"Escape from Saigon - a Novel"

A businesswoman looks at "Escape from Saigon - a Novel"

The strong female lead character propels the story for me

Guest Review by Judy George

 

I started reading “Escape from Saigon” on a Friday and couldn’t put it down until I finished it on Sunday.

As a woman who broke into the male-dominated business world during the Vietnam War, I felt the novel created the perfect archetype of the women’s
liberation pioneers with female protagonist Lisette Vo. Lisette is the first female correspondent to become the face of a major US TV network in what became known as, “America’s television war.”  She also happens to be a Vietnamese-American, who like many Americans came to Vietnam early on.

Judy George

She is the daughter of a prominent Washington D.C. family of Vietnamese and French heritage, who graduated from Georgetown University in the 60’s and flew to Saigon with no job, but a desire to get at the truth about a distant war that would define our generation. Lisette is smart, tough, knows Vietnamese politics inside-and-out and is accomplished. She also confronts her own struggles and vulnerability throughout the novel, and hints at the future of women in media and the advent of 24/7 cable news in the epilogue.

This story a must for anyone, especially millennials and twenty-somethings, who want to better understand their parents and grandparents and how the decision to “go to war” shapes the lives of ordinary people. While much of the tension is between Lisette, a rising TV talent, and her friend Sam Esposito of  The Washington Legend, the novel gives the reader a feel for life in the French colonial city of Saigon, now Ho Chi Minh City. There is a French expatriate bar owner who runs the unofficial watering hole for the press corps, a just-married Vietnamese couple who work for the Americans and fears reprisals, and a GI who returns to rescue his Vietnamese family before enemy tanks roll into the city. There are also diplomats, CIA agents, spies, and countless Vietnamese seeking to escape the desperation of war and decades of misguided decisions by their political leaders.

While the action takes place during the final 30 days of the war, the authors weave historical references through flashbacks and recollections. I not only got a better sense for how it all ended on April 30 of 1975, but also for the decades that led up to a war that dragged on for a quarter of a century and ended with barely a whimper. This a superb novel in which the history is accurately recounted, but does not intrude on the compelling story.

I’m looking forward to reading more about Lisette Vo in the next novel.

Judy George founded Domain Home, a 35-store furniture retailing chain in the 1980s and is the author of “The Intuitive Businesswoman." She lectures on women’s empowerment and is featured on the cover of this summer’s Grand Magazine. Escape from Saigon is available on Amazon and at independent bookstores.

The Continental Palace Hotel figured into "Escape from Saigon." This classic hotel has been modernized but lacks the famous veranda where journalists and diplomats mingled during the War

 

Huế , the Imperial Capital of Vietnam Gets a New Guidebook by Tim Doling

Vietnam authority and author Tim Doling brings us his latest English-language guidebook, Exploring Huế. With over 520 pages this new volume is packed with helpful maps and images, giving visitors the most extensive understanding of the city that became the capital of Vietnam when Nguyen Anh took control in 1789.  

Though in American minds, Hue is often thought of as the site of one of the most intense battles of the Vietnam War, Exploring Huế takes us on a journey of discovery far into theist through the ancient Nguyễn dynasty in the heartland of Thừa Thiên Huế province.
 
Perhaps the most complete English language heritage tourism guidebook to this area, Exploring Huế takes in over 500 years of Nguyễn dynasty history, affording an opportunity to view and learn about the rich surviving heritage associated with the nine Nguyễn lords and 13 Nguyễn emperors, their queens, princes, princesses and mandarins. The book also introduces the Chinese heritage of Bao Vinh-Địa Linh and Gia Hội, the architecture of the French town south of the river that divides the city, relics of the American (Vietnam) War era, and the cultural traditions of the region's ethnic minority groups. Doling offers 23 different tours, covering Huế city and the province's six districts and two district-level subdivisions.
 
The book is launched in the wake of Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc's  visit to Huế this year, during which he called for further development of tourism in the city he dubbed the “Kyoto of Viet Nam.” During his visit he said, "It is hoped that Exploring Huế will help to boost the Huế tourism sector by providing greater depth to the visitor experience and encouraging longer stays, more repeat visits and more sustainable tourism practices.” 
 

According to Giới Publishers, founded in Vietnam in 1857 with the purpose of providing a better understanding of the country through English language books,

Exploring Huế is on sale from major bookshops in Việt Nam, price 350,000 VND and is also available online via the publisher's website at Giới Publishers. 
 
In addition to Exploring Huế  Tim Doling chronicles Viet Nam's heritage, culture, history and contemporary life in words at pictures at Historic Vietnam.
His website is a must-visit before your go. Tim Doling is also reachable at: [email protected]

Says Doling, if you want your copy before you go, "The payment method is antiquated - either by bank transfer, check or credit card but you'll have to fax or email a scan of your credit card details to the publisher."

How to create real life characters for your novel, by the authors of "Escape from Saigon."

My coauthor and I are often asked, "Where did the characters in "Escape from Saigon" come from?"

Pat answer. Aside from famous political and military leaders whose names remained unchanged in the novel, such as Ambassador Martin or South Vietnam President Thieu, the characters were created out of whole cloth. They are no more real than Saigon-based journalist Thomas Fowler or CIA operative Alden Pyle in Graham Greene’s Vietnam War novel, The Quiet American,

But the creative process is complicated. Some characters, though bearing no resemblance to actual people, were inspired by snippets of my experience in Vietnam over the years. So I thought it would help to pair a scene in Escape from Saigon, to one of those experiences to illustrate how real life can evolve into fiction. 

