On the Back

One of Walter's friends requested a copy of a picture of Walter and John Paul Vann that was hanging in Walter's office. I had never paid that much attention to it. I had no idea who John Paul Vann was. I assumed he was someone important to Walter or someone famous, but I didn't really know who he was. That is, until the funeral. Ed Babbin, who spoke at Walter's funeral about his military service, mentioned JP Vann and Walter's friend, Lanny McMinn, also mentioned him. I took the picture off the wall to make a copy and found an article from the June 19, 1972 issue of Time  entitled "Death of a Perfectionist." It was an article that briefly described John Paul Vann's involvement in Vietnam and his untimely death in a helicopter crash during a night flight to Kontum, South Vietnam. This made me do a little research on JP Vann.

He was an outspoken critic of the way the United States handled the war in Vietnam. This outspoken, on-record, criticism is what cost him his military career, but also what made him the most influential American citizen in Vietnam. A couple of quotes from JPV: "It is not true that we are here to solve problems, sir. WE are the problem." and when in 1967 he was asked by a Johnson adviser and advocate for sending additional U. S. troops if he believed the worst of the fighting would be over in six months, he replied, "Oh hell no, Mr. Rostow, I'm a born optimist. I think we can hold out longer than that." Walter's friend Mr. McMinn told me that Walter told him that he knew JP Vann would die over there, he just hoped he was home before it happened. He was, but not long before. This is one of those things that I wish I had known to ask about before Walter died. I know he had some interesting stories about this time period, which he never shared with me because I never thought to ask.

 Walter is in the center with the champagne glass. John Paul Vann is on the right. The inscription reads, "To 'Tiger' Atkins (sic) - whose sober appearance belies his 'swinging' reputation. John Paul Vann 3 Dec. 1970"