A Murder in Wartime: The Untold Spy Story That Changed the Course of the Vietnam War [Paperback]

Jeff Stein (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1993

One of the greatest political cover-ups of the Vietnam War involved the CIA, the Army, and the White House. In 1969, a suspected double agent was executed by three young Green Berets, who were later charged with murder but never brought to trial. A Murder in Wartime reveals that President Nixon secretly intervened to quash the trial. 8 pages of photographs. Martin's.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In June 1969 a group of Green Beret officers, suspecting that one of their Vietnamese operatives was a double agent, executed him and dropped his weighted body into the ocean off Nha Trang. A dogged investigation by two Army detectives led to their arrest, followed by a hearing to determine whether they would face court-martial. The admitted triggerman, Capt. Robert Marasco, defended the group's action by stating that eliminating Thai Khac Chuyen was no different than eliminating a Vietcong during a search-and-destroy mission. Gen. Creighton Abrams, commander of U.S. forces in Vietnam, didn't see it that way; neither did Army Secretary Stanley Resor. When the case became a cause celebre in the States, however, most Americans viewed the arrests as evidence of the high-level politicking that had hamstrung our troops from the start. In the end the Army dropped the charges, but the "Green Beret case" nevertheless had a significant effect on the conduct of the war: it provoked Daniel Ellsberg to leak the Pentagon Papers. In this skillfully told, engrossing narrative, Stein ( The Vietnam Fact Book ) presents all sides of this controversial case, a veritable metaphor for the ambiguities of the Vietnam War. Photos.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

In the summer of 1969, an alleged North Vietnamese spy "disappeared." The commander of all Green Berets in Vietnam and several of his top subordinates were arrested, charged with the murder, and locked up in solitary confinement at the Long Binh jail. A national uproar ensued when these charges were leaked to the press, but in October the story vanished from the front pages--due, the author implies, to efforts by President Richard Nixon, his cabinet, and the CIA to quash the story. Washington-based journalist Stein has obtained secret files and interviewed the surviving key players in a trial that pitted America's top defense lawyers against army leadership. Revelations of government-sponsored terrorism and assassination were so embarassing that the case was eventually dropped as part of a cover-up that prompted a disenchanted Daniel Ellsberg to leak the Pentagon Papers. Highly recommended.
- David Lee Poremba, Detroit
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: St Martins Mass Market Paper (April 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312929196
• ISBN-13: 978-0312929190
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #814,330 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Almost a masterpiece, May 6, 2002

By 

Keith Nolan "author of RIPCORD, etc" (St Louis, MO) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Murder in Wartime: The Untold Spy Story That Changed the Course of the Vietnam War (Paperback)

...A MURDER IN WARTIME is one of the best books to have emerged from the Vietnam debacle. Jeff Stein deserves full credit for the extensive research he did, and for tying together such a complicated story in such a readable way. All sides are fairly represented, and that indeed is something rare in a book about the Vietnam War.

The only problem I have with the book is that it sometimes has a bigger-than-life quality that makes one wonder if the author was willing to stretch the truth here and there for the sake of a good read. For example, Stein paints the book's central figure, Col. Robert B. Rheault, as a warrior-philosopher, both a thinking man and a highly-decorated combat leader revered by his men. To make the point, Stein writes that Rheault had earned the Distinguished Service Cross and Silver Star, valor awards rated only one and two steps behind the Medal of Honor. However, according to Rheault's entry in the United States Military Academy Register of Graduates, he actually had very limited combat service and had never been decorated for valor. Additionally, Rheault's name does not show up on an exhaustive list of Vietnam DSC winners compiled by the late Lt. Col. Albert F. Gleim, USA-Ret.

This is no small matter and makes me wonder about other passages in a book which was great enough to stand on its own without any exaggerations. I'd be curious as to where Stein got his information about Rheault being a highly-decorated war hero....

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Well-balanced encapsulation of the Vietnam War, September 7, 2000

By 

Joseph T. Reeves - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Murder in Wartime: The Untold Spy Story That Changed the Course of the Vietnam War (Paperback)

Jeff Stein's "A Murder in Wartime" bravely tackles all of the moral issues of wartime in general and the moral ambiguities attached to the Vietnam War, in particular. In 1969 eight Green Berets were accused of murdering a Vietnamese who may or may not have been a spy for North Vietnam. The case called into question the morality of waging a guerilla war, the role of the regular U.S. Army in such a context, the control of the CIA, and the politics of waging an unpopular war. Stein manages to weave all of these issues and dozens of key participants in the alleged murder and its aftermath without losing focus. Stein's narrative style flows easily through the perspective of all the key personnel and pulls the reader into the moral and ethical wilderness these people faced. Stein is careful not to pass judgement on the Green Berets charged with the crime, or on the regular Army establishment who may have seized on this incident just to put the Green Berets in their place. Instead he allows the reader to face the same dilemma all of these people did and make their own choices. An outstanding piece of historical writing.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars From one who was there - an excellent accounting of this VN War scandle, August 8, 2008

By 

Thomas M. Daniels III "Strawboss" (Savannah, GA & Cambodia) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: A Murder in Wartime: The Untold Spy Story That Changed the Course of the Vietnam War (Paperback)

The author did a superb job focusing on these events and the primary players. Wish however he'd included more about General Abrams' other crusades to destroy US Army Special Forces (SF). Too, aside from the reasons given for President Nixon having charges dropped against our commander, Colonel Rheault, there was an additional undertaking within SF to influence Nixon to make such a decision. Never did get any feedback as to whether or not word of our raid planning reached the top as intended. Also very glad our guys were freed before the raid was launched - could have been very messy. Otherwise the book illustrates perfectly why conventional Army brass of Abrams' variety have no business commanding SF programs; neutralizing enemy agents really gets their panties in a wad. De Oppresso Liber