The incident occurred when I returned to Vietnam years after the war had ended and visited the Cu Chi Tunnels; the subterranean labyrinth of passageways, offices, barracks, hospital, and conference rooms where the Viet Cong were hold up until they emerged during the 1968 Tet Offensive.

During the visit our group sat down in one of the tunnels’ conference rooms for a briefing by a former Viet Cong officer who had lived there during the War. He explained how they subsisted for years, mostly on a root similar to cassava.  During the briefing he told us, “We used everything the Americans brought here. If a parachute fell to the ground, we used it for mosquito netting, if a bomb didn’t explode we turned it into a new weapon, we forged metal into everything from bayonets to cooking pots.” He went on, “When we camoflaged the tunnel entrances with leaves and undergrowth we added bits of fabric from American Army uniforms to throw the MP dogs off their scent.”

During the briefing, I realized that he spoke perfect English but with a distinct New Jersey accent.  When I asked him about the accent he told me, “I learned English from Armed Forces Radio and TV. Like I said, we used everything the Americans brought here.”

Here is how I played out that real life dialogue in a verbal exchange between our hero, war correspondent Sam Esposito and his North Vietnamese source who called with a news tip for him and his friend Lisette Vo, of NBS-TV.

The Cu Chi Tunnel incident was recast in the novel as an argument over baseball.

From Escape from Saigon - a Novel

“Sam, we’ve done it. We did our job. It’s over. We can go home. You and me. Today. We put on our clothes, walk out the front door and catch a ride to

The Continental Palace Hotel

Tan Son Nhut. We’d be on a flight within the hour. It’s that simple. What do you say Sam? Let’s go home,” Lisette implored.

Sam caught himself smiling broadly over the thought of leaving without a moment’s hesitation, skipping the heartfelt goodbyes and vows to keep in touch. He wanted to be with Lisette. But then a thousand obstacles crowded his mind. He hadn’t been back to the world in ten years. Where would he, they live? Would The Washington Legend want him? But mostly he thought, would covering Washington politics or writing ponderous editorials bore him to death.

All the while he absentmindedly caressed Lisette, and when his eyes met meet hers, it brought him back to the present. He now wondered, am I ready for another go? But just then the phone rang. He fumbled for his glasses and put them on as he clumsily reached for the receiver.

“Hello?”

“Ha, ha, Ong Esposito! You and lady friend have good time?” came the voice on the line. “This your friend from the North.”

“Christ! Don’t you guys have anything better to do than follow reporters around? Who the hell is this?”

“You remember me? This is your news source I gave you a big story tip at the Cyclodrome a couple of weeks ago.”

That got Sam’s attention. “Lise, give me something to write with, quick!” She fumbled around until she located a ballpoint pen and hotel stationery pad and handed them to Sam.

“Yes, I remember you now. What—no more secret meetings? Now you call me? Brave North Vietnamese fellow talking to a decadent American?”

Fenway Park

“Your friend Captain Trung, he wants to say good-bye to you. He gives me instructions. Be at Tan Son Nhut before dusk. Hide outside the fence west of the runway. Take your TV friend with you and tell her to bring her camera. Trung promises to have a present for her, a special show for Walter Conkite, your American uncle you call him Uncle Walter!” Sam covered the mouthpiece and turned toward Lisette.

“Hey, Lise!” he whispered. “He’s got a news tip for you that he says will get you on the NBS Evening News, maybe then Cronkite will know who you are!” Sam then added incredulously, “How is it that these fuckers know so much about us and what we watch on TV, and we don’t know shit about them?”

To prove his point, Sam asked the caller, “Hey, asshole—who’s a better pitcher, Catfish Hunter or Bill ‘Spaceman’ Lee?”

“What?”

“Catfish Hunter or Bill Lee. Who is the better pitcher?”

“Of course, Catfish Hunter, he win Cy Young last year. But I still root for Red Sox!”

“How do you know this shit?”

“I listen to your American baseball on Armed Forces Radio and TV.

Learned English, too, from your guy who say ‘Goood Morning Vietnam,’ and DJ Chris Noel—she is one hot babe!” The caller hung up.

 

Excerpted from Escape from Saigon - a Novel, by Michael Morris and Dick Pirozzolo, Skyhorse Publishing, New York, 2017. All Rights Reserved. For more information about this Vietnam War Novel set during the final days of the War. please visit www.escapefromsaigon.com.

Vietnam is again drawn into conflict with China over disputed islands in the South China Sea, shipping lanes, oil exploration and Adverserial trade deals

Book Review by Dick Pirozzolo

Great Power, Grand Strategies

 

How regional conflicts become global conflagrations and what to do about it.

Throughout 2017, U.S. foreign policy has been conflicted, confusing, and churlish with the US withdrawal from the Transpacific Partnership, spats between the President and the Secretary of State, a paucity of foreign affairs officers and the threat of armed conflict between the US and North Korea involving China and Russia.

