Last Man Out [Paperback]

James E. Parker Jr. (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1997 | ISBN-10: 1887269339 | ISBN-13: 978-1887269339

is the remarkable story of Jim Parker a former C.I.A. agent and the last man to leave Vietnam. the Author explains how the agency worked behind the scenes to assist the military in the war. also explores the anti-war movement back home and its effect on how the war was conducted. Parker makes the point that the price paid in Vietnam ultimately caused the collapse of the Soviet Union rid the country of Lyndon Johnson and enabled the U.S. to gain a foothold in China

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Ex-CIA agent Parker tells the story of the American experience in Vietnam from the unusual perspective of a CIA agent involved in the behind-the-scene efforts and also of a soldier committed to the human side of the conflict. Parker was the last American to leave the country, because three days after the American Embassy closed he was still running about the countryside trying to round up loyal operatives still doing their jobs. As he explained the direction the war was taking in CIA briefings and was then informed by his people in the field that the opposite was occurring, he knew the American brass did not have a clear understanding of the problems there. Few others shared Parker's perspective on the war, and none has reported it in quite the same way. An enlightening story; for Vietnam War collections.?Michael Coleman, Regional Lib. for Blind & Physically Handicapped, Montgomery, Ala.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"Uplifting and insightful."
--Publishers Weekly

"Candid, realistic, very readable. . . . An important contribution to the literature of the Vietnam War."
--ED BURKE
   President, 28th Infantry Association

"Describes in vivid detail the total hell of ground combat and the great trust and camaraderie that develops among men."
--WILLIAM G. BAINBRIDGE
   Sergeant Major of the Army (Ret.)


From the Paperback edition. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: John Culler & Sons (November 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1887269339
• ISBN-13: 978-1887269339
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,106,927 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

When the author was 15 years old he ran away from home, ending up in Havana, Cuba. His parents were not amused and not long after he returned he was enrolled in the Oak Ridge Military Academy for an attitude adjustment. There he learned discipline but he was still driven by a ramblin', rambunctious curiosity; summers he worked as a Myrtle Beach life guard. He went on to UNC/Chapel Hill, played lacrosse, flunked out, went with a couple of buddies down to Managua, Nicaragua but was chased out by what would become the Sandinistas. He flew to Florida, worked at a Miami hotel, returned to college for one more semester before dropping out to join the US Army.

LAST MAN OUT chronicles his Vietnam war experiences; Parker was among the first in as a 22 year old Second Lieutenant platoon leader in 1965 and he was the last to leave in 1975. In between he married, graduated UNC and joined the Central Intelligence Agency. His first CIA assignment was upcountry Laos where he led Hmong hillstribe guerrillas against two divisions of North Vietnamese main line soldiers. His detailed account of this top secret activity was published in hard back by the Naval Institute Press, titled CODENAME MULE - reprinted in paperback by St Martin's Press as COVERT OPS.

After para-military chores in Laos/Vietnam, Parker went on to serve undercover as a spy handler in the CIA's Directorate of Operations, retiring in 1992.

In the military he received the Bronze Star with "V" and the Purple Heart. In the CIA, he received two Certificates of Outstanding Service, a Certificate of Distinction and the Intelligence Medal.

He was called back to work for the CIA after 9/11, but has re-retired to Las Vegas, Nevada.

His next book is in the works.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A true accounting of his time in the military!, February 2, 2001

By 

Noonie Fortin (Albany, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Last Man Out: A Personal Account of the Vietnam War (Mass Market Paperback)

Last Man Out: A Personal Account of the Vietnam War by James E. Parker, Jr. is the best book I've read in a long time. If this author didn't have a tape recorder or a diary that he wrote in everyday then I have to say he has a most remarkable memory. James takes the reader back to his home in North Carolina and introduces his family and friends. He continues as he makes the decision to enlist in the Army at a time when others were already doing everything they could to avoid serving their country. The reader goes through Basic Training with James and his buddies at Fort Gordon, Georgia in February 1964. Two months later after being named "Outstanding Trainee" James reiterates some of his time while at his Advanced Infantry Training. You are there when he signs up for Officer Candidate School and while he waited to be selected. You go through that six-month course with him too beginning in November at Fort Benning, Georgia. Upon graduation James goes to Jump School. From there the book gets even better. James first Permanent Party duty station was at Fort Riley, Kansas with the 1st Infantry Division. Then through his Tour of Duty in Vietnam. James told about an encounter with General William Westmoreland following a mission. The general flew in to review the troops, present medals and then was gone. It was a mere media event. When the general departed, another officer walked the line and took back the medals. After Nam James next assignment took him to Fort Ord in Monterey, California. He became the Officer-in-Charge of the 6th Army Area Drill Sergeant School. It was a great assignment. BUT James was thinking about leaving the Army but he "felt guilty about forsaking my duty, abandoning my obligation to country at a time of war." Unable to find a job that suited him he applied for and was accepted as a member of the Central Intelligence Agency. By September 1971 James was headed back to Southeast Asia "as a case officer in the Lao program, the CIA's largest covert operation." James was involved with several operations before heading stateside in 1973. He spoke openly about them. By January 1975 James was the only American left in Vi Thanh province. At that point he secured himself a "bodyguard." James wrote of the fall of Ban Me Thout, Hue, Da Nang, and Saigon. He took part in the evacuation of the Vietnamese who worked as agents for the CIA. He spoke of the problems encountered onboard the USS Vancouver and the transfer to the USNS Pioneer Contender. James Parker Jr. wrote an incredible account of his military and civilian service to our country and the people of South Vietnam. It is a book well worth reading. I'm glad I had the opportunity to meet the author in person in 1998. AND I'm glad I took the time to read his book. You will be also.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Personal Vietnam War Account, January 27, 2001

