VcriTAW, a Toi;b:KiAkiser Continued From Page 1, Col. 2 his ideas that had been un- popular in the 1960's, Mr. In Vietnam, Dies in Crash. employe, his death was an- Vann's influence climbed. On nounced immediately. a visit to the United States several months ago, he spent Former Officer, 47, Had two hours briefing ]?resident Career. Approached Legend Nixon on the course of the war. Spent More Than Decade By PAUL L. MONTGOMERY A few days ago in South In a war largely without he- Vietnam a friend was talking With Saigon's Forces roes, John Paul Vann was one about Mr. Vann. "John is too of the few men in South Viet- good," he said. "When he fi- nam whose career approached nally gets killed, and he will Special to legend. be one of these days, I shudder SAIGON, , Sat- From the time he arrived to think what will happen to urday, June 10 — John Paul there in 1,962 as a young lieu., those people he's been advising. Vann, a senior American ad- tenant colonel to advise a He has come closer to being the viser and one of the most expe- South Vietnamese division un- indispensible man than any rienced United States officials til his death as one of Ameri- other American in Vietnam, and ca's highest ranking civilians, that's a very dangerous thing." ever stationed in South Viet- he attracted a devoted circle of John Paul Vann was born nam, was killed in a friends, caught by his frank- in Roanoke, Virginia, on July crash last night. ness, his personal bravery, the 2, 1924. At the age of 18 he Mr. Vann, whose work with depth of his knowledge and his enlisted in the Army Air Force, enthusiasm for the Vietnamese spending the latter part of South Vietnamese forces people. spanned more than a decade, World War II as a navigator While his friends included of a B-29. was 47 years old. He was ap- many who turned against the After the war, he began parently checking the develop- war or who were against it to training in the paratroops, then ing military situation on his begin 'With,. Mr. Vann could the service most attractive to way to Kontum in the Central • The New York Times never have been considered a ambitious young officers. Al- dove. His harshest criticisms, Highlands yesterday when the John Paul Vann though he was not a West Point angering superiors and allies man, and did not come from helicopter in which he was fly- alike, were reserved for what an Army family, he worked his ing crashed in flames. been under siege by an enemy he considerdd failures to pros- way up through drive and dedi- It seemed probable that the division for several weeks. ecute the war properly. cation. Thereafter contact was lost. "My entire goddamned in- In 1950, he went to helicopter had been shot down volvement here has been to try by one of the strong North A search operation by Amer- a , commanding the first to bring sortie reason and jus- airborne ranger company to be Vietnamese units reportedly op- ican and supporting tice to our effort," he said in aircraft was begun and South sent into action. Much of the erating near the crash site in an interview last year. "One company's work was behind the II Military Region, where Vietnamese troops at Fire Base thing is goddamned sure. I'll enemy lines, and Mr. Vann ac- 41, about 10 miles north of never be able to get a job any- quired his life-long interest in lie was assigned. where else." A spokesman of the Ameri- Pleiku on Route 13, told the guerrilla warfare and counter- Mr. Vann's last position—as insurgency. can command said Mr. Vann Americans they had seen a director of the United States helicopter go down in flames. After Korea, Captain Vann took off in a light helicopter Second Regional Assistance went to as from his base at Pleiku at 9:15 The crash site was found Group, in the Central Highlands assistant professor of military P.M. for the short flight to soon afterward and the bodies —was virtually without paral- science and tactics in the lel in South Vietnam, largely Kontum, about miles to the of all three occupants of the R.O.T.C. program. He also helicopter were recovered. because of his personal pres- studied at night and gat his north. With him were two tige and influence. B.S. degree from Rutgers in Americans, an Army pilot and The identities of the pilot and the accompanying officer were Had Wide Authority 1954. Through the Army, he an Army officer. Although he was technically went to Soon after leaving Pleiku, withheld pending notification for further study, and got an of their families, but since Mr only the senior adviser in the Mr. Vann's helicopter was heard . area, with rank equivalent to M.A. in business administration radioing for landing instruc- Vann was a State Department general, his authority in 1959. He acquired enough often seemed to exceed that of credits for a Ph.D. in public tions at Komtum, which has Continued on Page 11, Column 1 administration, but could never the South Vietnamese lieu- write a thesis that satisfied tenant general in command. him. In the last few years, Mr. In 1962, a lieutenant colonel, Vann became more dedicated he volunteered to go to South to the war and the possibility Vietnam, where the American of "winning" , it. This is what military 'involvement was still he said in an interview in May, on an advisory level. He was 1971: attached to the South Vietnam- "Actually, the whole nature ese Seventh Division in the Me- of the war has changed. It kong Delta and soon estab- once was quite clearly a rebel- lished a reputation as one of lion. There is no denying that the most respected American it was externally stimulated officers in the country. and assisted, but it was still a Unlike many South Vietnam- rebellion of the rural popula- ese officers he joined the tion against the existing Gov- troops in battle. To get to know ernment of Vietnam. his territory, he walked over it "The war has now been and criss-crossed it in his jeep. transformed quite clearly into The Vietnamese regarded him a- North Vietnamese invasion. as something of a madman, I frankly anticipate that the driving alone at night over Government is going to be suc- roads the Vietcong were be- cessful, but if it is not success- lieved to control. ful in the political conflict, I, His narrow escapes were as an American, am not going many. Once, a Vietcong patrol to be ashamed that the Govern- attempted to capture his jeep, ment of Vietnam has not been and he fought his way out with, given an adequate chance." his pistol. With the change on his views The young lieutenant colonel and the acceptance of many of began to develop his own ideas

