A Bright Shining Lie

"[in his briefing over what's needed for the advisory effort in South Vietnam, complete with slides] Southeast Asia. Rubber, timber and manpower. Southeast Asia, the Communists want it and we wanna stop 'em. And in my hand, I hold the secret weapon to win the war in South Asia. [shows handful of rice] Rice. Rice, gentlemen. Rice. For the Vietnamese peasant, it is everything. They fought the Chinese, the Japanese, they fought the French for their rice fields. The Communists have hijacked that rebellion. [points to slides] This man, Ho Chi Minh, and his General Giap, have promised the farmers they will give them back their rice, while our man, President Diem... continues dealing it. We must regain the goodwill of the peasants, restore the good faith of the people. To win the war in Vietnam, we must take back the rice revolution, throw out the rice dealers and give them back their rice. We must wage war for the peasants, not against them. Build their houses, don't destroy them. Kill the enemy with this [shows dagger], instead of this [pointing to slide of B-52 dropping bombs]. In short, we must harness the peasant revolution to defeat the Communist revolution. Thank you."

"[addressing US and Vietnamese troops preparing for the NVA assault on Kontum] All right, listen up, everyone. We are gonna hold the line here at Tan Canh, then mount a staged retreat back to where we are, Kontum. [describing map drawn on chalkboard] That will pull these North Vietnamese divisions out of the hills and when they do, we are gonna call in the B-52s and carpet-bomb each of these squares. We are gonna wipe out the Second, Third, and Fifth Division of the North Vietnamese Army. [gestures to Col Ly Tong Ba] My old colleague, Colonel Ba, will conduct a forward command defense and withdrawal. [shows picture an aide gives him] This is General Giap, commander of the NVA. He's a genius. He's never been beaten... till now. I've studied this man for ten years and we are gonna whip his ass. You know why? Because he wastes his men. Pours them away like piss in the wind. There's not a man in this room, not a man on that line out there I wouldn't die for. No matter what we've done with our lives, you and I can be proud today because we have the noblest of all professions. We are soldiers. The good Lord said it all about us. He said no greater love has a man than he lay down his life for another. And by God, this day will not end but I will see you all safely through it... and we will hold this ground."

"[last lines] John Paul Vann was America's warrior. He personified our good intentions, our arrogance, our courage, and ultimately our folly. He had fought to redeem the unredeemable, to salvage the doomed enterprise called South Vietnam. In death, he had triumphed over defeat while the rest of us are left to ask... "Why?""

"In war as in life, the difference between truth and deception is what a man allows himself to believe."

"Bill Paxton - LTC John Paul Vann, US Army"

"Amy Madigan - Mary Jane Vann"

"Donal Logue - Steven Burnett"

"Harve Presnell - General Paul Harkins, US Army"

"Robert John Burke - Frank Drummond"

"Bill Whelan - Ron Dray"

"Lim Kay Tong - Colonel Huỳnh Văn Cao, ARVN"

"Ed Lauter - LTG Fred Weyand, US Army"

"Kurtwood Smith - Gen William Westmoreland, US Army"

"Vivian Wu - Lee"

"Eric Bogosian - Doug Elders"

"James Rebhorn - US Ambassador to South Vietnam Ellsworth Bunker"