 

In this muddled foreign policy environment comes Great Powers, Grand Strategies, offering a thoughtful analysis of how a regional trouble spot in the Pacific—the South China Sea—can have far reaching global consequences that impact major world powers. The volume, edited by Anders Corr Ph.D., delivers much-needed insight into China’s behavior and desire to project its power worldwide. Its behavior in this vital region for shipping, fishing, and oil exploration has on occasion sparked armed conflict between China’s warships and Philippine and Vietnamese commercial and military vessels. Amidst the ongoing disputes, Vietnam, the Philippines, Brunei and other Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) with a stake in maintaining peaceful, multifaceted trade relations with China are being blackmailed by China’s overreach. What is more, the United States needs maintain a Naval presence in the Pacific or cede American influence and power to China.

In an advance copy of Great Powers, Grand Strategies, to be released by the Naval Institute Press on January 15, 2018, Dr. Corr writes, "This book is the first to focus on major power grand strategies including economic, diplomatic, and military strategies, and their interrelationships so that we can explore how global actors are, on the one hand, contributing to the solution and, on the other hand, perpetuating conflict."

Dr. Corr, who publishes the Journal of Political Risk, cites China’s behavior in the Pacific and elsewhere in the world as ample reason for the US Navy to maintain its cautionary presence in the Pacific, which he regards as, "part of a global system of defense of not only the United States but its allies and values, which include international law, democracy, and human rights. To criticize the United States deployment in the Pacific as offensive without geographic context ignores the global picture and principles the United States is defending.”

Anders Corr with Filipino fishermen in the South China Sea 

He is quick to add, “Viewing China’s actions in the South China Sea as defensive against U.S. forward deployment ignores China’s similar offensive actions in the East China Sea and Himalayan region of India.” He decried China’s suppression of democracy, human rights, and international law in Asia and abroad and its efforts to remake global governance to its own advantage rather than on principles of democracy adding, “China’s South China Sea actions are offensive when viewed in this global context."

Dr. Corr calls into question China’s disputed claims to the Spratly Islands and sea lanes in the South China Sea and its maneuvering to control the territory militarily.  After having established its boot print in the area, Dr. Corr notes that China then began to demand joint oil and gas development and sovereignty agreements, with ASEAN nations. “Xi Jinping calls this a 'win-win solution,' I call it China’s take and talk strategy.”

The volume assembles the thinking of foreign policy scholars and practitioners Bill Hayton, Gordon Chang, Bernard Cole, James Fanell, and others who examine the conflict in the context of a global big picture. As editor, Dr. Corr juxtaposes the grand strategies of the great powers to determine the likely outcomes of the dispute, and suggests ways to defuse tensions that are likely to spill over to other regions.

Eric Gomez, Policy Analyst, Cato Institute lauded Great Powers, Grand Strategies “for exploring the strategies of ASEAN, Russia, and other important but overlooked actors in the dispute.”

Oct. 19 - the North Korean oil tanker Ryesonggang 1 connected to a Chinese ship. U.S. Govt. Satellite photo

Alessio Patalano, King's College London credited the book for examining, “the South China Sea as a locus of strategic competition where simmering maritime disputes have significant implications for major powers well beyond its confines, and where the international power balance is being redefined.”

Dr. Corr visited all South China Sea claimant countries, undertaking research in Vietnam, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Brunei.  He has also conducted analysis for USPACOM, CENTCOM, and NATO, including work in Bangladesh, Afghanistan, and Ukraine.

Dr. Corr is the founder and CEO of Corr Analytics in New York, which helps governments and businesses evaluate strategic and international political risks as part of their decision-making process. 

Dick Pirozzolo is managing director of Pirozzolo Company Public Relations an international corporate communications firm based in Boston, and coauthor of "Escape from Saigon" with Michael Morris that focuses on the events of April 1-30, 1975, the last month of Vietnam War.

 

 Great Powers, Grand Strategies 

NAVAL INSTITUTE PRESS

Publication date: 15 January 2018

China & the Asia Pacific | 336 pp.

Hardcover & eBook: $34.95

ISBN: 978-1-68247-235-4

The New York Times Profiles Authors Michael Morris and Dick Pirozzolo on their Agent Orange Experience and Possible Expansion of VA Benefits

 Clay Risen, Deputy Opinion Editor of The New York Times recently profiled Dick Pirozzolo and Michael Morris authors of "Escape from Saigon - a Novel" for an article on the medical consequences of spraying the defoliant Agent Orange throughout Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia.

Risen asked Pirozzolo and Morris about their  encounter with Agent Orange when they served in Vietnam, its effect on their health and their struggles with the Veterans Administration over benefits in connection with exposure since that time.

The article, titled Agent Orange and Us is part of The Times year-long Vietnam '67 series. In this piece Risen points out that the VA is now considering whether to link four more illnesses to Agent Orange exposure as well as whether to extend benefits to Navy and Marine personnel who served offshore. The four ailments are bladder cancer, Graves' disease, Parkinson's disease-like symptoms and hypertension, all of which are more prevalent in Vietnam veterans than those of the same age who did not serve in Vietnam.

Some veterans who served stateside and flew in airplanes such as the C-123 that transported or sprayed Agent Orange may also qualify for benefits. Agent Orange is commonly used to describe a host of defoliants used during the war.

"If  you have relatives or friends whom you believe might qualify, please let them know about these possible changes. Every town or county in America has a VA agent or the Disabled American Veterans (DAV) can provide details," urges Pirozzolo. 

