Honorable Exit: How a Few Brave Americans Risked All to Save Our Vietnamese Allies at the End of the War

Clarke, Thurston

ISBN 10: 0385539649 / ISBN 13: 9780385539647

Published by Doubleday, 2019

About this Item

THERE IS A RED "CLOSEOUT/REMAINDER" MARK ON THE BOTTOM PAGE EDGES. In 1973, U.S. participation in the Vietnam War ended in a cease-fire and a withdrawal that included promises by President Nixon to assist the South in the event of invasion by the North. But in 1975, when North Vietnamese forces began a full-scale assault, Congress refused to send arms or aid. By early April of that year, the South was on the brink of a defeat that threatened execution or years in concentration camps for the untold number of South Vietnamese who had supported the government in Saigon or had worked with the Americans. In Honorable Exit, Thurston Clark narrates the little-known story of Americans who refused to abandon their friends and allies to that grim fate. In the weeks before the last U.S. personnel were evacuated, scores of ordinary heroes -- diplomats, businessmen, soldiers, missionaries, contractors, and spies -- risked their lives, some returning to Vietnam from the United States, to assist their current and former translators, drivers, colleagues, neighbors, friends, and even perfect strangers in escaping. Clarke draws on unpublished memoirs and written accounts, oral histories and new interviews to narrate these dramatic final days with meticulous fidelity and striking detail. By the time Saigon fell on April 30, 1975, Americans had helped to spirit 130,000 South Vietnamese to U.S. bases in Guam and the Philippines. From there, the evacuees were resettled in the United States and became American citizens, the leading edge of one of America's most successful immigrant groups. Into this tale of heroism on the ground, Clarke weaves the political machination of Henry Kissinger advising President Ford in the White House while reinforcing the delusions of the U.S. ambassador in Saigon, who, at the last minute refused to depart. Rich in indelible characterizations of Americans both legendary and forgotten and building to a devastating climax on the roof of the American embassy, Honorable Exit tells a deeply moving and unexpected tale of American honor redeemed. THERE IS A RED "CLOSEOUT/REMAINDER" MARK ON THE BOTTOM PAGE EDGES.

Seller Inventory # 001906

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Honorable Exit: How a Few Brave Americans Risked All to Save Our Vietnamese Allies at the End of the War
• Publisher: Doubleday
• Publication Date: 2019
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0385539649
• ISBN 13: 9780385539647
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Printing: 1st Printing
• Condition: New
• Dust Jacket Condition: New

About this title

Synopsis

A MAIN SELECTION OF THE MILITARY BOOK CLUB

A groundbreaking revisionist history of the last days of the Vietnam War that reveals the acts of American heroism that saved more than one hundred thousand South Vietnamese from communist revenge

In 1973 U.S. participation in the Vietnam War ended in a cease-fire and a withdrawal that included promises by President Nixon to assist the South in the event of invasion by the North. But in early 1975, when North Vietnamese forces began a full-scale assault, Congress refused to send arms or aid. By early April that year, the South was on the brink of a defeat that threatened execution or years in a concentration camp for the untold number of South Vietnamese who had supported the government in Saigon or worked with Americans.
     Thurston Clarke begins Honorable Exit by describing the iconic photograph of the Fall of Saigon: desperate Vietnamese scrambling to board a helicopter evacuating the last American personnel from Vietnam. It is an image of U.S. failure and shame. Or is it? By unpacking the surprising story of heroism that the photograph actually tells, Clarke launches into a narrative that is both a thrilling race against time and an important corrective to the historical record. For what is less known is that during those final days, scores of Americans--diplomats, businessmen, soldiers, missionaries, contractors, and spies--risked their lives to assist their current and former translators, drivers, colleagues, neighbors, friends, and even perfect strangers in escape. By the time the last U.S. helicopter left Vietnam on April 30, 1975, these righteous Americans had helped to spirit 130,000 South Vietnamese to U.S. bases in Guam and the Philippines. From there, the evacuees were resettled in the U.S. and became American citizens, the leading edge of one of America's most successful immigrant groups.
    Into this tale of heroism on the ground Clarke weaves the political machinations of Henry Kissinger advising President Ford in the White House while reinforcing the delusions of the U.S. Ambassador in Saigon, who, at the last minute, refused to depart. Groundbreaking, page-turning, and authoritative, Honorable Exit is a deeply moving history of Americans at a little-known finest hour.

About the Author

Thurston Clarke is the author of nine widely acclaimed works of fiction and nonfiction, including California Fault, a New York Times notable book; Equator; By Blood and Fire; Pearl Harbor Ghosts, the basis for the CBS Pearl Harbor documentary; and the bestselling Lost Hero, which was made into an award-winning NBC miniseries about Raoul Wallenberg. He has written for Vanity Fair, Glamour, Outside, Travel Holiday, Condé Nast Traveler, and numerous other magazines and newspapers. He is the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, the Publication Award for the Geographic Society of Chicago, and a Lowell Thomas Award for travel literature. He lives with his wife and three daughters on Lake Champlain in upstate New York.