Deliberate distortions still obscure understanding of the Vietnam War

Even after all these years the Vietnam War is still a contentious subject. The war remains in the news and public debate today due in part to the story of the Connecticut Attorney General who was caught lying about serving in Vietnam.

Historynet.com has posted an interesting piece from a 1989 issue of Vietnam Magazine.

The piece was written by the magazine's then-editor, the late Colonel Harry G. Summers, Jr (seen in the below photo), the author of On Strategy: A Critical Analysis of the Vietnam War.

Summers' piece covers the deliberate distortions that obscure understanding of the complex war. You can read the piece via the link below:

http://www.historynet.com/deliberate-distortions-still-obscure-understanding-of-the-vietnam-war.htm

My On Crime & Security Column: How To Spot And Avoid Travel Scams

The online small business magazine Businessknowhow.com published my On Crime & Security column today.

With Memorial Day coming up, many people are planning vacation trips for the summer months, and business people are planning trips to conventions, seminars and trade shows.

My column covers travel scams committed by unscrupulous travel agents and crooked telemarketers.

I cited two recent cases and passed on some good tips from the Federal Trade Commissionon on how to spot and avoid travel scams and fraud.

You can read my column via the below link:

www.businessknowhow.com/security/travelscams.htm

My Crime Beat Column: Ian Fleming and the James Bond Omnibus

I’m not big on graphic novels and I’ve not read comic books or adventure comic strips since I was a kid, but The James Bond Omnibus, Volume I interested me.

I was first introduced to Ian Fleming’s iconic secret agent when I saw Dr No at the Colonial movie theater in South Philadelphia in 1962 when I was 10-years-old. But for many British children and adults, their first visual introduction to James Bond was through a daily comic strip that appeared in the newspaper the Daily Express.

From 1958 to 1984, the Fleming thrillers were serialized in comic strips and syndicated in British newspapers.

The James Bond Omnibus (Titan Books) has pulled together the newspaper comic strip adaptations of eight Fleming novels and three short stories. The novels are Casino Royale, Live and Let Die, Moonraker, Diamonds are Forever, From Russia With Love, Dr No, Goldfinger and Thunderball. The three short stories offered are Risico, From a View to a Kill and For Your Eyes Only.

The stories were adapted from the novels by Anthony Hern, Henry Gammidge and Peter O’Donnell. O’Donnell, who recently died at age 90, went on from the Bond comic strips to create his own comic strip, Modesty Blaize. The comic strip’s art was drawn by John McLusky.

One of the first thoughts that struck me as I began to read the comic strips was that they were more faithful to Fleming’s novels than the films. My second thought was to wonder what might have been had the film makers stuck more closely to the Fleming novels.

I’ve been an Ian Fleming aficionado since I first saw Sean Connery as James Bond in Dr No. The first nine books in my now extensive library were Ian Fleming’s thrillers and many of my lifelong interests such as travel, crime and espionage were all sparked by Fleming. As a teenager I was fascinated by Fleming’s use of exotic locales, women and villains in his stories.

If you’re interested in learning more about Ian Fleming, you should read John Pearson’s The Life of Ian Fleming, Andrew Lycett’s Ian Fleming: The Man Behind James Bond and Ben Macintyre’s For Your Eyes Only: Ian Fleming and James Bond.

You can also read my Crime Beat column on the Ian Fleming and James Bond phenomenon via the below link:

http://www.pauldavisoncrime.com/2010/06/casino-royale-revisited-film-that.html 

And of of course you should also read Ian Fleming’s James Bond thrillers and The James Bond Omnibus.
 

 

 

Once A Prince Of The City: Former NYPD Detective And Crime Writer Robert Leuci On Why Good Cops Go Bad

Robert Leuci, a former New York City detective and subject of the book and film, Prince of the City, was interviewed by a local TV news reporter in Rhode Island about police corruption.

Leuci, who became a crime writer after retiring from the NYPD, explained why and how good cops can go bad.

You can watch the video via the below link:

http://www2.turnto10.com/jar/news/i_team/article/i-team_what_makes_good_cops_go_bad/36158/

 
Leuci has written several crime novels, including Odessa Beach and Captain Butterfly, as well as a memoir of his days as a police officer called All of the Centurions.

