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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great book, well written, fast moving, December 19, 2005
This review is from: Goodnight Saigon: The True Story of the U.S. Marines' Last Days in Vietnam (Hardcover)
A great book which reviews the closing days of the Vietman conflict. The author interviews military, political leaders, civilians and press from both sides. It's a fast moving piece with plenty of action. The downside of the book is that there are no maps or photos of some of the US Marines discussed, which would have been useful in understanding where battles were located. I found a web site, which has photos and also gives additional information at www.fallofsaigon.org. Great book!
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4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Great Story With Major Malfunction, November 21, 2005
This review is from: Goodnight Saigon: The True Story of the U.S. Marines' Last Days in Vietnam (Hardcover)
"Good Night Saigon" is an impressive work of military history. Whenever this reviewer believes he has read about the Indochina war from every conceivable angle, he is proven wrong-and wrong again. GNS offers yet one more insight to that protracted conflict. The author was a member of the last detachment of Marines to be extracted from the grounds of the U.S. Embassy in Saigon on April 30, 1975. The scope of GNS is far broader than one fateful day and therein lies its' strength. We are reminded-painfully- that South Vietnam fell apart from North to South. In March, President Thieu made the disastrous decision to abandon Military Regions I and II to the advancing North Vietnamese and concentrate on the defense of the capitol. Any semblance of an orderly withdrawal evaporated as waves of South Vietnamese, both ARVN and civilian, fled south in panicked droves. The sheer amount of supplies and materiel relinquished to the NVA was incalculable. Author Henderson has interviewed some 40 subjects with first hand knowledge of that simmering time. These include media correspondents, Vietnamese military (ARVN, VC and NVA), a Communist Party official, Vietnamese civilians, many U.S. military including a former USMC Commandant, and even Nguyen Cao Ky, former Premier of South Vietnam. That guy escaped a foundering Saigon piloting his own chopper! Thanks to their collective recollections and some skillful reconstructed dialog, the reader gets a grand feeling of doom as the country imploded. We learn that many South Vietnamese fought valiantly to the bitter end, notably General Le Min Dao, commander of the ARVN 18th Division. This reviewer now believes that not all Americans were on the same page. Ambassador Graham Martin's perversely stubborn denial of the impending ruin is monstrous and had to have impeded the evacuation. This being Vietnam, there are doses of black humor: Enterprising Marines swept the Tu Do Street bars of several prostitutes and loaded them on an Air Force C130 and safety. The young ladies faced certain death by a kangaroo court. And a Marine Lance Corporal who helped evacuate 4 suspicious young males, reported to a nearby officer: "Sir, I think I just sent 4 Viet Cong corporals to Guam". There remains the lingering confusion over the order to cease the evacuation. The riddle of how the command to terminate the mission was transmitted may never be solved but Henderson's detachment was stranded for hours till a USMC higher up intervened. GNS gives the impression that most friendly South Vietnamese were extracted. Other accounts paint another picture. That riddle too, may never be solved. The final word for GNS must be negative: My hardcover edition contained NO MAPS! The text mentions many South Vietnamese cities, bodies of water and highways. All were of strategic value. Why must the curious reader follow the action with a World Atlas? This reviewer is geographically sensitive and a served In Country with the 815th Army Engineers. The 815th built Highway 14 North and part of Highway 20. He knows his roads, but what are others to do? Why do publishers pinch pennies with such stupidity? WO Henderson has produced a 5 star work, which must be reduced in rank to 3 through no fault of his. GNS remains highly recommended but readers will need that Atlas handy. If this reviewer were still over there, he would say something smart like "I'm too short to read a book with no maps!"
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3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Great Story About the End of the Vietnam War, April 11, 2005
This review is from: Goodnight Saigon: The True Story of the U.S. Marines' Last Days in Vietnam (Hardcover)
I initially did not want to purchase this book for two reasons. First, there were numerous books on the last days of the Republic of Vietnam and I thought the author would just plow through the same old stuff. Also, the title implied it would just be about the Embassy Marines in Saigon. I was pleasantly surprised! Charles Henderson's primary focus is on the Marines at the embassy in Saigon and the consulate in Da Nang. To a lesser extent he looks into final activities in Can Tho and Nha Trang. However, he gives us more to consider. The author reveals that both the Communist and Republican Vietnamese were essentially on their last legs. America was drastically reducing aid to South Vietnam. But North Vietnam was apparently facing similar problems too! In a last ditch gambit, North Vietnam begins to attack South Vietnam in late 1974. If the campaign goes well, they will likely prevail. If it goes poorly, they will probably never have another chance. Unlike previous stories of this tragic time, Henderson reveals Communist victory was not a foregone conclusion.....at least not initially. ARVN had ample supplies in its two northernmost corps to weather a large scale attack. Unfortunately, South Vietnam's President Nguyen Van Thieu makes the disasterous decision to have I and II Corps fall back and defend key population centers even though these forces were already heavily engaged and would be unable to take most of their supplies with them. This tactial withdrawl resulted in a route that guaranteed the destruction of South Vietnam's military and Communist victory. Another plus about this book is that its more than just about the last US Marines in South Vietnam. Besides the US Marines, we see RVN and NVA generals, Viet Marines, ARVN officers, etc. Henderson even has room for South Vietnamese artists and an actress to come on the scene! Very comprehensive. I was close to giving this novel 5 stars but changed my mind. One of the best sub plots is the epic journey of a South Vietnamese Marine battalion commander who leads his men on a month long journey through enemy lines. Once he gets his unit back into whats left of South Vietnam, he disappears! I would really liked to have seen what finally happened to these guys. Other than that, this is a great book.
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