The Devil's Trick: How Canada Fought the Vietnam War

by John Boyko

In time for the 45th anniversary of the fall of Saigon, and in the style of his bestselling book Blood and Daring: How Canada Fought the American Civil War and Forged a Nation, John Boyko brings to light the little-known story of Canada's involvement in the American War in Vietnam.

Through the lens of six remarkable participants in the Vietnam War, some well-known, others obscure, bestselling historian John Boyko recounts Canada's often-overlooked involvement in that conflict as peacemaker, combatant and provider of sanctuary.

When Brigadier General Sherwood Lett arrived in Vietnam over a decade before American troops, he and the Canadians under his command risked their lives trying to enforce an unstable peace while questioning whether they were American lackeys--or handmaidens to a new war. As American battleships steamed across the Pacific, Canadian diplomat Blair Seaborn was meeting secretly in Hanoi with North Vietnam's prime minister; if Seaborn could convince the Americans to accept his roadmap to peace, those ships could be turned around before war began. Claire Culhane worked in a Canadian hospital in Vietnam and then returned home to implore Canadians to stop supporting what she demed an immoral war. Joe Erickson was among 30,000 young Americans who evaded the draft by heading north; Doug Carey was among 20,000 Canadians heading the other way to fight. Rebecca Trinh and her family fled Saigon and joined the waves of desperate Indochinese refugees, thousands of whom forged new lives in Canada.

Through these wide-ranging and fascinating accounts, Boyko exposes what he calls the Devil's wiliest trick: convincing leaders that war is desirable, the public that it's acceptable and combatants that what they are doing and seeing is normal, or at least necessary. In uncovering Canada's side of the story, he reveals the many secret and forgotten ways that Canada not only fought the Vietnam War but was shaped by its lies and consequences.

Genres: History, Canada, Nonfiction, Audiobook, War, Military Fiction, Politics

256 pages, Hardcover

First published April 13, 2021

About the author

My 8th book, The Devil's Trick: How Canada Fought the Vietnam War, will be published by Knopf Penguin Random House in Canada and the US on April 13, 2021. It explores the largely unknown ways in which Canada was involved in the war and changed by it.

Sir John's Echo: The Voice for a Stronger Canada, was released by Dundurn Press in 2017.

Cold Fire: Kennedy's Northern Front, was published by Knopf Penguin Random House in Canada and the US in 2016. It was short-listed for the Dafoe Prize for Non-Fiction.

Blood and Daring: How Canada Fought the American Civil War and Forged a Nation was published in 2013. It was a national bestseller and chosen as one of the Globe and Mail's Best Books of the year. It was shortlisted for a Governor General's award for its translation into French.

My other books include Bennett: The Rebel Who Challenged and Changed a Nation, Into the Hurricane: Attacking CCF and Socialism in Canada, and Last Steps to Freedom: The Evolution of Canadian Racism.

I enjoy writing my Monday morning blog (johnboyko.com) and I also write op-eds for newspapers across Canada and entries for the Canadian Encyclopedia.

Reviews

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was taken in by the misleading cover and subtitle of this book. With the helmet depicted and the words: "How Canada Fought the Vietnam War" I thought I was in for a rousing read about feats of arms by Canadians in Vietnam. Most people are not aware that Canadian men, in large numbers, slipped south of 49 to take up arms on behalf of our neighbour. Estimates of numbers vary, but it's safe to say that the equivalent of two divisions of troops volunteered as individuals at various recruiting stations in the USA. I served with a few of these guys: two who served as Canadian soldiers with ICCS and two who served in American Army uniforms, and hoped to get a bit of insight into their 'Nam experiences.

So I was disappointed to find very little, basically only a chapter, dedicated to the experience of the Canadian fighting man in Vietnam; about as much space as Mr Boyko devotes to the draft dodgers who lit a shuck for Canada to hide in safety when their country called. Once hostilities ceased, the bulk of these guys drained their Pink Ladies and headed back south to enjoy their freedom.

