Escape with Honor

Book excerpt: Francis Terry McNamara was U.S. consul general in the provincial capital of Can Tho, the man in charge of American interests in the Mekong Delta. Arriving for his third Vietnam tour in 1974, he had no idea he might become one of the Americans who would have to "turn out the lights" as South Vietnam fell. When the U.S. Embassy gave the evacuation order in April 1975, he was determined to keep some of the promises his country had made. With his dedicated consulate staff and Marine guards, McNamara organized a complicated and dangerous riverine evacuation of hundreds of Filipino and Vietnamese civilians, many of whom had been marked for death by the rapidly advancing communist forces. Documenting what were perhaps the last American shots fired during the Vietnam War and highly critical of the CIA's performance during the apocalyptic final hours, Escape with Honor is a thrilling testimony to American honor.