Converted to EAD3 : Encoded Archival Description (EAD), Version 3 : Release: 1.1.1 : Release Date: 2019-12-16. Validating against latest version of schema.
Contact information: http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/mss.contact
Catalog Record: https://lccn.loc.gov/mm93080429
Collection material in English
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the LC Catalog. They are grouped by name of person or organization, by subject or location, and by occupation and listed alphabetically.
The papers of Neil Sheehan, author and journalist, were deposited in the Library of Congress by Sheehan between 1990 and 1994. The papers deposited before 1993 were processed as the Vann-Sheehan Vietnam War Collection, and the John Paul Vann papers, principally in Containers 25-57, were converted to a gift in 1994. Included in the Vann-Sheehan Vietnam War Collection is a compilation of
The papers of Neil Sheehan were processed in 1993 and 1994. The finding aid was revised in 2009.
A description of the Vann-Sheehan Vietnam War Collection portion of the Sheehan Papers appeared in
Items have been transferred from the Manuscript Division to other custodial divisions of the Library. Some maps have been transferred to the Library's Geography and Map Division. Sound recordings of interviews have been transferred to the Motion Picture, Broadcasting, and Recorded Sound Division. Some photographs have been transferred to the Prints & Photographs Division. All transfers are identified in these divisions as part of the Neil Sheehan Papers.
Copyright in the unpublished writings of Neil Sheehan in these papers and in other collections in the custody of the Library of Congress is reserved. Consult reference staff in the Manuscript Division for further information.
Restrictions apply governing the use, photoduplication, or publication of items in this collection. Consult reference staff in the Manuscript Division for information concerning these restrictions. In addition, many collections are stored off-site and advance notice is needed to retrieve these items for research use.
Government regulations control the use of security classified items in this collection. Manuscript Division staff can furnish information concerning access to and use of classified material.
Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: Container number, Neil Sheehan Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
The Neil Sheehan Papers span the years circa 1920-1993 with the bulk of the material ranging from 1960 to 1993. The collection is organized into two series. Material relating to Sheehan's prize-winning history,
The Vann-Sheehan Vietnam War Collection includes publication records
for
The biographical element of
Papers documenting Vann's military career primarily concern his service in Vietnam as an army lieutenant colonel appointed senior advisor to the South Vietnamese army (ARVN) in the Mekong River delta. Reports and memoranda for the Ap Bac battle and Dan Tien operations in 1962-1963, along with Vann's correspondence and press accounts by Sheehan and David Halberstam, document Vann's criticism of the South Vietnamese government and armed forces and his advocacy of political reform and direct military intervention by the United States. Viewed with increasing disfavor by the American command staff, Vann retired from the army soon after completing his Vietnam tour of duty in 1963.
The war remained a central concern for Vann, and in 1965 when American combat troops were sent to fight in southeast Asia, he joined the action as a State Department pacification official. Vann's Agency for International Development records document his work with the pacification program from 1965 to 1972. Vann and his colleagues wanted to "harness" a social revolution to the United States war effort, and their proposals (see especially, "Harnessing the Revolution" in container 48), policy statements, reports, training manuals, and correspondence document the instruction given to the Vietnamese in self-defense, fighting insurgents, intelligence gathering, and suggestions for efficient representative government.
Vann's quick rise through the ranks of the pacification program was based on his grasp of military objectives and his extensive field knowledge of war developments. In 1971 he was appointed to an unprecedented civilian command of troops defending the Central Highlands against a long-awaited attack by North Vietnamese regular forces. Records for the defense of Kontum, Plieku, and other battles of the North Vietnamese army's 1972 Easter offensive are in the Vann subseries, Region II files. Supplemental documentation can be found in the Vietnam subseries under North Vietnam offensives and the Individuals subseries in files for soldiers who worked with Vann to defend the Central Highlands.
Sheehan's primary sources on the Vietnam War for
Sheehan's Research File of papers from military and civilian personnel includes government memoranda and documents, letters, orders, command guidance, and studies dealing with Vann and the Vietnam War. Richard Ziegler gave his journal documenting the ARVN Seventh Infantry Division in 1962-1963, and Daniel Ellsberg provided Sheehan with copies of reports and position papers, as did other RAND analysts such as Charles Benoit. Papers were contributed by Tran Ngoc Chau, a Vietnamese politician who was tried for treason by the Nguyen Van Thieu government in South Vietnam. Sheehan also obtained reports from Vann's commanders and copies of documents from various archives. Fellow news correspondents, especially David Halberstam, gave Sheehan copies of interview notes. These materials, along with Sheehan's notes and clippings, are distributed by subject throughout the Research File .
