Customer Reviews

Tiger Cage: An Untold Story

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When the authors sent this book to us (POW/MIA FORUM website) for review and we thumbed through it, our first thought was,"What does this have to do with the POW/MIA issue?"

Well, we started reading this book. And what we found was an effort by the United States at alleviating the conditions that ou r POWs suffered through at the hands of the communists by improving the conditions of the prisons in South Vietnam; the prisons that held criminally or civilly incarcerated inmates.

Don Bordenkircher was hired by the United States Agency for International Development - Office of Public Safety, (USAID/OPS), from the administrative ranks of San Quentin Prison in 1967 as Senior US Advisor to the [ South Vietnam's] Director of Corrections to implement the improvement of South Vietnam's prison system.

Some of South Vietnam's 41 prisons did hold Communist prisoners. But they were not considered POWs.

Con Son Island, a South Vietname se penal colony in the South China Sea is the major setting for this book which highlights the total betrayal of American efforts in Vietnam by Americans from home.

Don Bordenkircher, a Corrections Department professional was hired in 1967 from the administrative ranks of San Quentin Prison by the United States Agency for International Development - Office of Public Safety, (USAID/OPS), as Senior Advisor to the South Vietnamese Director of Corrections and his forty-one correctional centers. One of which was Con Son Island. He would spend the next five years in this capacity. His mission was simple: Teach the South Vietnamese how to operate a humane correctional program and it would send a message to the North which may have reciprocated by treating our POWs humanely.

While the mission statement may have been simple, the mission was not--and this was not due to South Vietnamese resistance toward humane treatment of prisoners.

William Colby, Tom Harkin, (now Senator Harkin), Don Luce and the world press, especially the American press, all play a major part in betraying the true US effort and one must wonder if power, greed or 15 minutes of fame were the culprits! Interstingly, Harkin was paid $10,000.00 for his story, in advance of his leaving on this Congressional Delegation. This book may not be about American Prisoners of War, but yet it is as much about them as it is about betrayal. For in the end, there is the factor that if South Vietnam treated its incercerated poorly, then North Vietnam would retaliate.

Don Bordenkircher together with his co-workers should be commended for the job that they did in Vietnam for the 5 years he was there.

After 34 years service as a police officer, foreign police advisor and prison police officer I can attest to the truth contained in "Tiger Cage". I would change the sub-title to "An Inconvienent Truth". At 72 years of age I am disconcerted by the re-rage I felt while reading the Bordenkircher book.

I am one of the victims of the slaughter of the Office Of Public Safety - and although I survived and eventually retired after my service - I am amazed that I can still feel a pain in my throat and in my heart at the terrible injustice caused by the surrender in Viet Nam.

In 1967 I volunteered for the foreign police advisory service in Viet Nam while on a "rising star" path at the Phoenix Police Department. While in Washington D.C. for orientation the brass discovered that I could speak Spanish so they diverted me to Latin America.

However, I am fully cognizant of the perfidious lying and misrepresentation that caused the demise of the Foreign Police Advisory Program.(Office of Public Safety)

Don Bordenkircher and his beautiful wife Shirley have produced a very important history lesson in their book. It is interesting to note that most persons agree, "knowing history can help prevent past mistakes". I have provided copies of the Tiger Cage for my children in the hopes they (and others) will absorb what can happen when the lib's control the press and they in turn incite panic with lies causing the Congress to go ballistic.

America lost the war in Viet Nam - but we never lost a battle there! Carter gave away Iran at a time when that country was well on the road to democracy. Carter did the same thing in Nicaragua and then for good measure gave away the Panamá canal.

Andrew Best, Phoenix, Arizona andrewbest303@cox.net

We lived through Vietnam oblivious to what was really happening, believing what we were told by the media without question. Tiger Cage made us acutely aware of how little we really knew and understood about what happened in Vietnam. Suspence, intrigue, and emotion were key elements for us as we read Tiger Cage. We found ourselves becoming totally involved with the people and events in this historical documentary. The acronyms which initially confused both of us became unimportant as we were caught up in the emotions of brutality (man against man) -- emotionally, politically, and physically. We were appalled at the total misrepresentation of the event which has become accepted as gospel for the past thirty years. Thank goodness this story, and others like it, are finally coming to the surface. In short, --- We all need to pay attention to events around us and not be so willing to accept what we are told without questioning. Tiger Cage reinforced our resolve to do this.

I'm amazed Don Bordenkircher has carried this story around with him for 30 years. You must read about Don's experiences as an advisor to the South Vietnamese Department of Corrections from 1967 to 1972. Don and Shirley kept us rivited to our seats for two hours on my radio show. I urge you to read "Tiger Cage an untold story", and then you'll know what Don and Shirley have had to live with all these years

From 1967 to 1972, Don Bordenkircher was a senior adviser to the director of South Vietnam's correction system. He was tasked to help reform, improve, and update Southern Vietnam's 41 correctional centers including Con Son prison (location of the Tiger Cages).

As could be expected, the centers that he surveyed had a myriad of problems ranging from bad to deplorable and in great need of care. Bordenkircher and his fellow assistants, in the time that they had, did make significant strides in improving the overall situation but not without sacrifice. On Con Son island, the center there had detention cells known as Tiger Cages for the most unruly and problematic of the inmates. These holding areas were deemed adequate by most known standards at the time considering their location.