Boyko also dedicates chapters to others involved with the conflict in varying capacities. There is a refugee family whose odyssey would be enough for a book in its own right, as well as a couple of politicians and a left-wing political activist. In spite of it not being the book I wanted, this turned out to be a very good read due to Boyko's ability to explain all the double-dealing political maneuvering that enabled a superpower to remain at war with a military lightweight for decades and still manage to lose.

[Bernie Klassen]

An exceptional book that should be on every Canadian's reading list. John Boyko looks at the 50's60's and into the 70's, tracing the history of Canada's involvement in the lead-up, and through to the end of, the American war and defeat in Vietnam. Boyko bases each section of this history around a person--diplomat, volunteer, and refugee. This allows him to trace the broad sweep of history and bring it down to the effect it had on a person.
I have read a lot about Vietnam, but I did not have the backstory of Canada's diplomatic efforts to manage the withdrawal of the French from Vietnam, and the installation of the United States as the new colonial power in the region. The opportunity for a different outcome in Vietnam was possible, but the diplomatic work that would have resulted in an extended peace were consistently undercut be the US military industrial political complex. Including the lie that the US used to go into what would prove to be a quagmire with their military.
Boyko follows Sherwood Lett and Blair Seaborn's diplomatic work. Then the remarkable story of Claire Culhane and the peace movement lead by the Voice of Women. The underground railroad for war resisters is detailed in the story of Joe Erickson and the impact the war resisters had on Canadian society.
Boyko finishes with Doug Carey, one of the Canadians who went to fight in another country's war, and the horror story of Rebecca Trinh's refugee journey. The book is very well researched, well written for a broad audience, and very well told. I cannot recommend this book highly enough.

[Enid Wray · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading this book.

While my youth comes 10 years after the Vietnam war era, it certainly still loomed large when I was growing up and had an impact on my formative years in many ways. And, as a graduate student at the Ohio State University in the mid-1980’s, protesting Ronnie Reagan’s war(s) in Central America - remember Oliver North and Contra-gate? - the Kent State massacre was never far from my mind.

But despite watching the spate of movies about the Vietnam/Cambodian war/era that came out when I was in my teens and university years - and which certainly solidified my feelings about those wars, and any war - I never really fully understood the exact reasons why - the ways in which - these wars actually began. Now I do.

I also appreciate the window provided into the nature - and limits - of quiet diplomacy… and his discussion of the ways in which global and national politics came together at that moment in time to contribute to the forging of Canada’s identity as a singular nation unto ourselves on the world stage. I also appreciate his laying bare the many mythologies that underlie that conception… and that continue even today, as we as a nation continue to attest that we are great peacemakers and peacekeepers, all the while continuing to supply military hardware to on-going conflicts we insist we are not involved in.

As a member of the Voice of Women for Peace for many years through my teens and university years, I thoroughly enjoyed reading about Claire Culhane and her dogged resistance to the party line being woven about the war.

Almost at the very end, on page 229, he notes that “(e)very country is an imagined community resting primarily upon the stories it’s people agree to believe.” As we see in so many other facets of our lives, it’s time that the stories we agree upon actually reflect the truth of our history. This title contributes to that truthful awakening.

[Amanda Borys · Rating 2 out of 5]

I agree with another reviewer on Goodreads, who says they were confused about the title and cover art to think this was a general history of the war from a Canadian perspective. I too fell into that trap and was very surprised when it was actually about five people I had personally never heard of before in the context of the War.

It was a shame really, because I very much enjoyed the portions of the book where the author looked at the broader picture, especially the last chapter. I think he would have done very well looking at the War more broadly.

Unfortunately for me, not having the wider context that I was hoping this book would provide meant that I couldn't truly appreciate the individual stories.

