Why I Co-Founded the Ridenhour Prizes for Courageous Truth-telling

Ron Ridenhour touched history when he wrote a letter to Congress and the Pentagon that gave the lie to the Army’s after-action report that declared the slaughter of 504 unarmed My Lai villagers—women, children, and elderly men—a great victory against Viet Cong regulars. In his 1969 letter, Ron concluded:

I remain irrevocably persuaded that if you and I do truly believe in the principles, of justice and the equality of every man, however humble, before the law, that form the very backbone that this country is founded on, then we must press forward a widespread and public investigation of this matter with all our combined efforts. I think that it was Winston Churchill who once said “A country without a conscience is a country without a soul, and a country without a soul is a country that cannot survive.” I feel that I must take some positive action on this matter. I hope that you will launch an investigation immediately and keep me informed of your progress. If you cannot, then I don’t know what other course of action to take.

Written when he was only 23, a soldier home from a war he learned not to believe in, his words haunt the present moment. Their innocent spirit challenge the present moment’s cynicism. My Lai reminds us of the dark things that happen in war. The torture and abuse of prisoners at Abu Ghraib followed the Iraq invasion. What will we ask our soldiers to do in an Iran invasion?

Before sending his eloquent letter, Ron sought counsel from those he most trusted. His Boy Scout leader, his English teacher, and step-father all advised him not to send it. “They’ll fuck with you the rest of your life,” he heard.

They did. Nixon put Ron on his Enemies List along with that other game-changing whistleblower Dan Ellsberg. In an effort to reclaim the country’s conscience and soul Ellsberg wrote and got the Times and Post to publish the Pentagon Papers, a top-secret Department of Defense study revealing that four successive U.S. administrations (Truman to Johnson) systematically misled Congress and the public regarding the Vietnam War, expanding operations while claiming to limit them.

That was back when the Post had a conscience and soul. Nixon took some heat for his Enemies list, now apparently back in vogue.

After a George Polk Award-winning career as an investigative reporter, Ron died suddenly in 1998, just weeks after the 30 anniversary My Lai conference in Indianapolis. At his last talk at Tulane where I taught and got to know him when he’d come to talk to my classes on Literature, Film and the Experience of the Vietnam War, he left us with these words:

What you have to understand about the government is that they lie.

That’s the first thing: they lie. About the big things, about just about every goddamn thing you can think of when it serves their purpose.

Don’t get me wrong. You find honest people in the strangest places. So you never stop looking. But skepticism of a broad and deep range of government claims is a good thing.

Watch his last talk, My Lai and Why It Matters here.

With that search in mind Ham Fish and I founded the Ridenhour Prizes for Courageous Truth-telling.

Dan Ellsberg received the first Ridenhour Courage Prize. Ambassador Joe Wilson who wrote a Times editorial explaining how he had not seen any yellow cake uranium when he served as ambassador to Niger—debunking the Bush administration’s rationale for invading Iraq.

Since then I’ve had often to pinch myself at the distinguished investigative reporters and whistleblowers—all truth-tellers—who have stood at the National Press Club podium to receive the Ridenhour Prize, too many to name. This short video will give you a taste who has been honored and by accepting the Ridenhour Prize have honored Ron’s name.

What it doesn’t show is the audience, often up to 500 people, the cream of the transparency support world that inhabits D.C. who come each spring, they tell me, to get their faith in truth and transparency recharged.

The 21st Ridenhour Prizes will be held April 30 at the National Press Club. Bill Owens and Sharyn Alfonsi of 60 Minutes will share the Courage Prize. Erez Reuveni will receive the Truth-teller Prize for blowing the whistle on DOJ lies urged by acting attorney general Emil Bovi.

All in the name of such an incredible man, Ron Ridenhour, who changed the landscape of reporting and whistleblowing for the world. If you would like to attend this night dedicated to transparency and truth-telling, purchase tickets now!