A Knavish Piece of Work [Hardcover]

Ejner Fulsang (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 28, 2006

On May 12, 1975, the Khmer Rouge of Cambodia captured a U.S.-registered container ship, the SS Mayaguez, en route to Sattahip, Thailand on a routine supply mission. With the election a year and a half away and his approval rating sagging, then president Gerald Ford called for an immediate rescue of the crew, alleged to be held on Koh Tang, a minute island in the Gulf of Siam. A last-minute mission was thrown together in which a battalion of Marines would be airlifted from U Tapao, Thailand to Koh Tang by Air Force helicopters with local area support from the aircraft carrier USS Coral Sea and three Navy destroyers. The mission was a disaster with eighteen men killed in the assault and only three of the original fifteen helicopters still flyable at the end of the day. The bodies of the dead were left to lie where they fell for the next twenty years. To this day, eight bodies have yet to be recovered. And the Mayaguez crew? They were released by the Cambodians early in the morning of 15 May, not from Koh Tang, but from Rong Sam Lem, another island twenty-two miles away. Moreover, Ford knew the crew was not on Koh Tang, and he knew it some twenty hours before the assault began! Why would a president go through with an assault on an island that held no captives? "One of the men who died on Koh Tang was my friend, Richard Van de Geer, copilot of KNIFE 31, and nominally, the last man to die in the Vietnam War. Richard and the other spirits have quite a story to tell." -Ejner Fulsang

Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: Aarhus Publishing (July 28, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 097781081X
• ISBN-13: 978-0977810819
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,601,382 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Knavish Piece of Work is a significant book., October 22, 2006

By 

James Hanna (Bay Area, California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Knavish Piece of Work (Paperback)

A Knavish Piece of Work is a significant book. Set primarily in 1975, it highlights the Mayaguez incident, a "rescue mission" conducted by the Ford Administration shortly after the fall of Saigon. Told through the eyes of the deceased (and the soon-to-be deceased), the book is fittingly a ghost story, revitalizing the pall of the Vietnam Era that still hangs over this country. Within the shadowlands of the dead, the book contrasts the trauma of survivor's guilt with the inauthenticity of the leadership responsible for the War: a paradox that will forever haunt its survivors. The book quotes often from Hamlet, from which its title is derived, but it resonates also in Shakespeare's Henry V: "Be the cause not good, the king will have much to answer for come Judgement Day, when all those legs and arms and heads will join together and cry out, 'We died for this??!!"

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars It's Like Being There Again, October 29, 2006

By 

Thomas R. Tritz "Veteran" (Kirkland, WA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Knavish Piece of Work (Hardcover)

I was a Deck Officer in Henry B. Wilson (DDG-7) during the battle. I'm amazed that after 30 years, the incident is still seared in my mind.

Two items of interest come to mind. I was Officer of the Deck in Wilson for the morning watch (0400 - 0800) the day after the battle. Our orders were to circumnavigate Koh Tang at slow speed, 2000 yards from the island and look for Americans. While our information was that all U.S. personnel had been removed from the island, the evacuation was pretty chaotic and so we were looking - just in case.

My own experience confirmed the experience of the Recon personnel sent to the island. There were some wicked currents around Koh Tang. At one point the currents had pushed us within 1500 yards of the beach - well within small arms range. We had to steer 45 degress away from the island to maintain station.

The other noteworthy aspect of the watch was that shortly after first light, a Cambodian came out on the beach. I suspect he was acting on some sort of dare or "in your face" move. Since I was a qualified Gun Director Officer, and one of our 5 inch guns was ready to go, I considered jumping up into the director and dropping a couple air bursts at the tree line. There is little doubt that we could have got him.

I considered it for a short while but decided that shooting him would not accomplish anything and would wake 450 exhaused personnel (ship's company as well as abut 100 marines)with an adrenalin shot they really didn't need.

It wasn't until years later that I found out that there were indeed Americans still on the island. If we had fired, they would have known were were still there...

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars History repeats itself, December 4, 2006

By 

Vanitha Sankaran "Vanitha Sankaran" (Bay Area, CA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: A Knavish Piece of Work (Hardcover)

For anyone who wants to see a pivotal historical moment brought to life, this book is for you! Mr. Fulsang uses his literary skills to bring alive the treacherous, duplicitous and heartfelt story of one Vietname war vet to life in this magical realism piece, "A Knavish Tale." Building on the structure of Shakespeare's Hamlet, this book showcases how the American government defrauded and failed our country's heroes during one of the bloodiest, and most dubious, wars in our history. The storytelling is fast-paced and easy to get into and will appeal to both military buffs and those just looking for a good read. Well-researched and well-written! The lessons this book reveals are sadly apt for today's generation as well as those long passed.