[Paula Dembeck · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent account of Canada’s participation in the Vietnam War. It was a war most Canadians consider an American war, largely unaware of what went on behind the scenes. Everyone knew about the young American men who traveled across the border into Canada to escape the battlefields in Vietnam, as well as the thousands of refugees from Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia that Canada accepted after the war was over. But most do not know the wider story of how Canada, bound by its close military and economic ties and pressured by its powerful ally, provided the Americans with diplomatic services, armaments, napalm and agent orange to use in the conflict. These cross-border sales fueled the Canadian economy and provided thousands of well-paid jobs to Canadians, happy to have them.

To give a complete picture of this complicated history, Boyko uses six people as guides to present different aspects of the story, including two diplomates and four others, three who experienced the war first hand in Vietnam and one who chose to avoid it but suffered its aftereffects. These six guides, give readers a multifaceted view of the conflict that affected the tenure of world leaders, the stated and covert missions of diplomats, individual country and global markets, the lives of those who fought or chose not to, and those who cared for the injured and dying.

Boyko begins by using the experience of two Canadian diplomats to explain the prewar period and the events leading up to the war. Sherwood Lett and Blair Seabourn both served as commissioners on the three nation International Commission for Supervision and Control (I.C.S.C.), formed in 1954 after France’s defeat in Vietnam. Their mandate was to oversee the Geneva peace agreement and hold an election to establish a unified government in the divided country. The communist Viet Cong were in control in the North, while a fragile democracy was struggling to find its footing in the South. The United States, supporting their French allies and fearing communism would spread in Southeast Asia if the Viet Cong were in complete control of the country, exerted a strong influence on the commission’s work and actively supported the South. Their aim was not peace, but victory over the communists.

The Canadian, Indian and Polish members of the commission each defended their own agendas, and given they were permitted only to observe, inspect and make recommendations, the commission soon became impotent. It struggled to preserve the brittle peace and sporadic violence continued. After Lett’s mandate ended, Seabourn took over, acting as a secret messenger between the American president and the north Vietnamese Prime Minister. However, those efforts were futile and each side became further entrenched in their position. The North refused to consider any proposal that did not include the Americans leaving the country, while the Americans insisted on remaining, offering an end to their military action and economic assistance in return for talks at the peace table. The American president saw the conflict as one of utmost importance, part of the global struggle between communism and liberal democracy, while the Vietnamese were determined to determine their own destiny. Each time they talked, the North Vietnamese refused the American offer and the Americans subsequently increased their military action, determined to force an end to the conflict. Given their entrenched positions, all-out war was inevitable.

Boyko continues his narrative using four characters who each experienced the war in different ways. He begins with two young men: Doug Carey, a Canadian who left his home country, donned an American unform and fought as a marine in Vietnam, and Joe Erickson, an American who chose not to fight, became a draft dodger and fled to Canada. Both suffered mentally and physically and struggled to recover from their experiences. Boyko also uses the opportunity to clarify the difference between the “draft resisters” and the “draft dodgers”. The “resisters” were those who believed their number was about to come up and they would be drafted and sent to Vietnam. Those who had already enlisted or been drafted and were about to go to Vietnam, were “dodgers” and were not publicly welcomed, considered deserters and cowards. Many Canadian groups helped the resisters, but not the dodgers, worried they would lose their funding from the charities and churches that provided the money they needed to operate.

In another profile, Boyko describes the work of Clare Culhane, a nurse who worked at a Canadian hospital in South Vietnam. She quickly became aware of the hypocrisy of her own government, who on one hand built the hospital and helped staff it, while on the other hand sold the military hardware, napalm and agent orange that brought in new patients every day. When she learned the head of the hospital was liaising with the CIA using information she had collected to support a murderous anti-terrorism campaign, she became disgusted and returned home. Back in Canada, she became a tireless anti-war activist, writing letters and articles, participating in two hunger strikes, lobbying parliament and meeting with the Prime Minister, publicizing Canada’s hypocrisy of working for peace, while profiting from the war.

