"Check Six"

Last Men Out: The True Story of America's Heroic Final Hours in Vietnam is a heartbreaking 3-Star read. The last few chapters bring back to life the shame, sorrow, frustration and wasted courage of the war in Vietnam as the Marine Security Guards at the US Embassy evacuate as many as possible as the NVA is battering down the door to Saigon. The book covers the last 2 days, mainly telling the story of the MSG at the Embassy and at other locations, such as the consulate in Can Tho. The book is divided into several portions. First is the realization, by the US, that the conventional attack by the North is not stopping; second is the delusional expectation that a diplomatic or negotiated solution could save the situation; third is the main rescue effort to extract as many as possible and lastly, the final pullout of the US soldiers/embassy staff, leaving many Vietnamese and allies behind that should have been evacuated.

The book lost a star for a somewhat erratic style, jumping around to give personnel backgrounds and supporting information while trying to tell a chronological story. I would have preferred the authors spend a few chapters up front setting the stage and giving us the all the background stories. Then spend the rest on the action hour-by-hour. The storyline is disjointed. The book lost another star for the poor editing. Many errors surfaced, such as calling various military unit “Royal”. There were no “royal” units in South Vietnam. There are many other editing or proofreading mistakes (e.g., flying a F-15 vs. the F-5) that should never have made it into the book.

I enjoyed how they wove in the contemporaneous moves and plans of the NVA general leading the assault; I thought they could have really added more to that side of the story. Why couldn’t they have included a map or two? It would have made things a bit clearer when talking about stories outside the Embassy walls. Overall, this is a good story and the last part of the book is riveting. The “Can Tho Yacht Club” is an amazing yet humorous escape story of chutzpah, luck and heroism by a State Dept representative and a young Marine NCO. Conversely, the scene where the Marines have to abandon some of the Vietnamese and, shamefully, many allied Koreans, is terrible to contemplate. The book is worth the time to read.