James Bradley is an American author specializing in historical non-fiction chronicling the Pacific theater of World War II. His father, John Bradley, was involved in the first raising of the American flag on Mount Suribachi during the Battle of Iwo Jima in February 1945.
In 2000, Bradley published Flags of Our Fathers, the book, which spent 46 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list and was made into a film directed by Clint Eastwood.
James spent more than 10 years interviewing hundreds of Vietnamese veterans of the war in Vietnam and wove their stories into Precious Freedom, this riveting historical novel written from the perspective of the Vietnamese.
It was a “peoples war” as described by Uncle Ho (Ho Chi Min) who lived in the USA and the West for 30 years. The “peoples war” involved men, women, young girls and boys, and even the elderly. For them it was a moral war, a war for their sovereignty and freedom. Uncle Ho did not engage the Americans in a head-to-head war, but attacked their weaknesses.
He was a follower of Sun Tzu, and the Art of War, and the secret to victory was to “know your enemy,” and the supreme art of war was to subdue your enemy without fighting.
How is it that the Vietnamese do not hate the Americans for the atrocities they committed, and for the hundreds of thousands of bombs and napalm they dropped on the country? Uncle Ho taught them not to hate because that emotion will impair your ability to fight. He taught that those American boys were not guilty because it was their government who lied to them and sent them there. And, so the Vietnamese never harbored hate in their hearts against the Americans. In fact, they accept Americans today and are seeking friendship with America.
James Bradley, after living among the Vietnamese for more than 10 years, insists that the Vietnamese are the friendliest people he has ever met.
Precious Freedom is a must read for anyone wishing to understand that war from the perspective of “the winners.” It is a riveting story that captures the emotions of the Vietnamese, and their unbridled passion to win their freedom.
Americans could do well to learn from the Vietnamese and why they won, and not to raise all the reasons why they lost in Vietnam, and for that matter in Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, Syria, Lebanon, Yemen, Somalia and everywhere else they have failed.
They lost because it was never about America’s freedom, sovereignty, and independence. America’s wars have all been based on lies!
