American author’s spy story evades wrath of Vietnam censors

Like many of his fellow revolutionaries, An was a nationalist fighting for Vietnamese independence, not a Marxist-Leninist ideologue, Berman said. An sincerely hoped that the two sides would reconcile after the war.

When the conflict ended and An’s identity was finally revealed, many of his American friends forgave him despite his deceptions. Most understood his desire to see Vietnam win independence, Berman said, and they respected his journalistic work, which was accurate and insightful.

But the communists became suspicious of him. He had befriended too many Americans and had helped a top South Vietnamese official escape at the end of the war.

The Hanoi authorities sent An to absorb dogma at a communist political institute for a year. They put him under surveillance and prevented him from meeting American friends who tried to visit, Berman said.

Then, when his “studies” were complete, they offered him a job training Vietnamese journalists.

“I thought they were kidding,” An told Berman. “I believed in a free press.”

Instead, An lived out the rest of his days quietly in Ho Chi Minh City as a self-described “house husband.” He became renowned as a trainer of fighting cocks and invested his aspirations in his son, An Pham.

With the help of his old American journalist friends, An raised money to send An Pham to study journalism at the University of North Carolina and law at Duke University.

A historian at the University of California-Davis, Berman is the author of two previous books on the Vietnam War. He met An in 2001 at a dinner in Ho Chi Minh City.

“You’re from California?” said An, who didn’t mention that he was Vietnam’s most famous spy during their lengthy chat. “I spent the two happiest years of my life in California. I’m so glad to see you.”

An spent the entire evening smoking, talking and neglecting his food. Berman found him so fascinating that he canceled a trip to Angkor Wat and spent the next three days chatting with the retired spy.

Five years later, Perfect Spy was published in the U.S.

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