Risen points out: "During the Vietnam War, the United States sprayed some 20 million gallons of the defoliant known as Agent Orange over South Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. Nearly four million people were exposed to the chemical, which the government claimed was non-toxic. 

"The government was wrong: Fifty years later, approximately one million people in Asia and the United States suffer from a range of disorders, including multiple forms of cancer, that have been linked to Agent Orange exposure.

For the complete article visit The New York Times  series Vietnam '67 

 

Massachusetts Author Laura Harrington Wins Praise for Her Novel on the 

Environmental Impact of Vietnam and the Heartbreak of Coming Home

Right on the heels of The New York Times article on the perils of Agent Orange exposure and how it affected the authors of "Escape  from Saigon," a new novel on war and its environmental consequences comes to light. 

"A Catalogue of Birds,"  by Gloucester, Massachusetts author Laura Harrington, tells the story of a family recovering from the aftermath of the Vietnam War and the mysterious disappearance of a young woman, while also  exploring the environmental destruction that accompanies war.

When Billy Flynn returns from the war, the lone survivor of a helicopter crash, he struggles to regain the life he once had. His sister, Nell, and their family do all they can to save him.

Harrington's new novel has received early praise from Kirkus Reviews, Publishers Weekly, and The Week as one of the 28 books to read this year. Rachel Kadish, an award-winning author, wrote: “Laura Harrington weaves American history and natural history into a riveting story of damage and resilience. Harrington’s voice is as clear and distinctive as a bird call.”

Harrington, a 25-year resident of Gloucester, has written extensively for theater, including plays, operas, musicals, radio plays, screenplays, television scripts, and lyrics. In 2011, she published her first novel, "Alice Bliss," which received widespread praise, winning the Massachusetts Book Award Winner for Fiction and becoming a Boston Globe bestseller.

Harrington's family is no stranger to war and service. The author, whose father served in World War II, remembers well the era of the Vietnam War and the conversations that took place around the family dinner table.

Says the author:  At the heart of the novel is the relationship between siblings Nell and Billy Flynn. Nell excels academically and is headed to college and a career in science. Billy, a passionate artist, enlists as a pilot to fulfill his lifelong dream of flying. He returns home so seriously wounded he may never use his right hand again. As Billy struggles to regain the life he once had, Nell and their family will have to do all that’s possible to save him.

Harrington is the 2008 Kleban Award Winner for most promising librettist in American Musical Theatre. Harrington has twice won both the Massachusetts Cultural Council Award and the Clauder Competition for best new play in New England. 

For the complete review and Laura Harrington's upcoming speaking events and books signings visit  The Gloucester Times.

"Back to China Beach" Documentary Recalls the Surfers of Viet Nam

The China Beach Club, Danang Vietnam

   

China Beach Club Logo

"BACK TO CHINA BEACH " is a new documentary about the legendary surf club at Danang's famous China Beach. The club was founded by Larry Martin to bring a little bit of home to the war zone and some 50 of his fellow soldiers and Marines became members  club members who surfed the local waters during the Vietnam War.

Larry Martin

Producer Mike Cotton, Co-Producer & Director Dave Barnes, a two-time Emmy winner for his work with PBS-TV, Associate Producer  and Adviser Larry Martin are seeking sponsors for Air Travel for the U.S. and Viet Nam, ground transportation and lodging to support the project. Barnes has won awards for his long-form TV journalism projects covering the British music invasion and the tragedy of teen suicide. 

Sponsors will receive: onscreen product placement, closing credits, advertising space, and premier tour screening and other live event exposure, say the producers.

"BTCB" is a full length film covering the legendary Viet Nam beach during the late 1960's and early 1970's . To fill in details the producers are also seeking interviews with those who were there or their family members. The are also looking for submissions of memorabilia such as old film footage, photos and news articles about the club .

"BTCB " is slated for a late 2017 release . For details contact the filmmakers at: 850-384-1484 or [email protected].

Entry to China Beach

Said Martin in an interview with the Pensacola News Journal: "We got the surf club going and got patches for the members. I was fortunate that I got to work nights so I had every day free to surf." Martin, who was then 22 at the time, was stationed at nearby Camp Tien Sha. He is now 71 and continues to surf. See below fora  link to the trailer and article about the film project.

If you go check out the  Stormrider Surf blog for local seasonal conditions for surfers in the South China Sea Da Nang, Vietnam.

Editorial Note: Dick Pirozzolo is coauthor of "Escape from Saigon - a Novel" with Michael Morris that is set during April 1975, the final days of the Vietnam War, and two years after American troops left South Vietnam. Today Vietnam's coastal waters attract tourists from all over the world - including American surfers. The legendary site was popularized in the the 1988-1991 TV Drama China Beach

 

 

 

 

 

"Escape from Saigon" Authors Michael Morris and Dick Pirozzolo are Interviewed by VietnamNet.Vn, Vietnam's Biggest Online Newspaper

An American Journalist: "Vietnam is growing steadily every day."

By

Nguyen Lan Anh

VietnamNet.Vn

Vietnam Net, Vietnam's largest online newspaper, published an interview with the authors of "Escape from Saigon - a Novel" by Michael Morris and Dick Pirozzolo on the 42nd anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War.

Their debut novel, published by Skyhorse Publishing, New York is set during the last days of what in Vietnam is known as The American War.

