Best Of - Neil Sheehan and David Halberstam: Truth Seekers

What It Takes®

Academy of Achievement

Film, Politics, Arts, Self-help, Sports, Society & Culture, Success, Literature, Humanitarian, Military, Social Justice, Technology, Podcast, Achievement, Music, Science

4.6 • 943 Ratings

🗓️ 27 January 2023

⏱️ 59 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Fifty years ago today (January 27, 1973), the United States' military involvement in the Vietnam War came to an end, with the signing of the Paris Peace Accords. We mark that occasion by bringing back our episode on two brave reporters, who risked their lives and their reputations during the war in Vietnam, to reveal the truth to the American people about what was happening there. Both describe here - how and when they realized the United States government was lying about the causes and the scope of the war. And both eloquently explain their views on the role of the journalist as a witness and an adversary of government. Neil Sheehan, who died earlier this month, also talks about his role in exposing the Pentagon Papers in the pages of the New York Times. And he details why he was driven to spend over 13 years writing a definitive history of the war, called "A Bright Shining Lie," which won the Pulitzer Prize. Mr. Halberstam, who won the Pulitzer during the war, went on to write one of the other most important accounts of U.S. involvement in Vietnam: "The Best and the Brightest." (c ) American Academy of Achievement 2021-2023

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Welcome back to what it takes.
0:02.0	The United States ended its involvement in the Vietnam War 50 years ago today.
0:04.0	January. did its involvement in the Vietnam War 50 years ago today, January 27th, 1973.
0:17.0	That's the day the United States signed the Paris Peace Accords, officially called the Agreement on ending the War and
0:25.8	restoring peace in Vietnam. The treaty called for the withdrawal of all US forces
0:31.7	still in South Vietnam within 60 days and the release of all US prisoners of war.
0:38.0	That wasn't the end of the war though for the Vietnamese.
0:41.0	The North and South violated the agreement and went on
0:44.8	fighting until the Communist North won the war two years later. The U.S. may have
0:51.1	gotten out of the war but reverberations from its disastrous engagement
0:55.8	and its military failures continue to this day.
1:00.2	The negotiations that ended in the 1973 Paris Peace Accords took five years and were hostile throughout, to say the least.
1:09.0	Henry Kissinger was the chief negotiator for the US and Laid duct toe for North Vietnam.
1:16.2	The two men were jointly awarded the 1973 Nobel Peace Prize, but Laid duct toe refused to accept the award, and Henry Kissinger did not attend
1:26.4	the award ceremony. Today, to mark the occasion of the Paris Peace Accords, we're bringing
1:32.4	back our episode on two of the most renowned
1:35.5	chroniclers of the history of the war in Vietnam, Neil Sheehan, and David Halberstam.
1:41.9	The episode originally aired two years ago.
1:45.0	Hi again, it's Alice, and this is journalist Neil Sheehan.
1:52.9	We have a unique law in this country
1:55.8	called the First Amendment of the Constitution.
1:59.5	I have always believed that that place places a duty on the American journalist to seek out
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Academy of Achievement, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Academy of Achievement and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.