An Uphill Battle against the US Government

As a magazine reporter early in the Vietnam War, Tony Plattner wrote a highly acclaimed fourteen-part series for Aviation Week & Space Technology magazine. It was noted for its accuracy and forecasts of a long-term involvement if the Johnson administration did not change its inept strategy. With his integrity at risk, he fought back tenaciously against the Defense Department’s attempt to convict him first as a criminal under the Espionage Act and later to cashier him prematurely from the Marine Reserve. The resulting decade-long battle was met with ingenuity, grit, determination and support from many sources and resulted in ultimate resolution in his favor.

Clemens M. (Tony) Plattner was born July 29, 1930, in Walker, Minn. After finishing Carleton College in Northfield, Minn., with a BA degree in mathematics, he entered the navy flight training program and became a Marine Corps pilot. After working at the family’s weekly newspaper business for a period, he moved on as a reporter for one of McGraw-Hill’s top magazines, Aviation Week & Space Technology, in 1962. He was sent to Vietnam in the fall of 1965 and spent significant time in the field and flew numerous combat missions as an observer writing his series after returning to the States. He left the magazine in 1970 to join Honeywell Aerospace Co. He served twenty-seven years with Honeywell before retiring from various sales and marketing positions in 1997. He eventually moved to Tacoma, Wash., where he now lives.