The authors hope this reporter feels that we accurately portrayed Saigon as a sophisticated vibrant city and its people as genuine human beings with complex feelings and relationships—be they Vietnamese civilians, military people on both sides of the conflict or the journalists and other foreign nationals from America, France, Australia and other countries for whom Vietnam became home.

Click here to read the original Vietnamese language version 

Saigon View from the Rex Bar in 1995

 Having returned to Vietnam many times since the war ended, journalist and US Air Force veteran Dick Pirozzolo chose trade, culture and tourism to establish a link between Vietnam and the United States. In so doing he has written articles and editorials on the story of reconciliation between two former foes. Michael Morris was in Vietnam in 1967-1968 as a US Army infantry soldier. Together these two Americans coauthored “Escape from Saigon – a Novel,” published this year by Skyhorse Publishing, New York, USA.

Vietnam Net: Congratulations, you have launched the book "Escape from Saigon -  a Novel” in 2017, what can you tell us about this book?

Mr. Dick Pirozzolo: Putting aside the past is a theme running throughout the book whose characters often come in conflict with their ideologies as they try to move forward. Even though "Escape from Saigon" is fiction it hews closely to historical events as it recounts the lives of both ordinary people as well as officials who are trapped in a city once called The Paris of the East.

The Continental Palace Hotel figures into "Escape from Saigon." While this classic hotel has been upgraded and retains its charm, it lacks the famous veranda where journalists and diplomats mingled during the war.

Some of these fictional characters include Lisette Vo, NBS-TV's first Vietnamese-American reporter who chronicled the fateful events of April 1975, Sam Esposito of The Washington Legend who writes about America's involvement and doing so angers US President Richard Nixon, an American businessman desperate to help his employees flee; Jean Paul Pelleran, a French pub owner, who wishes to remain in South Vietnam and continue running his piano bar, and US  Ambassador Graham Martin who becomes despondent and disillusioned over the April 1975 events.

Mr. Michael Morris: We concentrated on what happened during the last month when the Vietnam War ended on April 30. While the action occurs at that moment in time, reminiscences at Jean Paul’s bar and old newspaper stories are filled with historical events such as the partition of Vietnam that prompted Jean Paul to leave Hanoi for Saigon in the mid-1950s, or Sam Esposito who, before arriving in Vietnam in 1963, meets his old high school friend Billy Freda for beers at Mory’s in New Haven right after Billy returned from a year in Vietnam.

The Vietnam War was a major event in the lives of an entire generation of Americans who witnessed the war firsthand and had to deal with its aftermath. In our case, when we returned to the US we became professionals – I became a journalist in New York, and Dick became a journalist and media consultant in Boston. Even though the War ended 42 year ago, it is a permanent part of who we are.

Vietnam Net: As far as I know, a lot of American veterans have been writing about the war and the events of April 1975. What makes your book different, special?

The former US Embassy in Saigon remained vacant for over two decades before being razed to make room for new development in Ho Chi Minh City

Mr. Dick Pirozzolo: We have gotten a lot of praise for creating a unique work of fiction for example Winston Groom, author of "Forrest Gump," said, "Escape from Saigon offers a vivid unvarnished vision of the war-torn lives of people trapped in the capital.”

Casey Sherman, author of The New York Times Bestseller "The Finest Hours" and "Boston Strong" called, "Escape from Saigon … a sweeping saga in the tradition of Michener and Clavell.”

Llewellyn King, producer and co-host of PBS-TV's "White House Chronicle,” added, "Escape from Saigon is exceptional in its authenticity, with descriptions of Saigon that are in the tradition of American author Graham Greene's The Quiet American. "

Vietnam Net: You both recently returned to Vietnam with a Boston Global Forum Delegation of journalists and scholars. How did returning to Vietnam make you feel?

Mr. Michael Morris: For me personally, it was a meaningful trip. I did not know what to expect and did not know what my feelings would be. I could not even imagine seeing all that was new since I served in the country in the 1960s. And, finally I felt very satisfied. Like many American soldiers returning to Vietnam, I came here with an eye toward the future and was very happy to see the Vietnamese wholeheartedly welcome us. They are kind, treated me very well, invited me home for dinner. I was very much pleased with the experience.

Mr. Dick Pirozzolo: I have returned to Vietnam many times striving to cement relations between Vietnam and the United States. As part of my work, I became the media representative for Mr. Le Van Bang, Vietnam's first ambassador to the UN and later to the United States. Additionally, I’ve written articles and editorials on United States-Vietnam relationships and how they benefit both peoples.

Children peer into a US tank turret at a war museum in Saigon

During one of my trips to Vietnam I visited the Cu Chi tunnels outside of Saigon. One of the guides spoke in a very distinct American accent, that of New Jersey. When I asked him about it, he explained, “During the war, we took everything the Americans brought here including English which I got from listening to the US Armed Forces Radio and TV.”

 A fictionalized version of that tour guide appears in "Escape from Saigon,” arguing with one of the American characters over who in 1975 was the best pitcher in American baseball.

Vietnam Net: “Although we should not be not allowed to forget history we must live for the future.” What do you think of the message?

Mr. Dick Pirozzolo: The war ended 42 years ago, and I am confident that we are on track to further tighten relationships between the US and Vietnam. Those who are 30 years old or younger, know Vietnam only as a developing country, not a war and, overall, two-thirds of Americans were born after the war ended on April 30, 1975. This is similar to the Vietnam where 60 percent of the population was born after that historic milestone.

