Code-Name Bright Light : The Untold Story of U.S. POW Rescue Efforts During the Vietnam War [Hardcover]

George J. Veith (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 8, 1998

More than two decades after the end of the Vietnam war, U.S. government efforts to account for POW/MIAs continue to divide Americans, many of whom are persistently critical of what they believe are the government's cover-ups and ineptitude in attempting to find, rescue, and account for the missing. For decades shrouded by issues of "national security", the history of U.S. POW/MIA intelligence and wartime rescue operations is only now coming to light.

Dramatically, Code-Name Brightlight reveals for the first time the true extent of the U.S. military's extensive and risky operations designed to identify, locate, and recover its missing soldiers. Former Army Captain George Veith secured first-time interviews with intelligence and combat officers involved, and through extraordinary access to personal diaries, previously unknown records, and eyewitness accounts, he uncovers one of the most tightly held POW/MIA secrets: a clandestine communication program between the POWs and the U.S. military. This groundbreaking book is sure to cause controversy, even as it sheds welcome new light on one of the country's most divisive episodes.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

At the end of Code-Name Bright Light, former Army captain George J. Veith reports the surprising results of a straw poll he took of former military personnel involved in the effort to liberate American POWs. More than half think that when the United States evacuated Vietnam in 1973, Yanks were left behind enemy lines. Veith is no conspiracy freak. He believes strongly that the military made a sincere effort to rescue captured troops, and argues his case well, yet he also reveals a troubled operation that did not liberate a single soldier due to a combination of its own incompetence and clever Viet Cong tactics. This important chapter of the Vietnam War has been largely ignored until the late 1990s, partly because so many relevant documents took that long to be declassified. Veith makes a genuine contribution to the historical understanding of the conflict, one that ought to engage those still wondering about men whose fates remain unknown.

From Library Journal

Popular and academic works on U.S. prisoners of war continue to play a central role in Vietnam War literature and historiography. But even as the number of such titles proliferate, the quality of the research and the political bias of the writers have long been issues. Although a definitive scholarly volume awaits the opening of Vietnam's archives, Veith's research in the U.S. records places his study on American rescue attempts in the forefront of the discussion. The author, a specialist on POWs/MIAs, presents a tightly written, challenging essay on the ill-starred rescue efforts of the Joint Personnel Recovery Center and associated units in Vietnam and Laos. The catalog of bureaucratic inertia, interservice rivalries, and incredible bad luck combined to frustrate the numerous missions of American and Vietnamese special forces. An arresting and dramatic story supported by exceptional research, this is an essential purchase for Vietnam War collections in academic and public libraries.?John R. Vallely, Siena Coll. Lib, Loudonville, N.Y.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 432 pages
• Publisher: Free Press; 1St Edition edition (January 8, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0684835142
• ISBN-13: 978-0684835143
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.5 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,862,314 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A tremendous work on U.S. POW rescue and recovery......., May 12, 2003

By 

Kyle Tolle (Phoenix, Arizona USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Code-Name Bright Light: The Untold Story of U.S. POW Rescue Efforts During the Vietnam War (Mass Market Paperback)

Code Name Bright Light is a fascinating and highly revealing look into rescue operations in Vietnam performed under the auspices of the Joint Personnel Recovery Center (JPRC) during the longest war ever fought by the United States.

In a six year period, more than 125 rescue operations would be launched to recover U.S. prisoners of war. Attempts to retrieve U.S. servicemen would also be tried by ransoms and prisoner exchanges. The latter methods were minimally successful at best due to the dismal cooperation from the North Vietnamese government and their unwillingness to recognize humanitarian overtures. The actual rescue attempts themselves were outstanding examples of bravery, courage, and audacity in the most harrowing of situation but were also mired in endless problems.

Rescue teams would suffer the indignity of inter-service rivalries and competition, mediocre intelligence information, numerous bureaucratic breakdowns, compromised missions, and bad luck in many cases. Much of this would lead to slow response times to initiate raids on POW compounds which in turn produced many near misses when trying to extricate POW's. On countless occasions, rescue personnel would assault POW camps only to find that prisoners and camp cadre had relocated to new areas only hours before. Although some missions conducted were successful, they would also be bittersweet at the same time. The JPRC teams, during their tenure in Vietnam, were able to rescue hundreds of South Vietnamese POW's but were unsuccessful in ever freeing any living Americans held in confinement.

Leaving no stone unturned, geographically speaking, George J. Veith covers the entire spectrum of Vietnam regarding rescue efforts with serious emphasis placed on Laos which has always been, and continues to be today, highly controversial concerning Americans that are missing in action in that country. In addition, Code Name Bright Light uncovers further high profile operations and rescue missions such as the Son Tay POW camp raid, Operation Thunderhead, the Bat-21 incident, and the notorious Lima Site 85 in Laos.

George J. Veith has composed a meticulous and brilliant narrative in Code Name Bright Light which probably deserves recognition for being one of the finest books ever written about the Vietnam war. For those interested in this subject matter, this book is immensely satisfying and comes highly recommended.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Was The Enemy US ?, July 28, 2000

By 

Mcgivern Owen L (NY, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: Code-Name Bright Light: The Untold Story of U.S. POW Rescue Efforts During the Vietnam War (Mass Market Paperback)

"Code Name Bright Light" is an extremely well-researched and documented story about the efforts (failures! ) of the United States to rescue its' POWs during the Vietnam War. Just count the footnotes in each chapter! There can be no doubt that the story you will read is authentic. And that is a problem because most Americans will be saddened to learn that the blame cannot be heaped upon a cruel and intransigent enemy but with our own political. military and especially diplomatic leaders. Inter-service rivalry, intra-service rivalry, poor planning and just plain Vietnam-style bad luck all played a large part in the story. But there is so simple "sin-loi" here. Ambassador to Laos William Sullivan and Ambassador to South Vietnam Bunker wholeheartedly emphasized politics over POW rescues. One must ask even now whose side was Mr. Sullivan on? And where was the Johnson White House? Where was Robert McNamara? All very disturbing. There are many better "Vietnam" books but for those interested in the POW story, this is the Bible. I have read 4 other books on POWs, including Ms. Stephenson's "Kiss the Boys Goodbye" and seen the tape "We Can Keep You Forever", but "Code Name Bright Light" tells it all the best. A serious, disturbing but excellent job!

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Explains the very emotional and complicated POW operations., December 3, 1998

By 

[e-mail] (Heidelberg, Germany) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Code-Name Bright Light : The Untold Story of U.S. POW Rescue Efforts During the Vietnam War (Hardcover)

During my military career, the year I spent in JPRC-SOG was my proudest. This book by Jay Veith explains our memories, frustrations and efforts to assist in a small way our countrymen and their families. We worked in a classified and constrained environment, but we had the total support from the chief of SOG (COL Sadler), the SOG staff and the recon teams. It is a great book telling about a great job-I would do it again without hesitation!