ABSTRACT
General Johnson was a veteran of the Second World War Bataan Death March and long-time captive of the Japanese who had—through talent, courage, and incredible industry—fought his way back to professional prominence. Under the circumstances General Harold K. Johnson set out to devise, and then to gain acceptance for, an approach to the war in Vietnam that was radically at variance with what he saw taking place there. Two men who were with Johnson at Leavenworth were particularly important in terms of the PROVN Study, Colonel Richard Clutterbuck of the British Army and Colonel Jasper J. Wilson. The resultant PROVN Study was conducted by ten carefully chosen and talented officers of diverse backgrounds and experience, two of whom eventually became four-star generals. The PROVN Study's results were published on 1 March 1966. PROVN was very clear on what that object was, "a free and independent non-communist nation.".