You can read my interview with Robert Leuci via the below link:

http://pauldavisoncrime.blogspot.com/2009/05/once-prince-of-city-interview-with.html


 

Ben Macintyre, the author of Operation Mincement and other books on espionage, on five great spy books

Ben Macintyre, a London Times columnist and author of several books on espionage, including his latest, Operation Mincemeat: How a Dead Man and a Bizarre Plan Fooled the Nazis and Assured an Allied Victory, offered his list of five great books on espionage.

 

 

You can read the piece via the link below:

 

http://fivebooks.com/interviews/ben-macintyre-on-spies

 

Macintyre is a very good writer and he is very knowledgeable of the history of espionage, and although I love the Brit spy thriller writers, especially Ian Fleming, I don't agree with his assessment that American spy thriller writers don't compare to the British.

 

I offer Charles McCarry's Tears of Autumn and Richard Condon's The Manchurian Candidate as but two examples of American spy thrillers that can stand along side the great British spy thrillers.
 

 

Below is a link to a previous post on Macintyre's Operation Mincemeat:

 

http://pauldavisoncrime.blogspot.com/2010/01/operation-mincemeat-true-story-that.html

 

Below are the links to my interview with Macintyre about his book Agent ZigZag, which is about one of the most daring double agents in World War II, Eddie Chapman:

 

http://greathistory.com/agent-zigzag-the-story-of-one-of-wwiis-most-daring-double-agents.htm

 

http://greathistory.com/agent-zigzag-the-story-of-one-of-world-war-iis-most-daring-double-agents-part-ii.htm

 

http://greathistory.com/agent-zigzag-the-story-of-one-of-world-war-iis-most-daring-double-agents-part-iii.htm

 

My On Crime And Security Column: The Times Square Car Bomb Lesson, If You See Something, Say Something

The online small business magazine Businessknowhow.com published my On Crime & Security column today.

The column covers the Times Square car bomb lesson: if you see something, say something.

Thankfully, two street vendors adhered to the crime prevention slogan and flagged a mounted cop when they encountered the suspicious SUV parked near their vendor carts.

You can read my column via the below link:

http://www.businessknowhow.com/security/timessquare.htm

Since writing my column, the FBI have arrested a suspect, Faisal Shahzad, a naturalized U.S. citizen born in Pakistan.

Below are some photos of Times Square, the two street vendors, and the NYPD mounted cop:
 
Above is a photo of Lance Orton, one of the two alert street vendors, and below is a photo of the other vendor, Duane Jackson.


Below is a photo of NYPD officer, Wayne Rhatigan.

On Yankee Station: A Look Back At The Aircraft Carrier USS Kitty Hawk During The Vietnam War, 1970-1971

My role in the Vietnam War was a minor one.

I served as an 18-year-old seaman on the aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk.

The Kitty Hawk performed combat operations on "Yankee Station" off the coast of Vietnam in 1970 and 1971. During the Kitty Hawk's Vietnam deployment, the carrier's aircraft dropped a record 22, 540, 051 tons of ordnance on the enemy.

We brought it to the North Vietnamese and the Viet Cong positions, military installations and supply routes in support of American and South Vietnamese troops.

Air combat operations are fast-paced and precarious as the carrier launches and recovers aircraft around the clock. With vast amounts of jet fuel, bombs, missiles and rockets on board, an accident or a fire on a carrier can be a truly deadly affair.

Although we put in hard, long and dangerous hours, we knew our constant pounding of the communists kept our brothers "in-country" alive. And thanks in part to naval air power, we never lost a battle over company strength during the entire course of the war.

Below are some photos of the USS Kitty Hawk's air operations. The pages are from my 1970-1971 cruise book:

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'm proud of the small role I played on this great warship.

The USS Kitty Hawk retired from active duty on January 31, 2009.

You can read my Counterterrorism magazine piece on the Vietnam War via the below link:

http://www.pauldavisoncrime.com/2012/02/look-back-at-vietnam-war-and-lessons.html

Note: You can click on the above photos to enlarge.