In his final profile, Boyko describes the experience of Rebecca and Sam Trinh and their two daughters. They emigrated to Canada from Saigon in 1978, when the communist government was exerting pressure on the ethnic Chinese. These passages are difficult to read, as the family was cheated by extortionists and attacked by pirates who beat, raped and murdered those trapped in boats trying to leave the country. Over a million people left Vietnam seeking refuge in other countries and Canada accepted thousands, although not everyone welcomed them. Many were concerned about the large numbers, fearing the “non-white others” would change the culture of the country.

Any Canadian wishing to understand the war and Canada’s role in the conflict, will find this an excellent guide. It describes why the two sides were so determined to get their way, they could never agree on how to end the conflict. The Vietnamese were determined to solve their country’s problems without the interference of outside countries. No matter how much the Americans bombed their country, ruined their agriculture, destroyed their villages and killed their people, they remained dedicated to the struggle, knew they would suffer, but were ready to accept their losses, confident they would eventually win.

Both sides were taken in by “the devil’s trick”, the act of convincing leaders that war is desirable, the rest of us that it is acceptable and the combatants that everything they are doing and seeing is normal, or at least necessary. Yet we never seem to learn. Many of these lessons were forgotten or ignored as the same story was repeated later in Iraq and Afghanistan.

This is a clear, concise and compelling account of Canada’s role in the Vietnam war. Boyko deserves kudos for the amount of information he has synthesized into this single, compact, very readable volume. I found it very informative.

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you for this Goodreads Giveaway win .....
Full review will follow soon .....

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Won in the First Reads giveaway.

Of course I know Canada has a difficult history (and present), but the Agent Orange/napalm stuff was a surprise.

[Christina Barber · Rating 4 out of 5]

John Boyko’s “The Devil’s Trick: How Canada Fought the Vietnam War” is a powerful and engaging read that clarifies Canada’s role in this Cold War conflict. Featuring Canada’s history through the stories of six Canadians who each experienced the war from different perspectives (diplomats, medical personnel, draft dodgers, Canadians who chose to fight, and refugees who made Canada home), Boyko shows that Canada’s involvement was far deeper and more complex than most Canadians realise.

While Canada prides itself on being a peacekeeping nation, the realities of arms dealing and materiel support of the American war machine puts our neutrality into question. We may not have sent soldiers, but the Agent Orange and Napalm produced in Canada have continued to have long lasting effects on the Vietnamese, and indeed on Canadians living in the vicinity of production plants and test/use sites.

Boyko does a deep exploration of the refugee experience and of Canada’s role in sponsoring refugees, being a world leader and inspiring other countries to do the same. The legacy of our role in supporting refugees continues to this day and can be witnessed in our sponsorship of Syrian, and now Ukrainian refugees. Complementing government sponsorship, private citizens step up to sponsor and welcome refugees continuing to broaden what it means to be Canadian and deeping our own cultural narrative.

[Bryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

To read this is to understand a recent piece of Canada's modern history, and see the unique perspective from a Vietnamese-Canadian's perspective. And also to understand how the Vietnam War shaped Canada (and the US) and how its very much part of our national identity.
To read this is to also relate to the recent wars like Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, and Ukraine. And what war means, what happens in war, what happens in diplomacy around war, and the refugee crisis that ensues. It also is deeply connected to the branches of xenophobic perceptions and actions that people take when denying refugees. We all don't want more people in the subway train if we think its full, we think it would be uncomfortable, letting in people we don't know, don't understand, don't look like us, don't smell like us, and now we have to compete with them in our economy. What did I do to deserve this? Yet, without influx of immigration, our population risks collapse, then that reality is even more unimaginable.

[Liam · Rating 5 out of 5]

When it comes to history there is a large emphasis on military conflict, and within that a focus on X battle with Y general using Z equipment. This novel takes a different approach, showing the involvement of Canadians from 6 different perspectives. It shows the perspectives of politicians, nurses, soldiers and refugees.

