"The Fall of An Empire" to "The Lost Cruside" and "The Best and the Brightest"

A no work day. I continued to read "The Lost Crusade: America in Vietnam" by Chester Copper, published in 1970. Mentioned in "Embers of War: The Fall of An Empire and the Making of America's Vietnam" by Frederik Logeval, the book is another fountain of knowledge about the war. Now, LBJ announced his decision not to seek another term. Cooper tells me there were secret French (with Henry Kissinger as a principal actor)/Polish/Romanian channels for talks between the US and North Vietnam, all of which failed. Depending on the work volume I may have tomorrow, I should be able to finish this book and take up, after so many years, "The Best and the Brightest (1972)" by David Halberstam.
Where are you, Lessie? I'm looking for you. Shame on you.