Gen. Bernard A. Schriever, "the father of Air Force space and missiles.” (Nat'l Museum of the US Air Force)

The image shown above is from the same shoot that produced a photo which inspired Neil Sheehan to write his new book, A Fiery Peace in a Cold War: Bernard Schriever and the Ultimate Weapon.

Sheehan won a Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award for his previous book, A Bright Shining Lie: John Paul Vann and America in Vietnam, which, when paired with the Ellsberg book I mentioned last week, offers a robust education on our involvement in that war; the two spent much time together in Vietnam, and when Ellsberg ultimately leaked the Pentagon Papers, he did so to Sheehan, who at that point was a reporter for The New York Times. While I'm on this (out-of-the-blue) Vietnam kick, I'd also recommend The Best and the Brightest and The Making of a Quagmire by David Halberstam, Christian Appy's Patriots: The Vietnam War Remembered from All Sides, and The Things They Carried by Tim O'brien.

Click here to read an article from today's Times on Neil Sheehan. A Fiery Peace in a Cold War: Bernard Schriever and the Ultimate Weapon is in book stores this week.