I !about counterinsurgency and A key point was the battle career, as a general officer, fell give him time to spend with 'pacification, most of them run- of Apbac in the first week of into disfavor. When his year's his wife and five children. ning against the conventional tour ended in April, 1963, he wisdom of his Army superiors. 1963. A superior South Viet- 964, he was the Colorado namese force had a Vietcong went to the Pentagon expecting organizer for the unsuccessful One of his arguments was to give a full report, like other battalion surrounded, and then Republican Presidential can- that the massive infusion of returning advisers. He found didacy of Henry Cabot Lodge. American heavy equipment withdrew igdominously rather that nothing was scheduled, and In February, 1965, Mr. Vann then arriving—trucks and heli- than take casualties, allowing began to give presentations on copters and bombs—was only the Vietcong to get away. gave • in to the prime . interest his own. Word of their value in his life and went back to corrupting the South Vietnam- Colonel Vann rallied a mixed got around, and he was sched- ese ground forces into not force of cooks and radiomen South Vietnam as a civilian uled to brief the Joint Chiefs employe of the Agency for In- fighting. and managed to take a few of Staff. "This is a political' war and prisoners, but , the battle was ternational Development. At that time Maj. Gen. Vic- In December, 1966, Mr. it calls for the utmost discrimi- lost. tor Krulak, adviser on Vietnam, nation in killing," he said at Lodge, then the Ambassador in The colonel did not stint in to Secretary McNamara had Saigon, named him head of the time. He believed -that a telling reporters of the defeat, just returned from a trip with knife or rifle was best for the a view that wls unpopular civilian operations in the III a report glowing with optimism Corps in . a command shake-up purp.ose, and that planes and with are commalid in Saigon, about Saigon's progress— artillery were the worst, since which was interested only in intended to stiffen American exactly the opposite of the colo- efforts. they killed many innocent peo- victories. He also prepared a nel's view. ple in a war where the enemy report stating that the pacifi- One of Mr. Vann's causes at was indistinguishable from the cation program was failing be- Briefing Suddenly Canceled the time that made him un- populace. popular with his American su- cause of the lack of aggressive- Two hours before his brief- periors was his support of _Trap Statistics were his passion, ness of the South Vietnamese ing was to begin, it was can- and he did an analysis of the and the corruption of the Sai- Ngoc Chau, a South Vietnamese celed on orders from higher politician jailed by the Thieu casualties the South Vietnam- gon Government. up, Mr. Vann, never known for ese took in defensive positions regime on charges of collabo- This difference in view be- his even temper, resigned from ration with the Communists. as compared with those suf- tween the optimistic command the Army and began giving in- fered in offensive action. He Mr. Vann in his last tour in in Saigon and frustrated offi- terviews on the Vietnamese Vietnam gathered a loyal group was not surprised to find that cers in the field was the be- failures. of followers and staff people most casualties were defensive, ginning of the debate about He went to work for an air- who lived together in a com- showing that American urgings the war that still persists. craft company in Denver, but pound, eating together and to go out on the attack were Colonel Vann, apparently at was not happy out of the little heeded. talking always of Vietnam. the beginning of a promising Army. However, the respite did - He was a shart,intense man

with thinning sandy hair and were always cordial. He was skin that never tanned in the one of the'few American offi- Vietnamese sun, always turning cials who almost always spoke t , out a fiery red. His quick tem- "on hte record," and at times '= per was lengendary; when he he seemed to go out of his way was operating on little sleep to press his views on corre- his angry shouts could be spondents. heard throughout his command Reporters who liked him ; building. feared their quotations of his Mr. Vann recognized that outspoken views would hurt his I many of the tactics he had ad- career. "You never hurt me t.3, vocated in a guerrilla war be- any more than I wanted to be '* came invalid with the North hurt," he said to one. Vietnamese offensive. He high- His last job in the 19 prov- ly approved of the B-52 strikes inces of the Central Highlands in support of fighting in his and central coast, where paci- area, and carefully planned the fication had been lagging, be- k targets each day. gan in May, 1971. With the He seemed, during the last beginning of the North Viet- months, to have begun hating namese offensive in March, he 4, the enemy, especially the flew almost daily to the be- North Vietnamese regular leaguered city of Kontum. t units. He often smiled with sat- April, he flew through gunfire isfaction as he spoke of catch- to rescue American advisers ing large• numbers of enemy trapped in Tancanh. troops in the open and killing Mr. Vann is survived by his great numbers of them. wife, Mary Jane, of Littleton, Earlier, he had usually ex- Colo.; four sons—John, Justice, pressed sympathy for the fallen Thomas and Peter—and a foe, and in the daughter, Mrs. Patricia Buhl of •• had been a major-force in re- Pueblo, Colo. ducing the killing and torture of prisoners. COUNTRY, CAMP, KIDS. His relations with reporters THE FRESH AIR FUND.