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"To the extent that your request seeks records that would reveal a classified association between the CIA and the subjects, if any exist, we can neither confirm nor deny having such records." Well, that’s a quick way to kill a story. Unless you’re an intrepid journalist intent on finding the truth. Dan Sullivan, a 40-year veteran of the Omaha World-Herald, proves he is most definitely that with the publication of his new non-fiction book, The Murder of the Real Jack Ryan. Sullivan, who retired from the World-Herald at the end of 2017, admitted that while receiving the above message made finding the truth tougher, it also led to searching in places he might not have otherwise investigated. “It seems funny now, but it felt like running into a brick wall when I received it,” Sullivan said. “but the big breakthrough came when I finally tracked down someone who worked with Jack.” Spy novel aficionados and most pop culture fans will recognize Jack Ryan as the lead character in a series of Tom Clancy novels. Those novels, including The Hunt for Red October, Patriot Games, and Sum of All Fears, have made their way to the big and small screen. The Ryan character has been played by a number of actors including Harrison Ford, Alec Baldwin, Ben Affleck, Chris Pine, and most recently, John Krasinski. While there are some striking similarities between Clancy’s Jack Patrick Ryan and the real Jack Edwin Ryan, Sullivan said it does not appear that the real-life person was a direct inspiration for the fictional one. “The family always thought that there was a connection, but I couldn't find any and am almost certain there was not,” Sullivan said. “The other oddity is that fictional Jack's father was a big-city cop named Emmet William Ryan, while the real Jack's father was a big-city cop named William Edwin Ryan. It's a strange coincidence, but no evidence it's anything more.” So who is the real Jack Ryan? Sullivan describes him on the back cover as “a real-life hero, working undercover with the French Resistance during World War II and meticulously planning CIA operations designed to help America avoid all-out war in Vietnam.” Ryan spoke French fluently and his work with the French Underground earned him credibility with the intelligence community and made him a perfect fit for work in Vietnam. His illustrious career was cut short when he was killed in 1965 under mysterious circumstances. Sullivan became interested in the cold case because Ryan was family, a relative of his wife, Kathy. “The mystery of his murder has frequently been a topic of conversation at family gatherings. I had retired recently when I decided to take it on in 2018. We basically knew nothing about his work, other than he was ‘with the CIA,’ and that he had worked with the French Resistance during World War II. We knew even less about how to solve a cold-case murder that occurred in Saigon in 1965.” The hunt for the truth began by simply going through boxes of family keepsakes, Sullivan explained. “Jack's life was a complete mystery after he went to Vietnam in 1955, so we had to piece together who he was. His father was a World War I Doughboy and his mother was a French war bride. Jack was born in France and fluent in French, the language of administration in Vietnam, Laos and the Congo, places he was posted,” he said. “Jack's father also was the police chief in Minneapolis when Hubert Humphrey was mayor, a connection that ended up being very important. The family kept their letters from WWI, WWII and Jack's from his foreign postings.” From there it was on to the National Archives in College Park, Maryland. Sullivan and his wife spent a week combing through 1,000 of documents about Ryan’s time in Vietnam. Presidential and university libraries were a key resource, while newspaper archives provided valuable information as well, Sullivan said. The CIA nonanswer was a temporary setback before Sullivan got his big break. “I finally tracked down someone who worked with Jack. His colleagues were mostly WWII vets and were long gone when I started,” Sullivan explained. “The man I located was younger and had been recruited by the CIA in 1962. He was 90 years old and razor sharp. He ended up answering our key questions.” The book, published on Sept. 16, 2020, is available on Amazon. Sullivan credits his wife, who taught journalism at Creighton University, with motivating him to write the book and push through the road blocks. “Kathy was incredibly interested in the project, so she kept everything on track,” he said. Sullivan earned his bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 1973 and earned his Juris Doctor degree from Creighton University in 1977 before embarking on his career at the World-Herald. In addition to the Ryan book, Sullivan penned Nebraska’s First College for Peru State University’s 150th anniversary in 2017 and has edited more than 25 books including many of the publications coming out of the Omaha World-Herald such as Steve Pivovar’s Road to the Big Time and Steve Jordan’s The Oracle and Omaha. “It's always a thrill when the first one arrives,” Sullivan said. “I take a picture of the book in my hand and send it to people with the message ‘the book is in hand.’ I'm the only one who thinks that's funny.”
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AuthorI am a professional communicator with experience in journalism, public relations, marketing, advertising, and technical writing. I strive to tell the great story regardless of the medium. Archives
April 2022
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