Lansdale was also taking quick trips outside of the capital, “away from the protocol,” to talk to South Vietnam’s rural cadres. “This just means,” he told Helen, “that I stay up nights, working, when I get back to Saigon, to make up for the time I take out. Yet, I can’t get a fix on the pulse of this place without getting around first-hand and easing into [the] local situation patiently.”
