Spite House: The Last Secret of the War in Vietnam

God bless Monika Jensen-Stevenson for telling the truth about the Bobby Garwood story finally. So many have been deceived, but more importantly, Bobby Garwood has been done wrong, very wrong, by a government more concerned with covering its tracks in the POW MIA abandonment travesty than in doing what is right. Bobby had knowledge of other Americans held back by the atheist Vietnamese communists after the Vietnam War, but our government chose to discredit him instead. This book is not easy to put down once you start reading it. It is an amazing true story about a man ruined by his government and the marine officer who was tasked with killing him only to become his best friend. May God bless Bobby Garwood and may those who ruined this man's reputation through lies and deceit get their just due.

Wow! What can I say? This book will knock the patriotism right out of you.

When I met my husband in 1979. He had just escaped Vietnam the year before. He was one of the boat people. He told me way back in 1979 that he had seen American POW's as late as 1978 with his own eyes on more then one occasion. He was riding his scooter far out in the country side and saw a group of tall, long haired and bearded Caucasion men working the rice paddy fields under Vietnamese armed guard. When he looked a little too long and too hard the guards aimed their rifles at him so he looked away and kept driving.He said the Caucasian mens faces were very sad.My husband wouldn't lie to me. He still insists it true and we have told many people about itSince then I made it a point to question every Vietnamese refugee I met. Several had told me they saw them with their own eyes as late as 1982.I was also told that it was common knowledge in Vietnam that American POW's were still there.They were surprised that most Americans didn't know about it. They just figured maybe we didn't want them back or didn't care.I don't know the real truth about Bobby Garwood. But, I beleive what my husband and other Vietnamese have told meI don't know if there are any POW's left alive now. It's been so long. But, I believe there were as late as 1982 and I pray for them every night.

A must read book. Bobby Garwood, traitor or hero? The debate continues but it appears to me that he simply beat his captors at their own game only to be called a "collaborator" when he finally made it home. I truly hope he is still appealing his case. Col. Tom McKenney, whose job was to organize "killer teams" to eliminate such "traitors", followed his orders as he was trained to and carried them out to the point of obsession. When Col. McKenney realized how, he too, had been used by the "system", he was almost destroyed. The government stands by it's policy for a "full accounting" of POW/MIAs from the Vietnam War but how can we trust those who have decieved for 20+ years the families of those left behind dead and, most certainly, alive!

Recently I read the book, Spite House - The last secret of the war in Vietnam, by Monika Jensen-Stevenson. Well researched and tightly written, this is the grim and tragic story of Marine Lance Corporal Robert Garwood and his sworn pursuer Marine Col. Tom C. McKinney. I'd like to it become a best seller and remain so for many weeks. Every veteran and US citizen needs to hear this story. I look forward to a paperback edition so I distribute it to my friends. The book frightened and blessed me. It is frightening to know how far our government and even fellow men in arms will go for political expediency and to cover their errors. And, to know that "there but for the grace of God go I." On the other hand, it blessed me to see how Robert Garwood endured 14 years of unspeakable torments in a Vietnamese prison system, and abandoned by his own government after the war, still managed to engineer his own escape and return only to receive even further mistreatment at the hands of his own government and fellow men at arms. And also, how Marine Col. McKinney, who had made it his life goal to find and assassinate Garwood on the basis of false information fed to him via the "chain of command" finally had to admit his error and ask Garwood to forgive him. Apart from the Bible no book has had such a profound effect on my personal life. As a Korean vet and the son of a W.W.II vet, I've a soft spot in my heart for any vet and especially POWs. That said, however, I confess that I have harbored an attitude that many Vietnam Vets seemed to be "crybabies." This book has given me an entirely new perspective. It has opened my eyes and heart to these men and women. I now look upon them in an entirely different manner than I did heretofore. My thoughts and prayers go out to Robert Garwood. There is simply no excuse for the treatment he received at the hands of his (our) government and fellow men at arms. There must be an appeal of his case to rectify this miscarriage of justice. I know that it is next to impossible to get any government or government official much less the military, to reverse a decision once made, nevertheless, it must be done. We cannot allow his Vietnamese captors to gain this victory over Robert Garwood, our political system and our military. I have sent my thanks to the author and the to her publisher for having the courage to publish this story. Get it and read it. You'll never be the same -- I still get emotional when I think about it.<P