The Arnheiter Affair (1971) By Neil Sheehan
 
In March 1966, off the coast of Viet Nam, Lieutenant Commander Marcus Aurelius Arnheiter was relieved of command of the destroyer escort U.S.S. Vance. He had been her captain for ninety-nine days. The dispute over what happened aboard the Vance during those three months grew into one of the major controversies in the United States Navy in over a decade -- "The Arnheiter Affair." This is the engrossing story.
 
In March 1966, Marcus Aurelius Arnheiter, captain of the USS Vance, a patrol ship stationed off the South Vietnam coast, was relieved of his command by naval authorities after only 99 days, charged with demoralizing his crew, reckless military judgment, and general lack of integrity. Arnheiter -- a man of 42 with a romantic sense of nautical history-- vigorously contested the dismissal at hearings and in the press, countercharging that he was the victim of an ingenious mutiny led by conspiratorial subordinates who were hippie-type degenerates opposed to the war and that, moreover, he was being keelhauled by a "cowardly" naval bureaucracy acting on the basis of malicious rumor and falsehood. Enter reporter NY Times Sheehan, late of l'affaire Pentagon Papers, who initially covered the Arnheiter story for the Times and became so engrossed with the contradictions of the case that he subsequently spent about three months investigating the episode. Was Arnheiter a real-life Captain Queeg? Or was he an innocent, casual sacrifice to an impersonal military? Or was he victimized by an anti-war cabal of mutinous officers?
 
Sheehan's impartial dig into the facts finds Arnheiter guilty and exonerates both the Navy and the men of the Vance. Arnheiter, who enjoyed playing war, fed his superiors false reports; he coerced his executive officer into recommending him for an undeserved medal; he made neurotic demands on his men and officers, driving them to the breaking point with moral-guidance lectures, bizarre accusations, puritan demands (a white toilet seat), fickle orders. Sheehan tells it like a good Times man should -- thoroughly, competently, fairly.
 
Hard Cover with Dust Jacket
304 Pages
In Fair Condition