Harry G. Summers Jr. (May 6, 1932 – November 14, 1999) is best known as the author of an analysis of the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam a ...

, ''On Strategy: A Critical Analysis of the Vietnam War'' (1982). An

infantry Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and mar ...

colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge o ...

in the

US Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

, he had served as a squad leader in the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

and as a

battalion A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of 300 to 1,200 soldiers commanded by a lieutenant colonel, and subdivided into a number of companies (usually each commanded by a major or a captain). In some countries, battalions a ...

and

corps Corps (; plural ''corps'' ; from French , from the Latin "body") is a term used for several different kinds of organization. A military innovation by Napoleon I, the formation was first named as such in 1805. The size of a corps varies great ...

operations officer in the Vietnam War. Summers was also an instructor and Distinguished Fellow at the Strategic Studies Institute at the

US Army War College The United States Army War College (USAWC) is a U.S. Army educational institution in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, on the 500-acre (2 km2) campus of the historic Carlisle Barracks. It provides graduate-level instruction to senior military officer ...

in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, and served on the negotiation team for the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

at the end of the Vietnam War. Aside from his books, Summers wrote a syndicated national newspaper column on national security affairs for the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...

'' and was the editor of ''

Vietnam Magazine ''Vietnam Magazine'' is a full-color history magazine published bi-monthly which covers the Vietnam War. It was founded in 1988 by the late Colonel Harry G. Summers, Jr. Colonel Summers served in the U.S. Army in both Korea and Vietnam, where he w ...

''. He was also a frequent speaker at colleges, lectures, and debates. During

Operation Desert Storm Operation or Operations may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity * Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory * ''Operations'' (magazine), Multi-Ma ...

, Summers served as a

color commentator A color commentator or expert commentator is a sports commentator who assists the main ( play-by-play) commentator, typically by filling in when play is not in progress. The phrase "colour commentator" is primarily used in Canadian English and ...

and analyst on the ongoing live network news broadcasts and for a time became a familiar face to the television viewers. In 1992, he wrote a book on the

Gulf War The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a Coalition of the Gulf War, 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Ba'athist Iraq, ...

, ''On Strategy II: A Critical Analysis of the Gulf War''.

Selected bibliography

Books

''On Strategy: A Critical Analysis of the Vietnam War''
Harry G. Summers, Presidio press, 1982, , (225 pages)
''On Strategy II: A Critical Analysis of the Gulf War''
Harry G. Summers, Dell, 1992, , (302 pages)
''Historical Atlas of the Vietnam War''
Harry G Summers, Stanley Karnow, Houghton Mifflin Co, 1995 , (224 pages)
''The New World Strategy: A Military Policy for America's Future''
Harry G. Summers, Simon & Schuster, 1995, , (270 pages)
''Persian Gulf War Almanac''
Harry G. Summers, Facts on File, 1995, , (301 pages)
''The Vietnam War Almanac''
Harry G. Summers, Presidio/Ballantine Books, 1999, , (432 pages)
''Korean War Almanac''
Harry G. Summers Jr., Replica Books, 1999, , (348 pages)
''On Strategy: The Vietnam War in Context''
Harry G Summers Jr., Lightning Source Inc, 2002, , (152 pages)

Book contributions

''Desert Storm''
edited by Military History Magazine, with Foreword By Harry Summers Jr., Howell Press, 1991, , (176 pages)
''Phoenix and the Birds of prey: Counterinsurgency and Counterterrorism in Vietnam''
Mark Moyar, Contributor Harry G. Summers Jr., Published by U of Nebraska Press, 2007 , (496 pages)

Other

''Principles of War: The American Genesis''
Reprint of Major (later Colonel) Edward S. Johnston's 1934 article, ''The Science of War'' with introduction and commentary by Colonel Wallace P. Franz, Infantry and Colonel Harry G. Summers Jr., Infantry.

External links

*

* (archived from ttp://web.nps.navy.mil/FutureWarrior/Remarks/Pang-Sum.html the originalon 2006-12-12)
Small Wars Journal review of On Strategy
{{DEFAULTSORT:Summers, Harry G. Jr. 1932 births 1999 deaths American military writers United States Army officers United States Army personnel of the Korean War United States Army personnel of the Vietnam War United States Army War College faculty 20th-century American non-fiction writers