Neil Sheehan, Pentagon Papers reporter, Vietnam author, dies
His account of the Vietnam War, โA Bright Shining Lie: John Paul Vann and America in Vietnam,โ took him 15 years to write. Sheehan served as a war correspondent for United Press International and then the Times in the early days of U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War in the 1960s. Soon, The Washington Post also began publishing stories about the Pentagon Papers. When Sheehan and Ellsberg bumped into each other in Manhattan in 1971, Ellsberg accused Sheehan of stealing the papers, just as he had. Neil and Susan Sheehan had two daughters, Catherine Bruno, and Maria Gregory Sheehan, both of Washington and two grandsons, Nicholas Sheehan Bruno, 13, and Andrew Phillip Bruno, 11.
Judge OKs limited release of Pentagon Papers case records
โ The government must release some documents that will shed light on two grand juries that sat in Boston nearly 50 years ago to investigate the leak of the Pentagon Papers, a federal judge ruled Tuesday. U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs said in her written decision that she would grant a โlimited disclosureโ of the grand jury materials but not allow the โunfetteredโ access Lepore sought. If the government objects to the release of other documents, it has 60 days to explain why they should stay under wraps, Burroughs said. Burroughs said she was allowing the documents to be released โreluctantly,โ expressing concern it could have โunintended consequences" or open the door to the release of other secret grand jury documents in the future. Among those who supported their release was Daniel Ellsberg, the former government consultant who gave the papers to The New York Times, The Washington Post and other newspapers.