Comments on: John Paul Vann: Man and Legend

By: Jo Vann

Jo Vann — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 03:40:41 +0000

My name is Jo Vann, John Paul Vann’s sisiter-in-law. Reading the comments about John, one from Ruperto Fiores struck me…he referred to himself as,”just an enlisted soldier.” There is no such thing…every man who puts on a uniform and heads off to war to defend this great country is a National Hero and deserves the respect and gratitude of every citizen in the USA. Ruperto, you are no less a hero to me than John was and I, personally, want to thank you for your service and thank God you returned home safely. If only 15 minutes of time was bought for our country as a result of your service, that is a great tribute to John for all his efforts and it is greatly appreciated by the Vann family. May all the good things in life come your way and again, thank you.

By: Eugene W. Vann

Eugene W. Vann — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 03:18:58 +0000

I am Eugene W. Vann, the youngest brother of John Paul Vann. I want to thank everyone for their comments about my brother who adored his family and was adored by his Mom and Dad and brothers and sister. He was our hero and is missed every day. My grandson, Jeremy R. Vann is doing his best to follow in the footsteps of this great man and we are extremely proud of him, just as we were of John. John had a human side that has never been written about. He was kind, loving , gentle and generous and that is the part of him that lives in our hearts. To put into feelings simply….he was my brother.

By: Ruperto Fiories

Ruperto Fiories — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 10:00:33 +0000

JPV has been a hero to me for years now. I first heard of him when I joined the military book club and bought the book, A Bright Shining Lie. Later, the HBO movie brought the book to life. I share the book and movie with friends, so they may know the story about a soldier who led a very interesting life.
JPV was certainly a great American and leader of men, whose life was taken too soon, as happens to many heroes.

I am just an enlisted soldier who has served in Desert Storm and Afghanistan, and respect what JPV stood for- the courage to lead from the front and tell it like it is…

By: thecleaner

thecleaner — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 16:50:21 +0000

I have read about JPV for many a year and he has to me seemed like a perfect hero, flawed yet brilliant, his children can be proud of who he was and what he achieved – JPV We Salute You Sir.

By: Ryan Vann

Ryan Vann — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 06:52:55 +0000

Gary,
Last I heard she and her mother relocated to the US. East coast I believe. I heard Maryland. We don’t communicate with them.

Thank you Ed. I will not forget your words.

If any of you have any questions please contact me at Ryan_Vann1@msn.com

By: ALI HUSSAIN

ALI HUSSAIN — Fri, 15 May 2009 20:09:01 +0000

ASSLAM O ALLAIKUM….i m ALI from PAKISTAN…i just saw the movie A BRIGHT SHINNING LIFE..and i m inspired by hius personlity..he was geius..i m also in army and i have great interest in reading and knwoing abpout military leaders..and unfortunatley most of them they could not have successfull perosnal life…but he was really a hero…nation having men like him is lucky….i would love to see ppl related to hi talking or contacting me and i salute all those soldiers who sacrified their lives in veitnam………….

By: Jack Johnstone

Jack Johnstone — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 15:23:27 +0000

Please note an error that I made when submitting my original comments. The incidents I described, happened during the Easter Offensive in 1972, not during a Tet Offensive. Although the memory
fades after 37 years the incidents I described, are absolutely true.

By: Jack Johnstone

Jack Johnstone — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 23:54:49 +0000

In 1972 Gene La Rouche and I drove from Cam Ranh to Qui Nhon on the day the Tet Offensive began. We were working for ITT-Federal Electric and were delivering test equipment for calibration. Three bridges were taken out behind us and we were stuck in Qui Nhon, as it came under attack.

We hitched a ride on a Huey headed back to Nha Trang, from a young Warrant Officer Pilot we met in the Officers Mess. We were diverted to Tuy Hoa, by orders from John Paul Vann. He commandeered
the Huey and Pilot to inspect mountain top microwave communication sites, that had come under attack, during the offensive.

We met Mr. Vann in passing, as he boarded the Huey and took off
for his inspection of the mountain top sites. We sat at Tuy Hoa and
listened to his radio calls, as he flew from one mountain site to the other. One particular radio transmission will always stick in my mind. He was talking to a Vietnamese Officer and said “you tell
General(can not recall his name), that if he does not have that bridge in by noon, I will have his ass on the carpet in Saigon”.

It’s difficult to convey the aura of no nonsense and dedication he
displayed,as this civilian, retired officer worked around us. I am
proud to have met and see him in action.

When our Pilot returned from the inspection flight, he told us, one
mountain top site was held by an old Vietnamese man who was hired to run the diesel generators, that powered the site. While under attack, the ARVN company fled and he manned a M-60, killing many VC on their perimeter and held the mountain top
site by himself. On another site it was a similar situation and a
American Army Major, serving in an advisory capacity, held the
mountain top firing from a bunker, and fought the VC off killing
at least a score of them, while the ARVN company fled and his Vietnamese counterpart cowered in the bunker near him. So went the war near the end

By: Vo Vann Decker

Vo Vann Decker — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 00:45:56 +0000

Cool article. My dad was a LtC. and named me after him out of the respect he held for him. (Vo is my mom’s family name… they were not sure if any of my mom’s relatives survived the war, so they wanted me to carry the name another generation)

By: Gary Richardson

Gary Richardson — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 05:29:05 +0000

Does anyone know what happened to John Vann’s Vietnamese daughter? Did her family leave Vietnam after 1975?