Customer Reviews

Honor Bound: American Prisoners of War in Southeast Asia, 1961-1973

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
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1 star:		(0)

 

 

A brilliant, highly accessible account of the history of the POWs in Southeast Asia. The text is very readable and concisely written. The photographs alone speak volumes and the maps provide a nice illustrative point of reference.

Before you read any other POW-related book, take the time to read "Honor Bound" cover to cover. Not only will you feel you are getting to know these men - heroes all - personally, you will gain a brutally clear perception of the conditions these men were forced to endure and the way they managed to maintain their honor and dignity in the face of such terrible adversity. The human element is very strong.

This is not, mind you, a book for the weak-stomached. The book is unflinching in its cataloging of the various tortures the POWs underwent, the often rancid food they were forced to subsist on, and the day to day challenges their captors and the climate inflicted upon them.

Surprisingly, however, while the reader is horrified, he or she will leave the book strangely uplifted. It reaffirms one's faith in the human spirit and humanity in general.

As a Vietnam veteran and friend of several POW's I found that this book told their story better than any I have read to date. It took me back to times when I sat with those friends and they told me of the terrible times they went through. This book will bring you as close to being able to share in their experience and my visits with my friends as you will ever get.

Thank you to Stuart Rochester and Frederick Kiley, for an unbelievable account of the POW's that served in Viet Nam. This is not an easy book to read, but it is a page-turner. As an American, I am overwhelmed by the sacrafice extended for the freedom I enjoy. My praise for the written words and for the service to our country so clearly evident in this riveting book. G.K. Smith Cape Cod USA

This book is a must for anyone who wants a serious library of works on the Vietnam War. This book is not easy or fun to read -- it is 596 pages long, it is detailed, and it contains graphic descriptions of the torture and deprivations inflicted on US POWs in SEAsia. More than that, though, it is a tribute to the human spirit and to the courage of these men.

This book tells the story of Vietnam from the background of the war to the release of the prisoners in 1973. It is told dispassionately, but it brought me to tears many times. It stays in my mind: what these men went through, how they survived (or not) mentally and spiritually, the differences between the prisoners in North Vietnam and South Vietnam. It is an amazing book, and should be required reading for anyone studying that era.

After reading many individual POW memoirs and similar material, it was immediately evident to me that Honor Bound is the premier and defining work on American POW's in Vietnam. For its sheer scope and immensity, this is the best reference material ever composed on this subject.

Beginning with history of French occupation in Vietnam and the follow on role of United States involvement, an intimate portrayal is drawn of every aspect of captivity faced by U.S. personnel. In minute detail, Northern and Southern Vietnamese POW camps are put under the microscope revealing the harrowing physical and psychological experiences that affected U.S. servicemen in appalling conditions which equated to a daily battle for survival. Also examined is the known information on captivity in Laos which continues to be controversial even today due to the unknown fates of many Americans still missing in that country.

Complimenting the brilliant narrative which leaves nothing to the imagination, Honor Bound contains dozens of excellent photographs, prison maps, generous footnotes, and several appendixes containing Vietnam war data and prisoner information. This book is a lasting tribute to patriots, heroes, and even legends who gave and maintained their very best in continual times of the absolute worst. I highly recommend Honor Bound to everyone interested in accounts of POW captivity. A superb, powerful, and very satisfying reading experience.

An excellent book for the researcher or history buff. The attention to detail, personal thoughts of the returnees, separation of fact and fiction makes this a superb book. It is easy to follow, backed by hundreds of sources from all sides of the "P.O.W. issue." Knowing the "1st edition" was reviewed, edited, and CORRECTED by the returnees for the final printing makes this a "must have" for any library.

As the son of a former Viet-Nam Prisoner of War, "Honor Bound" has inspired me and made me proud to know that men like Rochester and Kiley still strive to tell the story of these 20th century heros. The amazing detail the authors put forth is a testament to their expert ability as historians and their commitment to our country as patriots. I recommend this book to Viet-Nam War buffs and all other citizens alike. If everyone knew this story, our country would be proud of the amazing sacrifices our POW's made for all of us, for freedom, and for honor.

This book reminds me why I'm able to walk freely within my country due to the efforts of those during the Hot/Cold War. I consider this book and "The Bamboo Chest", memoir by Frederick "Cork" Graham, to be the best books on Vietnam and communist prisons and our involvement taking the history from 1961 all the way to 1984 and showing how those who crippled our efforts to help defend Vietnam were only helping the communists overtake another nation and resulted in genocide of millions of Vietnamese, Laotians and Cambodians by their own supposed communist liberators. Lessons learned in our present time.

This observer has followed the POW situation since 1972, when he was still on active duty. He is familiar with many POW memoirs, so the men in Messer's. Kiley and Rochester's voluminous work are no strangers. Most of the prominent POWs are well known to many and they are certainly all here: Ernest Brace, Robinson Risner, James Stockdale, Jeremiah Denton, Frank Anton and Everett Alvarez-plus many more. If this reviewer had to choose a favorite memoir, it would be Anton's "Why Didn't You Get Me Out?" Honorable mention certainly goes to "A Code to Keep" by Mr. Brace. HB goes into far deeper detail than do individual stories, yet necessarily lacks the personal touch folks like those two gentlemen provide. Those in the amazon community who have read no POW tales and are satisfied with one big picture have the perfect book in HB. The back cover noted that HB "combines rigorous scholarly analysis with moving narrative". That it certainly does, in fullest detail. All the torture, all the mind games, all the coming and going and transfers, all the gripping boredom and fear, all the gruesome details of prison life are here. It will be clear that the POWs were anything but one big happy family. Disagreements abounded, especially that nebulous subject regarding compliance with the Code of Conduct. Some favored active resistance, some a "cooperate-graduate" approach. The authors also do an excellent choreographing of the release of the Spring of 1973. They were not repatriated on one fleet of C-141s but came home in stages. We learn that a handful of guys were released through Saigon and 2 through Hong Kong (!). There are some caveats attached to this review: HB cannot be skim read. It demands attention and a substantial investment of time upfront. Casual readers are in the wrong place! They won't appreciate the 88 pages of appendices and notes/footnotes. HB also concentrates on prisoners held in the major North Vietnam detention centers. The missing in Cambodia, Laos and even China are outside the scope of HB. But HB is also silent on the fate of the discrepancy cases of those lost in the 4 countries. One hopes that the authors, writing a book that admits to being "an official publication of the Department of Defense", are not attempting a "Case Closed" on the 1,783 still unaccounted for. This observer will give the authors the benefit of the doubt here. Still. FAR more disturbing is a gratuitous remark on Page 589 that those who continue to press for a fullest accounting of the missing are "a swarm of polemicists and opportunists". This reviewer is one of them! He belongs to neither of those species! Since it is most likely that no offense was intended, none is taken but that comment demands an explanation! It certainly merits an unfortunate reduction in rank to 4 stars. That there even is a page 589 is the essence of HB. This one is not for those with a passing fancy on the Indochina War. A final note: There is a new, voluminous publication available on amazon-"An Enormous Crime". That particular 566 page volume-in small type no less-claims to be the "definitive account of American POWs abandoned in Southeast Asia". The different scope of EC should encompass what HB did not. Maybe these 1,000+ combined pages of text will shed a final light on the thorny question of POWs/MIAs in Indochina. Congressman King (R-NY) is also attempting to convene new hearings on the same subject. This painful matter will be with us for a while. The bottom line to "Honor Bound" is the headline above. This is indeed a great work of military scholarship and for that the authors deserve their due.