideological and/or factual) hokum, but in looking at some serious websites about Vietnam as a country, sites that did not appear to have any political interests, I still could not find any discussions of Vietnamese religion that did not place Buddhism as the dominant religion of the country with adherence at 80% and above levels relative to other religions.

Any help you could provide would be very much appreciated.


Loran

I had a professor who falsely said Republicans started Vietnam War, which I corrected her and then she said Republicans in congress force Johnson to escalate the war. Which, Republicans did not control the House or Senate then.

I think it is terrible that most conservatives don't become professors. Many liberal professors of mine stated things biased against conservatives that were fact.

Natalie. What about Robert McNamara? I know he was a Republican too, but he got appointed by Kennedy. Kissinger wasn't a war criminal. Fonda is a crappy actress, and so anti-military calling them killing machines without any respect towards them.

I appreciate your service Mr. Jennings, thank you so much for politically incorrect guide to the Vietnam war. I did have a question that the book did not cover. Is there a specific reason why Operation Hump (November 8th 1965)was made into a song by Kris Kristofferson and Big and Rich? Did liberals take over that or is it a true tribute. I ask out of ignorance only, was there something that made THIS particular battle and date worse than the others? Please let me know if you can and thank you for your service and the service of your friends.

Jason, wow, this popped up out of the blue. I actually have no idea about Operation Hump.

I truly appreciate your thanks. The truth is that it was a great honor to serve in the Marine Corps and fight for the South Vietnamese freedom. A lasting shame that we ran out on them after we had beaten the North Vietnamese in 1973.
cheers
PEJ

Cheers sir, and thank YOU and your fellow Marines, while I could not serve due to severe asthma Semper Fi to you and all of your friends.