While writing
The Professional File in the collection documents Sheehan's broader career as a journalist and author. The Books and Articles subseries contains publication records and research files. Material relating to
The
The
The United Press International–Indochina subseries includes business records of the Saigon bureau but is predominately a file of Sheehan's dispatches from South Vietnam for 1962-1964. Sheehan's dispatches are in the form of telegraphic transmissions some of which are coded. As a cost-saving measure, routine news was sent by cast account; urgent stories and bulletins were sent as cables. The dispatches offer a detailed record of war reporting during the period when United States advisors, including John Paul Vann, assisted the South Vietnamese government in combating insurgents.
Vietnamese names in the collection are alphabetized by the last part of the given name. The family name is the first element, as in Ngo and Vo for Ngo Dinh Diem and Vo Nguyen Giap. Sheehan followed tradition in referring to the Vietnamese by the last part of their given names, as in Diem and Giap. His alphabetization has been preserved even though it differs from name authority standards of the Library of Congress which cite family names first.
The collection is arranged in twelve series:
Drafts by Sheehan for
Arranged alphabetically by type of material or subject.
Correspondence to and from Vann and occasionally to and from Sheehan concerning Vann.
Arranged alphabetically by name of correspondent or subject.
Correspondence, legal and financial papers, photographs, school and church papers, death and funeral records, and clippings arranged alphabetically by subject or type of material.
Vann's service records, including personnel and efficiency reports, medical and military police investigation records, photographs, promotion orders, security clearances, and teaching records. Records from the Seventh Infantry Division, Army of the Republic of Vietnam, include after-action reports, briefings, correspondence, clippings, interviews, and photographs. Interspersed in the files are notes and material composed by Sheehan, including correspondence.
Arranged alphabetically by subject or type of material.
Correspondence, personnel records, printed material, clippings, and records of security reviews during Vann's employment by the Martin Company, Denver, Colo., and correspondence and printed matter concerning his political activities and speaking engagements.
Arranged alphabetically by subject.
Correspondence, memoranda, reports, briefings, photographs, position papers, policy statements, planning guides, printed material and clippings, training manuals, and other administrative records of Vann's work as a pacification officer for AID in South Vietnam, 1965-1972. Also includes Vann's diaries and notebooks, most of which are incomplete, award certificates, personnel records, and speech transcripts. Notes and correspondence by Sheehan are interfiled with Vann's papers.
Arranged alphabetically by subject.
Notes by Sheehan, clippings, photographs, and printed material concerning Vann.
Arranged alphabetically by subject.
Correspondence, notebooks, journals, position and strategy papers, briefings, after-action reports, general reports, book and article manuscripts and other writings, trial transcripts, interview notes, maps, photographs, press releases, administrative records, training guidelines, and printed material collected by Sheehan, together with his notes. Material concerns individuals involved in the Vietnam War and background to the conflict in world history.
Arranged alphabetically by name of individual and thereunder by subject or type of material.
Printed matter, maps, photographs, and notes by Sheehan concerning Vietnamese history.
Arranged alphabetically by subject or type of material.
Notes by Sheehan and material he collected including reports, article manuscripts, clippings and other printed material.
Arranged alphabetically by subject.
Notes by Sheehan on interviews, documents, and other sources compiled in spiral notebooks.
Arranged as numbered by Sheehan. A card index and inventory are placed at the beginning of the series.
Typed summaries of selected interviews recorded by Sheehan on audiocassette tapes, with occasional annotations by Sheehan. Arranged alphabetically by name of person interviewed.
Documents collected by Sheehan from the Ellsworth Bunker Papers, the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library, the Pentagon Papers, and the State Department.
Arranged alphabetically according to source.
Issues of the early bird edition of
Organized by year and month.
Drafts, research files, interviews, and notes for Sheehan's 1992 book
Files are arranged alphabetically by title, thereunder by document type or subject.
Fact sheets, information kits, press releases, printed matter, photographs, reports, statements, and other background material collected in the course of Sheehan's work as a reporter, along with his byline clippings and copy submissions, correspondence, memoranda, and notes.
Files are arranged alphabetically by assignment as Defense Department correspondent, Metropolitan desk staff, Indonesia correspondent, office files, Vietnam correspondent, and White House correspondent. Thereunder, folders are arranged alphabetically by subject or name of person. The office files are general in nature and include chronological files of byline clippings, copy submissions, correspondence, memoranda, notes, and miscellaneous items, such as records of speeches and public appearances.
An office file of background material, correspondence, financial records, notes, and carbon copies of dispatches from Sheehan's tenure as bureau chief in Saigon, South Vietnam.
Files are arranged alphabetically by subject or type of material and chronologically thereunder.
Interview notes and summaries of taped interviews, along with audiocassette tapes, and subject files for Vann family members and other designated persons.
Organized alphabetically by type of material and thereunder by name.
Vann-Sheehan Vietnam War Collection material including photographs, award certificates, and maps.
Organized and described according to the series, box, and folder from which the items were removed.
Material containing security classified information organized and described according to the series, container, and folder from which the items were removed.
Material containing top secret information.
Organized and described according to the series, container, and folder from which the items were removed.