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| Ellsberg on the cover of The Time dated July 5, 1971. |
VietNamNet – The second part of the story of Daniel Ellsberg was published on the occasion of the country’s unification day. Among the two-thirds of Vietnamese people who were born after the Vietnam War, not many know this man.
Graduating from Harvard University with a BA Summa cum Laude in Economics in 1952, at the age of 21, the young Daniel Ellsberg continued to study for two years at two other reputed universities, Cambridge and Princeton. After that, though he was accepted to study for a doctoral degree at Harvard University, Ellsberg decided to pursue a military career by joining the US Marine Corps.
Abandoning selected career for…
After three years in the Marine Corps, Ellsberg returned to Harvard University to continue his studies and received a PhD in economics with his essay, titled “Risk, Ambiguity and Decision”. After that, Ellsberg returned to the army and became an analyst for the RAND corporation, then a consultant for the Department of Defence, a consultant for the White House about nuclear weapon-related issues and crisis, and special assistant to the Undersecretary of Defence.
Ellsberg knew that the Marine Corps had three special task forces specialising in preventing nuclear war. That had been the reason for his enlistment.
“I want to be a dedicated soldier in the cold war, a professional soldier,” he said.
You surely took pains when you decided to oppose against a whole system that you had decided to devote your career life, didn’t you?
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| Ellsberg with helicopters in 1966. |
“I was a high-ranking officer. My direct superior was the undersecretary and the secretary of defence. I was among a few people who knew the top secret issues of the Pentagon. I was one of a few people who completely and systematically understand the story. There are fewer people like me who passed different areas in Vietnam to understand the essence of the matter. That’s why I decided to do that thing”.
Which was: He secretly made photocopies of 7,000 pages of top-secret documents about the Vietnam War of the Secretary of Defence at the time, Robert McNamara – documents that showed the horrible deception of American soldiers, American people and the whole world in order to escalate the war.
I’ve seen Vietnam
According to Ellsberg, the Vietnam War didn’t begin in the 1960s as many think. Immediately after the 2nd World War and the return of the French to Vietnam, this country had to struggle against the money and weapons of the US.
While Ellsberg was in the army, on May 8, 1954, his superior officer stated: “Let’s clean your guns because Dien Bien Phu fell”.
On April 16, 1954, Richard Nixon (US Vice President at that time) announced: “We may have to send our troops to Vietnam to save the French soldiers from a complete defeat”.
But when reading documents about the Vietnam War, his first year in the military, Ellsberg realised that the French didn’t have any chance to win the battle, and it was the same for the US. The opportunity was zero.
In the talk he several times mentioned Tran Ngoc Chau as a friend that he has respect for knowledge. Showing a photo of him and Mr Tran Ngoc Chau taken in 1967, he said: “Chau was the governor of Kien Hoa, but his brother was a high-ranking intelligence officer of the other side. Chau was a close friend of President Nguyen Van Thieu but finally he was imprisoned by Mr Thieu. As I know the real reason was Chau’s accusation of Thieu’s corruption”.
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| Performing prestidigitation for rural children in 1966. |
In 1966 Ellsberg and American Ambassador Henry Cabot Lodge went to the central region of Vietnam, where had a demonstration of Buddhists. He recalled: “I saw Buddhists, including monks, women and children place altars on the road and sitting around them. When tanks of the Saigon army reached, they stopped and soldiers seemed to want to join the demonstration of Buddhists. The day after that, tanks of American soldiers pulverised the altars. The demonstrators, including monks, were arrested and tortured. The remaining went to jungle to join VC”.
“When I saw the war as a problem, I tried to help deal with it. When I realised it as a standstill, I tried to help the US to escape from it. When I found out that it was a crime, I had to publish and oppose it, and had to try to end it as soon as possible”.
In his memoirs, Ellsberg recalled that during a court in 1973 and during the working process with lawyers, he had to stop talking for many times to wipe his tears. Lawyers believed that he was so tense, but what is the fact?
“I remembered that morning. I saw the village flooded with smoke, the burning mosquito-net, a carbonised house foundation, an old woman picked up a red glass from the cinders, a little girl held a burnt doll… I saw Vietnam.”
The woman who walk abreast through the most hazardous stretch of road
How about your family? Did they support or not support your provision of top-secret documents for newspapers?
My ex-wife, Carol, was very, very angry. But two children of mine completely supported me. My current website is designed by my eldest son, Robert.
Ellsberg met Carol Cummings and married her in 1951 when the two were studying at Harvard. In 1964, Carol asked for divorce. They have a son, Robert Boyd, 50, and a daughter, Mary Caroll, 47.
“Patricia has gone with me through the most hazardous stretch of road, the days of hiding, distributing secret documents and at court,” he said.
Patricia Marx and Ellsberg met on April 17, 1965, in the first large-scale demonstration of the Union of Students for Democracy, protesting the Vietnam War. They got married in 1970.
On the day he decided to release the documents to the press. Ellsberg understood that he was doing a risky thing for his life and his new wife. So he decided to share the news with his wife. He gave her several days of the documents. In the next morning, he saw a Patricia dripped with tears. She said: “You must do it”.
In HCM City, the 75-year-old man still mentioned his wife proudly and caressly.
I was arrested last year…
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| Ellsberg handcuffed on November 23, 2005 in front of the farm of the US President. |
How do you live now?
Sometimes I worked as guest lecturers. Many place invite me to talk about history and the war. But most of my time is spent on anti-war.
US newspapers published photos of Ellsberg handcuffed by police on December 10, 2002, at a demonstration against the Iraq War at the door of the United Nations headquarters in New York.
You have been arrested 70 times since 1971?
The latest was last November when we pitched camp in front of a farm of President Bush in Crawford, Texas to protest the Iraq War.
For what offence?
Police accused us of illegally penetrating into others’ land and pitch camp at banned area. Today, when I’m here, I’ve not stood trial for that crime.
You said “us”, do you belong to any organization?
Completely no. I have friends but we don’t join any organization.
Arrested on the same day with Ellsberg were 13 other people. Among them were Mary A. Wright, former US Vice Ambassador to Mongolia, who joined hands in establishing the office of American ambassador in Afghanistan under the role of a political counselor. He resigned on March 19, 2003 to oppose the Iraw War. Mary Wright said: “Ellsberg advised me to not resign but stay at the position and struggle. It’s more effective”. That’s the way Ellsberg did before.
He gave me a name: Cindy Sheehan, a mother whose son died in battle in Iraq. She asked to meet with President Bush but she was refused. He joined the camping with Ellsberg in Crawford last November. That’s the portrait of some new friends of Ellsberg.
The meeting in HCM City was very short. The morning of the next day, the 75-year-old soldier left HCM City to Cambodia. He was the one who saw at the beginning the US’ decision to expand the war to this country.
Bui Van | 
