Most Dangerous: Daniel Ellsberg and the Secret History of the Vietnam War

US Marines arrived in Vietnam with strict orders not to “engage in day-to-day actions against the Viet Cong” (56). However, after three weeks, President Johnson granted permission to “broaden the mission” (56). Lieutenant Philip Caputo led one of the first American patrols on a mission to search a nearby village for Viet Cong fighters. For four hours, they marched through the sweltering jungle. Occasionally, some unseen opponents hiding among the trees fired at them. The village showed no signs of the Viet Cong, and the soldiers completed the long march back, “wonder[ing] if they had accomplished anything” (58).

The situation in Vietnam continued deteriorating, and President Johnson tried unsuccessfully to negotiate with Ho Chi Minh. The North Vietnamese forces were winning, and there was no reason for Ho Chi Minh to back down. Meanwhile, Ellsberg was tasked with speaking to college students in defense of the war. He tried to impress his “Cold War perspective” upon them (60), framing the conflict as an important battle in the fight against communism.

On June 7, 1965, General William Westmoreland, the commander of the US military operation in Vietnam, told Washington that the current US strategy in Vietnam had no “noticeable effect on enemy momentum” (61-62).