Since the 1990s, Americans have seen Vietnam as a market to promote brands and as a travel destination. According to government statistics, 400,000 people in the United States and 100,000 people in Canada are expected to travel to Vietnam this year.

Vietnam Net: Did you know that President Donald Trump has announced his visit

Ho Chi Minh City's iconic hotel

to Vietnam in November to attend the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit.

Mr. Dick Pirozzolo: That is a positive step. I had the opportunity to work with many Vietnamese leaders during the 1990s. At that stage, Vietnam was working to reconcile and begin trade relations with the United States as a Most Favored Nation.  I believe we will continue to develop in a positive direction. More and more Americans choose to buy Vietnamese products such as clothes, rice and coffee in large quantities. Moreover, the cultural and academic relations between the two countries are rich and multi-dimensional.

There is no debate, now is an important moment for Vietnam to become a closer partner with the US, playing a greater role in the maintenance of peace and stability in the region and the balance of power in the Pacific

Mr. Michael Morris: Economic relations are a very important bridge in international relations. I know American companies are increasingly looking to Vietnam to do business, and in so doing will help to boost your economy.

More people from our generation, veterans have brought their children and loved ones to witness Vietnam with their own eyes—a country that has a significant place in American history.

“Escape from Saigon – a Novel” is available on Amazon.com.

 

Trendy shops and cafés are emerging in Ho Chi Minh City

All images appearing in this article are protected by Copyright ©2017 Dick Pirozzolo. All rights reserved.

“Saigon Has Fallen." Words I’ll Never Forget

Reflections on April 30, 1975 by Kirk Hazlett

The Air Force C-130 Hercules cargo aircraft took off from Clark Air Base, Republic of the Philippines, in the early morning hours of April 30, 1975, enroute to Tan Son Nhut Air Base on the outskirts of Saigon. It was on a mission for which I had no prior experience to draw on. I sat quietly, wondering just what I had gotten myself into but confident that my choice was the right one.

I was on my way back to Vietnam in the hopes that…somehow…I would be able to make my way to Cholon to find and bring my Chinese wife’s family out of the rapidly-deteriorating environment and to safety ultimately in the United States. The effort was the result of several weeks of coordination both with senior officers at Clark and with my wife’s family. Dozens of quick phone calls gave us the assurance that this effort was somehow possible.

There was little idle conversation on the airplane as we made our way westward. I sat and reflected on my first meeting with my soon-to-be relatives in 1971 and the obvious close bond that my wife had with her family. I was grateful for this chance to help them in their efforts to escape the inevitable downfall of their adopted home country.

Suddenly I was aware of someone standing in front of me…the plane’s pilot. The look on his face told me immediately that something had gone wrong.

He quietly asked, “Sergeant, were you going back to Saigon to get your wife’s family?”

I responded, equally quietly, “Yes, sir, I am.”

His next words are permanently etched into my memory: “I’m sorry. We’re turning back. Saigon has fallen.”

I sat fighting a bout of nausea as the words "Saigon has fallen" sunk in. I thought of my relatives and wondered how this was going to affect them. And I feverishly wracked my brain: “How do I tell Margaret that her family members are now trapped in communist-held Vietnam?”

When we landed back at Clark Air Base, I went to my car and drove for what seemed like a lifetime (we lived off-base…a journey of about two miles in actuality) mentally preparing to deliver the worst news I had ever been forced to deliver.

As I drove slowly into our garage, I saw my wife standing at the door. The look on her face told me she knew.

I got out, rushed to her and held her tight, whispering these words: "I am so sorry."

Two years laters my tour of duty at Clark Air Base was completed, and we returned to the United States and an assignment at Langley Air Force Base in Virginia. We had no way of communicating with Margaret's family, but held on to the optimistic belief that someday, somehow, they would be successful in their attempt to leave Vietnam.

Then, in 1980 we received a collect phone call. My father-in-law was calling, from California, to say that the family had finally been able to escape as refugees and that all were now in the United States…safe…and free.

Editor's note: Kirk Hazlett, a Curry College professor in Boston and consummate public relations professional, contributed recollections from his Vietnam War experience to the blog for "Escape from Saigon - a Novel" set during the final 30 days of the Vietnam War. Dick Pirozzolo

"Letting Go." Reflections on the 42nd anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War

The Rev. Sarah Robbins-Cole, Pastor of St. Michaels Episcopal Church in Holliston, Mass. and Protestant Chaplain of Wellesley College

Earlier last week, I was chatting with Sarah—my friend and neighbor—who is otherwise known as The Rev. Sarah Robbins Cole. She told me she was working on her sermon for Easter Sunday the theme was letting go. I suppose the idea is there cannot be rebirth without letting go of those things that tie us to the past.

"Any thoughts?" she inquired. 

An apt subject as April 30th approaches— the 42nd anniversary of the end of the Vietnam! This was also a chance to plug "Escape from Saigon - a Novel," so I mentioned how "letting go" is a theme running throughout the story.  The struggle with letting go is voiced by Billy Freda, the high school friend, who has to let go of the moment he scored the winning point in the championship game, US Ambassador Graham Martin who cannot let go of South Vietnam that had become intertwined with his identity, the reporters who devoted their youth to covering the war and have to find a new life elsewhere, and of course, the two Vietnam veterans who wrote the book—myself and Michael Morris, who saw combat in the Vietnam War as a young soldier in 1967.