I think the most interesting part about it is how much of the events 50 years ago echo those of today: the declining birthrate spurring an influx of refugees and immigrants, the people insisting more immigrants are taking away jobs and forcing Canada to be non-white, the debate between being complicit with selling arms causing terror but not wanting to take the economic hit by preventing it.

Much of the lessons learned from Vietnam are relevant today.

[Elijah Reinhardt · Rating 3 out of 5]

"In terms of refugees per capita, Canada accepted more than any other country.” Pg. 189

Jean Chretien on refusing to join the Iraq war in 2003.
“Great strength is not always perceived by others as benign. Not everyone around the world is willing take the word of the United States on faith.” Pg. 196

“…but at its heart was the reminder of the Vietnam War’s most fundamental lesson: that beyond the politics of power, horror of war, and superficiality of race and nationality lie our shared humanity and love for our children.” Pg. 205

[Kevin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a book I would highly recommend. Thoughtful and well-researched, it is a book about this recent aspect of history that is as readable and engaging as a novel. Structuring it around the lives of several impressive Canadians who were variously involved or greatly impacted by the war was brilliant. As a Canadian who experienced the Vietnam War as a backdrop to my formative years, there was so much I was not aware of and learned from this book. Hope “we don’t get fooled again!”

[William · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting book but clearly written from a perspective of someone who opposed the war. The parts about the involvement of the Canadian government at various stages was educating but also expected. It’s disappointing the book revelled in politics in every chapter. I’m glad this was a library book and not a purchase.

[S · Rating 4 out of 5]

Broken down in about 7 different stories about different Canadians and how they had an impact / were impacted by the war. Opened my eyes to many things I didn’t know about Canada’s involvement during the conflict. Some say we didn’t do anything, while some say we didn’t do enough. This book strikes the perfect medium in showing both sides of that aspect. Great read :-)

[Jamie Larner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic book, I’m really happy I decided to read it. It really opened my eyes to how Canada was but wasn’t involved in Vietnam. I would highly recommend it to anyone that shunned the subject as “too American, I don’t really care about it”!

[Allan Heyman · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book gives us a great idea of how Canada fought in the Vietnam War, helped to determine what was said and done about it and gives first hand knowledge of the immense pressure the war bestowed on the individuals

[Mikaela Bamford · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Vietnam still hums in the background as an example of what can go wrong and be made right as Canadians learned to take pride in their unique culture while still enjoying America's. The more mature civic nationalism allows that societal problems can be addressed in a Canadian way without the poison of tribal politics, gun culture, and religious chauvinism. Canadian civic nationalism is based on decisions not blood.

5/5 - really informative and engaging. Very well written, I recommend it to anyone who is interested in modern history or the politics surrounding the Vietnam War, as well as to fellow Canadians.

I find it interesting that a lot of people don't realize Canada did not officially participate in the Vietnam War. I was inspired to read this book after reading about Pearson's Temple University speech in John Ibbitson's The Duel.

The title is clever, and the other reviews really demonstrate how people automatically associate the word 'fought' with fighting a war or battle. This book looks beyond that; 'fought' in the sense of this book includes multiple definitions. This book examines 6 individuals and their connection to Canada's role in the Vietnam War.

'Fought' as trying to prevent the war from escalating, peacekeeping before the major conflict began.

'Fought' as in taking part in peace negotiations as a neutral democratic country.

'Fought' as in protesting the Vietnam War, the anti-war and peace activism. Raising awareness of Canada's quiet compliance with the USA

'Fought' as in provide sanctuary for draft dodgers, war resisters, and refugees from Vietnam.

And 'Fought' in the most obvious sense of the meaning, with some Canadians crossing the south border to volunteer with the US.

The concluding chapter was brilliant, summing up the 'lessons' of the war was really well done and I think some people would benefit just from reading that chapter alone.

"Lessons are like that. But worse than learning nothing is learning the wrong thing.

[Georgiana · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you have even the slightest interest in Canada, you need to read this.