"Escape from Saigon - a Novel"

VA Can't Decide to Help Vietnam Vets Suffering from Agent Orange-Linked Illnesses like Bladder Cancer, Thyroid Disease, Other Ailments

After promising a decision by November 1, the VA tells ailing Vietnam vets to keep waiting. 

News comes right before Veterans Day 

Charles Ornstein, ProPublica

In a ProPublica article by Charles Ornstein, published days before Veterans Day, the Veterans Administration told Vietnam Vets who suffer from bladder cancer, thyroid disease, hypertension and Parkinson's like symptoms associated with exposure to Agent Orange to keep on waiting to find out whether they will be compensated for exposure to the deadly defoliant used throughout the protracted war in Southeast Asia.

Ornstein tells his readers that Vietnam Vets  "...have been waiting eight months for a decision to compensate.  Yet more than eight months later — and after his department promised a decision by Nov. 1 — the VA essentially punted, issuing a statement late Wednesday saying it would “further explore” the issue and pushing its decision to some undisclosed point in the future."

Help Us Investigate the Impact of Agent Orange

Fortunately ProPublica is on the case and is urging its readers to contact the editors with their experiences. "We're interested in hearing from veterans and family members for our ongoing investigation into the effects of Agent Orange on veterans and their children. Share your story."

In an official statement, "The VA said the department would now work with others in the Trump administration to conduct a legal and regulatory review of conditions for awarding disability compensation to eligible veterans." according to ProPublica.

"Many veterans said they thought that was exactly the review that has been ongoing since March 2016, when the National Academy of Medicine, then known as the Institute of Medicine, said there is now evidence to suggest that Agent Orange exposure may be linked to bladder cancer and hypothyroidism. The National Academy also confirmed, as previous experts have said, that there is some evidence of an association with hypertension, stroke and various neurological ailments similar to Parkinson’s Disease," Ornstein continued

Air Force Capt. Dick Pirozzolo on the Saigon River

ProPublica quoted me in an article on the Veterans Administration’s latest stall on expanding benefits to Vietnam Vets who were exposed to Agent Orange. The VA was supposed to rule on linking hypertension, thyroid disease, bladder cancer and Parkinson’s-like symptoms to the deadly defoliant. That’s been kicked down the road.

Ornstein caught me by surprise when called with the bad news. My initial reaction: “'Son of a gun,'” said Dick Pirozzolo, 73, when he was informed of the VA’s decision to delay. Pirozzolo served as an information officer in the Air Force in Vietnam and has had bladder cancer and a thyroid condition called Graves’ disease. 'That sucks,'"

“The politicians all talk a good game about the VA, but then when it comes down to making a decision, they drag their heels.”

For the complete ProPublica Article

 Pirozzolo is a Boston Communication consultant, media relations manager for the Michael Dukakis Institute and coauthor of  "Escape from Saigon" a novel about the end of the war.

 

Life with My Father ABC-TV Journalist Frank Mariano By Tony Mariano, Part II

Part II—The End of a War 

Second of a two-part series — Part I

Tony Mariano came to Vietnam as a teenager to be with his Father, ABC-TV journalist Frank Mariano. Tony finished high school in Saigon and often worked as a sound technician and field producer with network news crews and, as the war came to a close, he was sent to Manila during the massive air and sea evacuation of South Vietnam where he played a pivotal role in transmitting reports of The Fall of Saigon nation’s collapse to the world.

War correspondents are nothing short of heroic as depicted in "Escape from Saigon - a Novel". This is the story of the price one pays to grow up in a family where journalism, and the story, comes first.  

  

Tony Mariano in his words

We were surrounded by total destruction of the buildings especially at the Citadel City of Quang Tri.  

Tony, Dad and Ann in Dong Ha in 1974

The images of dozens of amputees and burn victims stayed with me as we continued up to Hue, Quang Tri, Quang Ngai, and finally to the DMZ at Dong Ha. There I saw thousands of NVA soldiers across the Dong Ha river in tents, washing clothes, and hanging around as loudspeakers blared their propaganda and music with the same happening on our side of the river as a few ARVN soldiers stood calmly by their .30 and .50 caliber gun mounts in small towers along the snaking waterway.