By 

P. Kelley "Jake Kelley" (Quincy, MA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Last Man Out: A Personal Account of the Vietnam War (Mass Market Paperback)

If my son were to enter the service, I would require him to read Mr Parker's book. The details of how to survive Army life are staight forward and important. I found the book easy and enjoyable to read. Could not put it down. As with any super book, I often found myself looking at the number of pages left to read-the more the merrier. Mr. Parker has truely made something of himself and the people of the United States have reaped the benefits. Thank you Mr. Parker.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Last Man Out, December 22, 2008

By 

J. Wharton - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Last Man Out: A Personal Account of the Vietnam War (Paperback)

I recently came across an excellent review of Last Man Out This review was prepared by Colonel Joseph T. Cox, Retired U.S. Army.

LAST MAN OUT

A proud veteran who simply did his duty gives an account refreshingly free of cynicism and self-pity.

By Colonel Joseph T. Cox, U.S. Army

In 1964 James E. Parker, Jr., was a restless college student who quit school and enlisted in the Army. In 1965, he was a 2nd Lt Infantry lieutenant fresh out of Officer Candidate School, deploying to Vietnam with lead elements of the 1st Infantry Division, the fabled "Big Red One."
Bloodied in combat, Parker left the Army after three and a half years of honorable service, finished his education and married, then went to work for the CIA, leading Hmong troops against the Pathet Lao and their North Vietnamese allies. On April 30, 1975, Communist forces captured Saigon at the same ti me Parker, then a CIA officer in the Mekong Delta, was piloting a landing craft filled with refugees off the beach near Vung Tau. He was literally one of the very last Americans out of Vietnam. His straightforward account of t he Vietnam War is a fascinating Far Eastern personal odyssey.
But Jim Parker is no shifty Odysseus or hubris-haunted Achilles. When he was growing up near Fort Bragg, N.C., his mentor was a paratrooper sergeant dubbed "Cottonpicker" who challenged him to "do what comes naturally." Among the things that come naturally to Parker are his love of country, service to others and storytelling. Unlike many who write about America's fall from grace in Vietnam, Parker never sees himself as a victim, nor does he lose faith in his coun try-even though he saw clearly and reports accurately how the war in Vietnam degenerated. Throughout his memoirs, he remains the plain-spoken, modest American Everyman with a native Southerner's knack for telling a story and a master raconteur's ear for dialogue and eye for detail.
Every veteran of the post­World War II army that first went to Vietnam will relish ParkerE2s account of his drill sergeant's welcoming speech: "Oh, and one more thing. I do not like ya, any of ya, and I don't want ya for a friend, any of ya. Don't try to be nice to me. Stay away. Do not talk with me. Do not come close to me unless ya have to. I do not want to know ya first names, I do not want to know about 'sa dog or ya Momma or dat ya girlfriend's pregnant. Stay away from me. See the Chaplain if ya want to talk with someone nice. I am Drill Sergeant Willie O. McGee. Stay da f- away."
And every veteran who has ever seen the human cost of war will appreciate Parker's unflinching honesty and attention to the human details of the consequences of combat. "The Vietnamese prisoner had one arm blown off above the elbow. His right leg was cantilevered at a crazy angle, and his left leg was torn open at the thigh, with a jagged piece of bone sticking out. His olive-green uniform was matted with blood, dirt, and slime, and the jacket had several bullet holes in it. Half of his face had been blown away. Some of his teeth and lower jawbone were exposed. Most of his left cheekbone was missing, and his left eye was dangling by a few strands of muscle and tissue. But he was breathing deep heavy breaths. His good eye was moving and making eye contact with u s as we looked down on him."
Throughout Last Man Out, Parker unsentimentally chronicles his love for his country, his fellow soldiers and the Vietnamese people. His account is also the story of a boy becoming a man in a system that would fail to measure up to today's politically correct standards of consideration for others. Early in the war when Parker signed on, however, it was as close to a pure meritocracy as such a system could be, and it produced competent, caring patriots who, like Parker, did their best to support and defend constitutionally formulated foreign policy objectives. Last Man Out will make readers who served in Vietnam remember the particulars of their training leading up to deployment and those hundreds of forgotten incidents that made up a tour of duty. For those who know the Vietnam War as history, it will help tell the rest of the story. This is an account of a proud veteran who simply did his duty.
There comes a time when old soldiers owe it to posterity to offer a summing up, but it is unusual and refreshing when memoirs appear free of prevailing mythology or self-serving ambition. Parker thinks for himself and tells no "bright shining lies." The results are thoroughly h onest and compelling Vietnam memoirs about uncommon duty in Southeast Asia. Last Man Out is an unpretentious account of extraordinary service, a tale told with humility and humor and packed with history and heroism.
Refreshingly free of cynicism, self-pity and self-aggrandizement, Parker's candid account of the human dimension of combat belongs on your bookshelf next to other soldierly accounts of honorable duty such as Harold Moore and Joseph Galloway's We Were Soldiers Once and Young.