Here is what The Rev. Sarah Robbins-Cole, Rector of St. Michael's Episcopal Church in Holliston, Massachusetts told her congregation about letting go on Easter Sunday Morning 2017.

 Easter 2017

Marie Kondo of the book The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing is perhaps one of the best known books that has come our way from the field of decluttering and home organization. If you have not read the book, the basic premise of the book is to get rid of things that do not spark joy. Marie Kondo recommends taking out every item you own, in a particular sequence, and touching each item, and if it does not spark joy – out it goes. She has other helpful hints such as not buying more specialized storage containers to hold yet more clutter, and folding your clothes, for example your shirts, in a way that finding a shirt is as easy as flicking through record albums – because they all are standing on end.

The desire to hold on and to accumulate is as old as time and man. Perhaps it’s because we falsely equate accumulation with security. If I just hang on to clothes, household items, food, photos, books, I will never be in want. Who knows? I might need one of these things later.

Or we mistakenly believe that if we throw things away or recycle them – somehow we won’t remember or value what that item represented.

Or sometimes what is harder is we hold on to emotions and memories - something that has hurt us deeply. Maybe you are holding onto a grudge, or an imaginary contract with someone (that is, unless they do x, I will not forgive, move on, or be nice, etc.,). And somehow letting go would be to admit defeat.

When people have asked me this week what I am preaching on this week – and I tell them that I am working on a sermon about letting go – it has been interesting to hear people’s response.

When I told my neighbor Dick Pirozzolo, who has just published the book, Escape from Saigon - a Novel this year, he said, “funny you should say that”. He is himself a Vietnam Vet, but he said in his research and during his book tour, while he has encountered many veterans who live full and rich lives, he also said that he has met a fair number of veterans who live and breathe their days in Vietnam every day—even though the end of this month will mark the 42nd anniversary of the ending of that war. “After all,” Dick commented, “you are 19 years old, your friends are all back home working in a shoe store, and you are in a strange country, surrounded by people speaking a foreign language, and you are getting shot at.”

But he said, the problem is that what happens to some of us is that we get stuck at 19. Our entire identity is formed around being a Vietnam Veteran and that does not allow a new identity to form. Our lives are dedicated to remembering that time – from the stories we share to the social media platforms we belong to and contribute to.

Another friend of mine, who works with students, said to me, “that is such an important message” because she finds that some of her students cling to ideas, ideologies, and identities in ways that are unhealthy because they perpetuate their sense of being powerless victims in a hostile world.

Or another friend talked about a woman she knew who was the team mom of a volleyball team – and she did everything – she organized uniforms, social events, coaches gifts, the booster club – but at the end of her son’s junior year, at the end of season party, when he was not elected captain by his peers for the following year, she was absolutely devastated. She refused to talk to anyone for the rest of the party and her son never played volleyball again – so attached was she to the idea of her son being captain.

I am sure we all have examples from our own lives - elderly parents who cling to the idea of unrealistic independence, or children who can’t seem to quite realize they have actually reached adulthood, a parent who cannot let go of their adult children, etc., etc.

The subject of letting go is not just a superficial self-help issue. They are deep spiritual concerns – which come to the very heart of our gospel lesson for this morning. Jesus tells Mary – do not hold on to me. Literally – do not cling to me as I am now. I am yet to ascend to the Father. Jesus is telling her that she must not cling to him because his time on earth is done. And why that is important is that first of all, after the crucifixion they can’t just go back to the way things were – and secondly, the ascension is necessary so that the work of Jesus will no longer be constrained to his little corner of Israel – but will spread to the four corners of the earth.

And it’s not just the idea of the physically present Jesus she is going to have to let go of. If she wants to share in that resurrected life of new life and rebirth – she is going to have to let go of everything that is holding her back – she may have to let go of her anger at the Romans for crucifying Jesus, she may have to have to let go of her feelings of resentment at the disciples for handing Jesus over, betraying Jesus, and falling asleep while Jesus was praying when he very clearly asked them to stay awake. She may have to let go of her bitterness toward a world that allows an innocent man to die. She may have to let go of her wrath toward her own people for their maleficent fickleness – who on Palm Sunday lauded Jesus as King – and then jeered Jesus just a few days later when he really needed them.

But let me be clear - there is a big difference between letting go and forgetting. Letting go – means having a willingness to move forward, to not be stuck in the muck and mire of past wrongs. Forgetting is pretty near impossible, and forgiving can be a very long process indeed.

What we celebrate today is the resurrection. We celebrate that when one thing ends – and when we let go and give it to God, and trust that God will do something good and meaningful and life-giving to that of which we let go – we too will live the resurrected life.

God invites us to new life each and every moment of our lives – not to cling to the past – but to be engaged in our lives right here and right now. It is just as Joseph Campbell, the preeminent expert in comparative mythology and religion who wrote: We must be willing to let go of the life we have planned, so as to accept the life that is waiting for us.


 Along with being coauthor of "Escape from Saigon - a Novel" set during the final days of America's "first television war," Dick Pirozzolo is managing director of Pirozzolo Company Public Relations, an international communication firm based in Boston, Massachusetts.

