“Expendable Elite”

Comments by Darryl Eberhart, Editor of “Tackling the Tough Topics (TTT)” and

“Examining the Tough Issues (ETI)” (Web site: www.toughtopics.net)

Concerning the book: EXPENDABLE ELITE: One Soldier’s Journey into Covert Warfare

Written by Lieutenant Colonel (USASF, Ret.) Daniel Marvin (www.ExpendableElite.com)

(All emphasis is mine unless otherwise noted.)

November 28, 2006

            A 502-page paperback “Victory (2^nd) edition” of Lieutenant Colonel (LTC) Daniel Marvin’s outstanding book EXPENDABLE ELITE: One Soldier’s Journey into Covert Warfare was published in 2006 by TrineDay.  This expanded version of the first edition contains the same numerous black & white photos that were included in that first edition; however, this 2^nd edition contains a whole lot of additional documentation about the lawsuit brought against Daniel Marvin by some of the Special Forces personnel who served with him in Vietnam. It includes articles from various newspapers that covered both the trial and Marvin’s efforts to get his story out to the American people. It also includes copies of written exchanges between Marvin and the Special Forces Association (SFA). The SFA suspended Marvin’s membership in that organization, and accused Marvin of writing a book of “fiction” – made up of “100% lies”.  This editor of the TTT and ETI newsletters highly suspects that certain elements within the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) tried mightily to “suppress” LTC Marvin’s story of covert operations and unconventional warfare while he was serving in the An Phu District in South Vietnam (December 1965 – August 1966), and that this lawsuit was clearly intended to “financially break” Marvin and his book publisher in their efforts to tell Marvin’s story!  Despite the fact that some key evidence from the defense team was not allowed to be submitted, the jury deliberated only about two hours in rendering a verdict that denied all the plaintiffs’ claims!

The book EXPENDABLE ELITE is the STORY of the personal experiences of a then-Captain in the U.S. Army Special Forces, “Dangerous Dan” Marvin, in the An Phu District of South Vietnam from December 1965 to 2 August 1966. It is also the STORY of the following:

• Tremendous courage on the part of “Dangerous Dan” Marvin, South Vietnamese Special Forces Major Phoi Van Le, Marvin’s Special Forces “A Team”, their South Vietnamese Special Forces counterparts, regional forces, and the irregular forces composed of the Hoa Hao (a Buddhist sect) whom they commanded – tremendous courage exhibited often in the face of a vastly numerically superior enemy with much greater fire power.
• The author’s deep respect and admiration for South Vietnamese Special Forces Major Phoi Van Le – a warrior whom “Dangerous Dan” Marvin considers “the most courageous, honorable and compassionate military leader” that he has ever known.
• The author’s deep respect and admiration for the courage, honor, and strong family ties of the Hoa Hao people – and for their great ability to withstand and endure hardship.
• Tremendous frustration on the part of the defenders of the An Phu District (from then-Captain Marvin and Major Phoi Van Le to the junior officers and the noncommissioned officers) concerning the free movement of arms and ammunition destined for the enemy along the river on the Cambodian-South Vietnamese border, and concerning the enemy’s sanctuaries several kilometers inside the Cambodian border – sanctuaries that the top levels of both the U.S. government and U.S. Army allowed to exist.
• Horrific betrayal of America’s fighting men, their South Vietnamese counterparts, regional forces, and the Hoa Hao irregular forces by the politicians in Washington, D.C. – forcing them to fight a war with “one hand tied behind their backs”.
• The “good, bad and ugly” (as “Dangerous Dan” Marvin describes it) of covert warfare.
• The request of the “Company” man (i.e., a CIA agent) to then-Captain Marvin to assassinate Cambodian Crown Prince Sihanouk and Marvin’s later refusal (when his and Major Le’s request for ending the enemy’s sanctuaries in Cambodia was denied).
• The attempted “extermination” of Marvin and his Special Forces A-Team members, Major Le, and the other defenders in the An Phu District by a South Vietnamese armored regiment – retribution for refusing the Sihanouk assassination mission from the CIA.

Here are some great quotes from LTC (USASF, Ret.) Daniel Marvin’s book:

            “When a 32 year-old Green Beret Captain refuses to abandon his friends and principles, he and his men become the enemy.  An armored regiment of ARVN [Ed. Note: the Army of the Republic of Vietnam – the South Vietnamese Army] soldiers along with US advisors is dispatched to…‘take control’.

            A story suppressed for years, Expendable Elite gives unique insights into the use of Special Forces in unconventional warfare, something that has become commonplace in today’s conflicts.

            As the first Special Forces Commander given the TOP SECRET assignment to take the war to neutral Cambodia, ‘Dangerous Dan’ Marvin gives you an insider’s view into that world where ‘independent operations’ mix with shadowy intrigue.”

            Back Cover of the book EXPENDABLE ELITE

            “Isn’t it a sad state of affairs when so many walk in fear of the CIA?”

LTC Daniel Marvin (EXPENDABLE ELITE; Page 397)

            “My primary goal in revealing all of what we did in An Phu under the umbrella of an ‘Independent Operation’ was to motivate people within the Special Warfare Center, the CIA, and DOD [Ed. Note: the Department of Defense] to develop and establish a control system that would preclude other Special Forces personnel from being placed in the same precarious operational circumstance that came close to bringing about the massacre of my men and those South Vietnamese under my control.” – LTC Daniel Marvin (EXPENDABLE ELITE; Page 397)

            “The betrayal of South Vietnam was the bitterest and most traumatic experience of my life.” – Thomas Polgar (CIA’s last Chief of Station in South Vietnam) (EXPENDABLE ELITE; Page 398)

This book provides a fascinating look into the role of the U.S. Army Special Forces in Vietnam, as well as into the world of covert warfare.  Every American should become aware of the unconscionable betrayal of our U.S. fighting men in Vietnam by the U.S. government and the top brass of the U.S. Army.  The cost of this betrayal was great: an unnecessary increase in U.S. and South Vietnamese casualties, and the abandonment of the people of South Vietnam!

            A copy of this 502-page paperback book is $25.00 postpaid (priority mail), or $23.00 postpaid (media mail). To order a copy, please make check or money order payable to Daniel Marvin, and mail it to: LTC Daniel Marvin // P.O. Box 538 // Cazenovia, NY 13035-0538.