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Last Man Out

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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.

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.

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.

From the humorous to the horrific...from tragedy to triumph...and a somber assessment of what really happened in Southeast Asia, this short and powerful book is essential reading for those considering work in the patriotic service.

The subtitle "A personal Account of the Vietnam War," turned out to represent the contents of the book. This book was very different from superhero soldier book.

The author began with his experiences being recruited and trained. He recounted what it felt to first arive in Vietnam, and what his thoughts were during his first encounters with the enemy. Mr. Parker takes us through his experiences until at the end of the book when tells us about the confusion surrounding the end of the war.

In reality, Mr. Parker could be considered a superhero, not for his ability to handle weapons, but for fighting in what he believed was best for Vietnam and for the people.

In this book Jim Parker tells his story from such a personal point of view that anyone who served in that ten-year period from 1965 to 1975 will certainly be able to relate to his reflections. I was fortunate enough to be a classmate of Mr. Parker in 1964-65 at Infantry OCS in Ft. Benning. I also served with the 1st Infantry Division as a Platoon Leader in Phuoc Vinh, South Viet Nam. His stories about OCS and the "Big Red One" are really well done and every page hits home. I have read many books on the war in Viet Nam and this one ranks with the best. If you are interested in a rare look at a man and his family during that time, this is a must read.

Real Enjoyable read. Well written, wish the authors other two books would get kindlized. I hated having it end when it did but I can't help but think that it was the beginning of another book!

This autobiography brings into focus all the pain of the Vietnam era. It is done truthfully and thoughtfully and helps bring closure to us veterans who lost their innocense in that war, and it refreshes the incredible camaradarie that war veterans have for each other. Thank you, Jim, for the emotional release you gave me. Beautifully done!

Hank Hoffman, Colonel USAF, Retired.

Of the hundred or so books I've read about the Vietnam War this is up there with the best of them. Parker's extraordinary experiences are given impact by his down to earth manner. You get a sense of an honest guy telling it straight, a self-effacing man, his ego kept in check at all times. Clear and direct with language, he gets to the point and tells his story without hoo-ha. Lot of interesting glimpses of colourful characters: he manages a striking portrait with ease in the fewest of words. I found his comments on the last weeks before the fall of the South fascinating. The ineptitude of the some of the major players from the Saigon consulate is bizarre, believing right up to the last weeks that the NVA would make a peace deal when on the verge of absolute victory. Some very emotional encounters and catastrophes. Parker's respect for his Asian adversaries as well as his fellow soldiers & countrymen is admirable. Great book.
Aussie Des

James E. Parker Jr. witnessed the Vietnam conflict from almost every perspective. He serves as a young officer as the war heightens in the mid sixties, returns to the U.S. as a college student and is exposed to the anti-war movement, and eventually joins the CIA and returns to Laos and Vietnam as the war ends. His experiences are Forrest Gump-like and his recollection and writing is strong and engaging. The detail is entirely credible and balances objectivity with the visceral remembrances of someone whose life was dedicated to a cause. Most laudable is Parker Jr. makes no excuses and takes a stand on the outcome of the conflict. Lastly, his departure from Vietnam three days after the American Embassy closed in Saigon is amazing and surreal.