These were not the same sort of people as the political big shots or employees of American companies that had been shuttled to Guam from Saigon by airplane during the previous weeks. These were soldiers, farmers and p! eople from small villages that had been swept up and displaced by the war. They had sought refuge in the only place they could; any boat leaving the area, seaworthy or not. Most of the refugees had no idea where they were heading. Many could not come up with any reason for being on a boat in the middle of the ocean. They only knew that the Viet Cong was coming fast and they had to escape as quickly as possible or die. These were not political evacuees, these were refugees in every sense of the word. Almost without exception, these people had escaped with nothing more then the clothes on their backs. Most of the boats had not had time to gather many provisions. Water and food were in short supply on almost every boat."
This is the story of the 120,000 refugees, their impact on the small Pacific Island of Guam and the local, national and world wide politics that attended this exodus. The book includes 27 very descriptive photographs and other depictions of the actual evacuati! on.
