Escape with Honor (H)

this book really tells it how it was during the last confusing days of the war. I was there and I know it and I was proud to have been a part of the team that pulled this off. Terry McNamara gave great leadership and forsight in the preparation for this trip, and deserves much credit for the success.

This book peaked my curiosity because my brother was one of the marines stationed at this particular embassy in Vietnam. he's only mentioned in it twice by name but it was great learning about what the had to do to get out. Now my brother had never talked about it but recently mentioned it (briefly) at a family dinner and I did my own research. He did end up with a 22 year career and retired as a sgt major. some of the ook is really technical because its told by the ambassador but its a decent read.

This is a detailed account of the U.S. consul's last months in Can Tho, South Vietnam and his risky escape by boat on the Mekong River in April 1975. As the collapse of Saigon was nearing and as the airlift of Americans and third country nationals from Can Tho never materialized, McNamara himself took charge of guiding more than 300 people to safety on military barges along the Mekong River. He was recognized for his bravery and given a medal in 1977. The book was also a tribute to General Nguyen Khoa Nam, the IV Corps South Vietnamese commander who refused to be evacuated and remained at his post until the last minute. McNamara had known him for over a year as a brave and dedicated officer and a man of honor. General Nam and his deputy General Hung killed themselves instead of surrendering to the enemy a few days later.This is an interesting perspective of an American's last weeks in South Vietnam, his dealings with the Americans, the Vietnamese, and the CIA.

During every great event there occurs little-known tales of heroism and sacrifice; Ambasador McNamara's book tells the story on one of them. The evacuation of the handful of American civilians and Marines of the U.S. Consulate General in Can Tho, along with their South Vietnamese employees and families,reads like a movie, and is all the more exciting for being true. Their story of sacrifice, heroism, betrayal, and tragedy was lost in the greater story of the simultaneous evacuation of Saigon, but one with a historical bent will see in McNamara's tale a reflection of Xenephon's Persian expedition. Don't start reading this one before bedtime, or you'll be up all night to finish it!

In a time of uncertainty, danger and demoralization, this is a story that shows that even in the midst of the end of the Vietnam war our few remaining Americans cared deeply about the people that they had supported. A story of heroism generally not recognized and long overdue in the telling.