 

"Escape from Saigon" Chronicles the Human Side of War says Consequence

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The Human Cost of War

Escape from Saigon by Michael Morris and Dick Pirozzolo

March 7, 2017 by Robert Earle

Reprinted with permission by Consequence Magazine: the international literary magazine focusing on the culture of war.

Escape from Saigon- a Novel (Skyhorse Publishing, New York), by Michael Morris and Dick Pirozzolo, explores the month of April, 1975, when North Vietnam achieved its multi-decade objective of conquering South Vietnam and giving Saigon a new name—Ho Chi Minh City.

This is a fast moving, day-by-day account told through the perspective of diplomats, journalists, CIA operatives, a bartender, numerous Vietnamese, military officers, and Washington officials, notably Henry Kissinger.

The central theme of Escape from Saigon is the human cost of war, especially collateral costs to noncombatants. As the French in the 1950s and then the Americans in the 1960s and 70s established and propped up South Vietnam as an independent republic, multitudes of individuals—not just soldiers—came to Saigon and made it a kind of home away from home.

There they spawned children of mixed nationalities, established businesses, careers, and reputations, and ran innumerable black and diplomatic operations in the shadows of war. These are the main characters in Escape from Saigon: Sam Esposito and Lisette Vo, young American journalists; Carwood, a ranking CIA officer; Jean Paul Pellerin, proprietor of Le P’tit Bistrot, a journalists’ watering hole; Tuan, Vo’s cameraman; Father André Dessault, archbishop of Saigon; Captain Trung, a South Vietnamese pilot and turncoat…and the list goes on. Let’s call this cast of characters a demimonde typical of embattled capitals: idealists, adventurers, drinkers, sharpsters, adrenalin-addicts, opportunists and lost souls.

The crucial military action is reported more or less as a tightening noose, with the North’s forces swiftly strangling Saigon and its inhabitants. Thus, Escape from Saigon’s opening pages make clear that defeat is near and coming on fast, but this narrative framework is somewhat deceptive. It’s true that Richard Nixon’s resignation stimulated the North Vietnamese to break the cease-fire negotiated in Paris 20 months earlier and strike swiftly with overwhelming force. A month or so was all it took. But it’s also true that this war had been going on for generations. Tragically, its outcome was a foregone conclusion all along. Vietnam never really was a two-state solution of North Vietnam and South Vietnam. At the beginning of the conflict, Vietnam was what it was at the end of the conflict, a single country, Vietnam.

So in April, 1975, the Army of the Republic of Vietnam would disintegrate. President Thieu, who has a cameo role in the novel, would bitterly resign and take flight. Saigon would fall like a rotted tree. And tens of thousands of Vietnamese associated with the US by virtue of employment or family connections would feel—did feel—that they must escape or be subjected to brutal treatment by the North Vietnamese conquerors.

In Escape from Saigon one central figure, US Ambassador Graham Martin, is shown making the evacuation of these endangered thousands worse by insisting that some political arrangement could be worked out between the North and South right up to the final days of the South’s total collapse. Martin’s reasoning is that if he indicates he is thinking of ordering an evacuation too soon, he will cause panic and scuttle last-minute negotiations. That is probably true with regard to panic; with regard to last-minute negotiations, the idea of some modus vivendi between North and South is the kind of fantasy that caused such carnage in Vietnam for decades.

The best account I have read of US misunderstanding of Vietnam is George Allen’s None So Blind, a study of US intelligence failures and frustrations from the early 1950s until the end. Allen makes clear that US policymakers were either incapable or unwilling to deal with the realities of Vietnam after the French departure. Bernard Fall’s extensive writing on Vietnam parallels Allen’s analysis from a journalistic standpoint and was just as available to anyone in authority who wanted to know something about a country and a people that was, to be fair, on the other side of the globe.

In a way, Ambassador Martin was the last man who thought Humpty Dumpty could be put together again, the last holdout against reality. In the novel, he is depicted as tight-lipped and stubborn, quite the ambassador. Kissinger, and then President Ford, have to tell him the game is up. Time to leave.

Escape from Saigon quickens as its characters pursue all the strategies imaginable for getting out—“adopting” former employees, smuggling themselves through checkpoints, crawling over barbed-wire to get onto US embassy grounds in hopes of being ferried out to the 7th Fleet offshore, clutching at each other in dangerously overloaded helicopters.

Most of what is described is awful but probably falls short of the experience itself, the uncertainties, the impotence, the anxiety, the physical discomforts and injuries, the strange alliances made between odd couples on the run.

Truisms are tedious but true: those who decide to wage war generally do so in distant, comfortable circumstances for reasons of state, and those who experience war are brutalized and terrified in ghastly conditions. There is a connection between decision makers and pawns, but it is not direct or obvious in what the two groups go through. In fact, if the decision makers found themselves subjected to the immediate consequences of their decisions, they probably would think twice and three times about their decisions.
War makers produce war victims in wanton abundance. A war maker who does not understand this is a war maker who has read no history or refuses to take it seriously.

Escape from Saigon is largely accurate in historical terms. It is an events-driven narrative wherein the desperate efforts of people with little to no control over their circumstances are vividly presented. Its co-authors, Michael Morris and Dick Pirozzolo, have managed to write with a single voice. This is a compelling, well-researched novel. It’s worth reading.