Episode Details

In this episode, host Lewis Sorley speaks to Rufus Phillips, author of the recently published "Why Vietnam Matters." Phillips was among the earliest American advisers in Vietnam, becoming a member of the Saigon Military Mission in 1954. At the request of President Kennedy, in 1962 he organized and led a special counterinsurgency effort in the U.S. Agency for International Development??s Saigon Mission, called Rural Affairs. Phillips was involved with all echelons of the Vietnamese government, including President Diem.