"Most Vietnam veterans do not like to talk about their experiences while in that war zone... But Samuel Richardson tells all in this book. Here, Sam doesn't merely depend on his memory of his stories; he uses text straight out of the meticulous journal he kept while in Vietnam... Before going to Vietnam, his father gave him a "father's blessing." This, in the LDS Church, is a typical ceremony aimed at comforting the recipient, and asking God for a variety of blessings for the person receiving the blessing... The narration inside will show how the father's blessing helped Sam to be calm during mortar attacks, and how to resist the many temptations that come to soldiers who find themselves in a war zone."--Back cover.
What makes one man willing to stare death in the face to obey God's call to serve the Vietnamese? And what becomes of all the seeds planted among these fledging Christians as communist oppression advances. This the story of that one man and his family served Jesus among the Vietnamese as the country fell. Even during the Tet Offensive, Sam James shared Christ's love and peace in a hopeless situation.
Sam Adams loved intelligence work, and that enthusiasm shines throughout this memoir of his years with the Central Intelligence Agency. His career was dominated by an epic struggle over Vietnam -- over military attempts to hide the true size of the enemy forces there, and over the integrity of the intelligence process. Adams's insistence on telling the truth caused an ungodly ruckus in both Washington and Saigon at the time, and years later, after the CIA had threatened to fire him (on thirteen occasions!) and he had quit the agency in disgust, Adams brought his story back up to the surface more loudly than ever in a CBS television documentary which eventually resulted in a notorious trial on libel charges brought by General William Westmoreland. After leaving the CIA, Adams sat down to write an account of his life at the agency. There is nothing else quite like the story he tells. From the Trade Paperback edition.
It was an enigma of the Vietnam War: American troops kept killing the Viet Cong - and being killed in the process - and yet their ranks continued to grow. When CIA analyst Sam Adams uncovered documents suggesting a Viet Cong army more than twice as large as previously reckoned, another war erupted, this time within the ranks of America's intelligence community. Although originally clandestine, this conflict involving the highest levels of the U.S. government burst into public view during the acrimonious lawsuit Westmoreland v. CBS. The central issue in the suit, as in the war itself, was the calamitous failure of U.S. intelligence agencies to ascertain the strength of the Viet Cong and get that information to troops in a timely fashion. The legacy of this failure - whether caused by institutional inertia, misguided politics, or individual hubris - haunts our nation. In the era of Chelsea Manning, Julian Assange, and Edward Snowden, Sam Adams' tireless crusade for "honest intelligence" resonates strongly today.
This book is autobiographical about my tour as Night Shift chief, Air Defense Analysis, 2nd Air Division/Seventh Air Force, Saigon, Republic of Vietnam from August 1965 to August 1966. With several “Special Security Clearances” I was privy to events many others in the HQ weren’t. The first US aircraft lost to a surface-to-air-missile (SAM) was literally days before I arrived so I was in on the ground floor of identifying SA-2 locations and capabilities plus evolving tactics for our pilots to beat missiles in the air. I’ll tell you about that and also explain enemy defense weapons and capabilities as well as our Intelligence collection and analysis systems. I was the morning Air Defense briefer so I saw the generals up close and personal every day and heard their reactions to events like lost aircraft (which I also briefed), resulting in many interesting anecdotes. As far as I know there is no other book that looks at the Out-Country War from the vantage point of a “headquarters puke,” a fly on the wall close to the top.
I was just one of the countless crew chiefs working F-4 Phantoms on the flight line in Thailand during the intensive action packed latter part of the Vietnam War. This is my exciting life's story with focus on my tour at Udorn RTAFB. There are numerous books written by various fighter pilots of their missions over Vietnam with exciting aerial combat. The support level on the flight line was also grueling, but in a very different role. This is my everyday life at the typical crew chief's level keeping our fighters combat ready 24 hrs a day. Each new day brought a different challenge, dealing with sapper attacks, support for Operation Linebacker II, venomous snakes on the flight line, and living with the tropical heat and humidity. It was busy and it was noisy. Walk with me and experience what it was like in the crew chief's everyday life on the line. - Sam Lassiter
“A tightly written narrative history.” —Harvard magazine It was an enigma of the Vietnam War: American troops kept killing the Viet Cong—and were being killed in the process—and yet the Viet Cong's ranks continued to grow. When one man—CIA analyst Sam Adams—uncovered documents suggesting a Viet Cong army more than twice as numerous as previously reckoned, another war erupted, this time within the ranks of America's intelligence community. This clandestine conflict, which burst into public view during the acrimonious lawsuit Westmoreland v. CBS, involved the highest levels of the U.S. government. The central issue in the trial, as in the war itself, was the calamitous failure of our intelligence agencies to ascertain the strength of the Viet Cong and get that information to our troops in a timely fashion. The legacy of this failure—whether due to institutional inertia, misguided politics, or individual hubris—haunts our nation. And Sam Adams’ tireless crusade for “honest intelligence” resonates strongly today. To detractors like Richard Helms, Adams was an obsessive zealot; to others, he was a patriot of rare integrity and moral courage. Adams was the driving force behind the CBS ninety-minute documentary The Uncounted Enemy, produced by George Crile and hosted by Mike Wallace. Westmoreland brought a lawsuit seeking $120 million in damages against Adams and Wallace in what headlines around the country trumpeted as the libel trial of the century. Westmoreland dropped his suit before the case could be sent to the jury. Who the Hell Are We Fighting? is the first serious narrative history of Adams' controversial discovery of the Vietnam "numbers gap." Hiam's book is a timeless, cautionary tale that combines the best elements of biography, military history, and current affairs. Praise for Who the Hell Are We Fighting? “Hiam’s book offers a rich oral history relying upon the recollections of many key players, friend and foe alike, as well as Adams’s meticulous notes, court documents, and other relevant sources.” —Library Journal “In the late 1960s, CIA analyst Sam Adams was almost alone in showing what one honest person can do in the face of political and bureaucratic corruption that twisted the truth about America’s enemy strength during the ten-year war in Vietnam. Now, C. Michael Hiam provides new insight into Adams’s epic battle.” —Alex Beam, Newsday “In times of White House obfuscation, it’s a pleasure to be able to read about the candor—against all odds—of courageous patriots like Sam Adams.” —Mike Wallace “A definitive contribution to an understanding of the most acrimonious intelligence controversy of the Vietnam War.” —George W. Allen, author of None So Blind: A Personal Account of the Intelligence Failure in Vietnam “An excellent book…should bring [Sam Adams’s story] to the attention of many who know nothing of the passions or the conflicts of that time.” —Larry McMurtry “Take up this book and let Michael Hiam lead you toward a final understanding of how military and civilian intelligence failed us during the Vietnam War.” —John Rolfe Gardiner, author of Double Stitch For more about this and other books by Michael Hiam, visit thelafargeagency.com/book/who-the-hell-are-we-fighting/
Hanging Sam chronicles the life of Lt. General Samuel T. “Hanging Sam” Williams, who, after being relieved of his duties as Assistant Division Commander of the 90th Infantry Division and demoted from the rank of brigadier general following the 1944 Normany invasion, persevered to recover not only his lost star but two additional ones as well, an accomplishment unmatched in modern U. S. Army history. Following enlistment in the Texas Militia in 1916 to fight Pancho Villa along the U.S.-Mexican border, Williams served in both World Wars, the Korean War (where he commanded the 25th Infantry Dividion), and Vietnam (where from 1955 to 1960 he was Chief of the U. S. Military Assistance and Advisory Group). Wounded twice in battle, Williams was decorated with every medal for valor the Army awards, except the Medal of Honor.