Unfortunately, that's not what was told and shown to the world by an unscrupulous and damning media sideshow. In 1970, a congressional delegation made up of Congressmen Gus Hawkins and William Anderson, then aide Tom Harkins (now Senator Harkins), and journalist Don Luce, visited Con Son Island on a "fact finding mission", so to speak. Their ulitmate aim was to exploit the Tiger Cages in an inflammatory way using distortions, lies, deceit and misinformation. The story manufactured by the delegation was to the effect that the Con Son Tiger Cages were barbaric and that prison conditions on the island were horrific in every way. Contrary to the facts.

After selling this piece of fiction to the media, a firestorm of controversy ensued and probably at no worse a time as the anti-American sentiment of the Vietnamese war was already at a boiling point. Subsequent attempts to reveal the complete truth to the world was shunned by the U.S. government and the mainstream media.

Despite the destructive criticism and propaganda thrown at Don Bordenkircher and his team, they continually fought an uphill battle for the remainder of their time in Vietnam and were able to make some large strides for the betterment of the South Vietnamese correction system.

Tiger Cage is a well written and documented book and a hidden chapter of the Vietnam war that absolutely needed to be told. Much credit is due to Don and Shirley Bordenkircher for their courage and perseverance and honesty in bringing this to story to light. This is a highly recommended read.

I purchased the Tiger Cage an untold story by D.E. Bordenkercher because I know the author and wanted to learn of his experience in Vietnam. As I read portions of the book I could hear the author's voice speak the words, a very interesting read for me. A true account of the infamous Tiger Cages in Vietnam by an intelligent and very interesting author.

Tim Dunn

Somewhere In Baghdad

Tiger Cage: Un Untold Story is an inspiring book telling the reader about what other activities were going on during the Vietnam War. Don Bordenkircher was a senior adviser working under the Phoenix program umbrella from 1967 to 1972. He was given the task to reform, rebuild, and improve the safety and security of the South Vietnamese correctional system. He also witnessed the political greed, lies, and corruption a few government officials, and what they would do to get ahead in their careers.

As an International Corrections Advisor stationed in Iraq, I have the pleasure and privilege to work with Don on a daily basis--and yes, he's still working. He brings a wealth of knowledge and experience (40+ years) to the Iraqi Correctional System (ICS) which operates under the Ministry of Justice. Because of his experience, he is also well respected among the Iraqi people working in the prison system.

Tiger Cage is a well written and documented book that I highly recommend to anyone interested in pursuing International Rule of Law and International Corrections/Law Enforcement.

Retiring after thirty five years in Federal Service I laid aside the disappontments of the pedantics of Federal Operation. Then after reading Tiger Cages, by Bordenkircher's, all of the mismanagement of procedures and policies was reintroduced to me and like a back flash I reentered those coverups and prevarications that only the Federal Government can successfully utililze. Well written, impecibly researched and presented. Whether it is grammatically correct or not is not for me to judge. I am not a communications professor. However after thirty five years Federal Service time I recognize the inner mechanics of the Government and how it presents. Bordenkirchers reveled as only one with profound knowledge and experience could do, and one who has been extremely duped as he was by what was a great poliltical travesty. This book is a must read, and it tells it exactly how it is to be Federal. Doing your best is never good enough. They will still "Do Whatever They Can Get Away With". With the Federal Government nothing ever changes but the date on the calendar.

Donald E. Bordenkircher, like many veterans of the Vietnam War, waited over twenty years to write his personal memoir. Not a soldier in the traditional sense, he served as a police advisor who supervised and administrated the complicated Vietnamese policing effort throughout South Vietnam during the war years. The author was a civilian advisor and part of the Phoenix/ICEX program about which much negative reporting emanated from Vietnam late in the war and was directly connected with the civilian prison on Con Son Island. This fascinating and well documented book is his bitter response to what he believes was a deliberate attempt by America's antiwar radicals to distort what really took place in the advisory effort which not only turned hard won success into failure but also played directly into the hands of North Vietnam's propaganda machine.

Unlike civilian policing at home Bordenkircher was faced with several classes of prisoners other than common criminals: military offenders, mostly deserters from the South Vietnamese Army; communist prisoners who were captured unarmed but were known sympathizers with the National Liberation Front; members of the covert Viet Cong Infrastructure, and other categories of prisoners who presented direct challenges to the sovereignty of the government of South Vietnam (48-51). For anyone who studies the intricacies of the Vietnam War seriously, this book acts as an essential tool that brings to light the successes, failures, and in-fighting within the State Department rather than the military or the covert world of spies and evil-doers.

The book is a personal, first-hand account of the tiger cage incident of the Vietnam War. This event filled the screens and newspapers of American TV and reinforced a basic negative view of US involvement in the war. The author tells a well documented saga of the realities of Vietnam; the politics involved; events leading up to the revelation of the "Tiger Cages"; and the aftermath. I thought it was written in a positive and patriotic, yet truthful manner. I appreciated that at the outset, the author said there was a web of agencies involved, each with different initials and that could be burdensome, but not to get bogged down in them and to refer to the appendix where they are clearly listed. If you keep that in mind and concentrate on the people involved and their dedication, it reads easily. It's redeeming reading for those who served in the war; fascinating for the history buffs; and reinforcing to those who are are cynical about politics.