Customer Reviews

Those Gallant Men: On Trial in Vietnam

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Written by John S. Berry, the military trial attorney for a key defendant in the Green Beret case, this is one of the few books available on the strategy and dynamics of that litigation and the political machinations between the US Army, the CIA, and the Green Berets during the Vietnam War. The book is frankly not well edited and at times indifferently written. Some crucial documents were still unclassified and could not be accessed at the time of the writing, about thirty years ago. There are no interviews with the defendants contemporaneous with publication to add their post-military impressions and clarifications of events; this omission is especially glaring with respect to Colonel Rheault, the Green Beret commander, a distinguished and honorable soldier who became the fall guy for failures at much higher levels. Despite these flaws, I recommend this book. It provides an insider's view of the trial that would otherwise be lost and raises troubling questions about the contribution of faulty field intelligence or sheer ignorance to the political mismanagement of the war. It should be read in conjunction with the scholarly, "Vietnam Declassified: The CIA and Counterinsurgency," by Thomas L. Ahern, Jr. who provides an excellent historical overview of CIA involvement in Vietnam, but who inexplicably omits reference to this case, the most highly publicized intelligence blunder of the war.

I really enjoyed the book. I read it several times. Taken in historical context, the writer was ahead of his times. Lots of personal insight and varied stories about men who faced court martial and other adverse legal problems in Vietnam during the war. The author is personally transparent, sharing his successes as well as disappointments. He shares his confidences in the military legal system as well as his misgivings. Very balanced and objective book that seems accurately reflective of the times and circumstances about which he writes.

In the past year, I have started reading one book a month about special operations in SE Asia I was involved with during the Vietnam War, or I knew someone who was involved in it.
Someone told me about this book and I did not think much about it but I ordered a used copy a month or so ago on Amazon and read it today.
I can tell you that if we in the intelligence community who supported special operations knew how the command was really treating those officers before and during the court martial, there would have probably been a revolt against the command, and a raid on Long Binh to free them!
I commend the author, who was also one of the defense lawyers for his work. If we ever meet, he will definitely get a drink and the best meal in town on me!

This book examines court-martial charges filed against unlikely defendants - a group of professional and dedicated Green Berets during the Vietnam War. The first part of the book profiles the defense counsel. The second, the legal maneuvering for the courts-martial. The author, one of those Defense Counsel, adroitly portrays the frustrations, fears and foibles associated with defending a professional soldier on murder charges. Some might and did say that the victim - a North Vietnamese double agent - deserved to die, afterall this was war and GI's were dying in droves. The intensity of command and prosecution efforts to "break" the defendants, where evidence was weak and circumstantial at best, was shamefull. Berry's ability to capture the feelings that every defense counsel knows, is uncanny. He coins the memorable phrase, "Black Robe Fever" to describe the intellectual regression trial attorneys who become judges go through upon assuming the Bench. Famous personalities appear, the Press gets excited, and yet, who remembers this case? The verdict (you'll have to read the book) spawned the title, "Those Gallant Men" refers equally to the courageous Defense counsel, as well as their clients.