Along the way north we stopped at the exact spot where ABC News cameraman Terry Khoo had been killed by a sniper from a “spider trap” hiding space while filing a story the year before. Meanwhile, it was becoming abundantly clear that the suits at ABC News in New York felt the Vietnam story was basically over despite my father’s vehement objections to the contrary.

The network executives figured a cease-fire was in place, all the American troops and POW’s had been returned home and peaceful elections were going to be held in the future. New York increasingly rejected ] story suggestions and then finally the word came: Dad was ordered to close ABC’s bureau on July 14^th, 1974. He was beyond flabbergasted as CBS and NBC and the wire services among others remained open with the equipment. It was a big blow to him and his staff, which he had come to admire and respect over the years.

Nonetheless, we packed up our things and through the tears and anxiety we said our “So longs! Good luck!”  but not goodbye as it was almost too much to bear. We arrived in Hong Kong in mid-August and moved into a 21-story apartment building on Victoria Peak overlooking the harbor and Kai Tak Airport.

1975

For the full story

Dad continued working for ABC, this time shuttling between the ABC bureau in New Mercury house and Phnom Penh, Cambodia with Jim Bennett and others. But my father had become a pariah with the network. After his eight and half years fighting, working, living, loving and covering the war in South Vietnam he had gotten too close to the story and lost his professional objectivity. He even proposed chartering a helicopter to help former ABC employees get out of the country but the executives in New York, turned him down in no uncertain terms—adding that if he tried it on his own he would be fired and sent back to the states.

Ken Kashiwahara replaced my father in 1974 and Canadian journalist Hillary Brown was assigned to cover the impact of the US Congress starving South Vietnam of the funds it needed to survive. Nixon and Kissinger became my father’s nemeses and dad seethed with anger and clenched fist over how Nixon manipulated President Thieu to delay action so he could win the 1972 election. He was even more disgusted over Watergate.

In 1975, ABC’s Kevin Delany arrived in Saigon and became a savior by helping over 70 members of the ABC News family in escape as the enemy advanced and began its precipitous roll southward. The Central Highlands and Pleiku fell with thousands of refugees flooding the roads while the South Vietnamese army began a retreat which then turned into a full out run for their lives.

During South Vietnam’s final month of April 1975, I was in Hong Kong, Dad was covering events in Phnom Penh and Ann was in Saigon on assignment for Associated Press radio. She arrived right after the Operation Babylift C-5A Galaxy plane crashed with over 300 infants and accompanying adults on board including many from the Defense Attaché Office. The crash killed 138 people including 78 children among whom were friends of both Ann’s and Dad’s. Kashiwahara was already there covering the story when Ann arrived on scene. With in days, Dad was safely evacuated out of Phnom Penh with legendary cameraman Yatsune “Tony” Hirashiki and US Ambassador to Cambodia John Gunther Dean on April 12^th. They boarded the last chopper out of Phnom Penh and headed to an awaiting Marine helicopter carrier in the Gulf of Siam with our US Embassy flag neatly folded on Dean’s lap.

On April 29th the recording of Bing Crosby's White Christmas began playing over Armed Forces Radio which signaled the beginning of Operation Frequent Wind and the end for the remaining Americans, members of the press, staffs and families in Saigon to get to their prearranged pick-up points around the city to be flown off to the Navy's 7th fleet just offshore in the South China Sea. As the exodus was getting started, a call into the Hong Kong bureau's office from ABC News in New York and I was hired as a Field Producer to go to the Philippines with instructions to manage logistics for the network in Manila. My job: arrange and coordinate a satellite feed for ABC after picking up Ken Kashiwahara at the US Navy base in Subic Bay.

I also was told to cover the first evacuee allowed off the USS Blue Ridge. The TV station was ready and I got word the chief enlisted man had left the ship and I was on my way. I scrambled to an awaiting helicopter at the station and I took a quick flight to Subic Bay to meet Ed Bradley of CBS News who had drawn the lucky short straw for this assignment. The first thing he did was to hand me very heavy Navy duffle bag. It was stuffed with every piece of raw film from every news agency covering the evacuation and mass exodus out to the Navy fleet. The recorded history of the end of an era was in my hands and I it was my responsibility to get it back to New York as quickly as possible for distribution, processing and broadcast.  By now I had gone for over three days without sleep as New York and Manila were 12 hours apart I had to work around the clock. I finally was able to find a courier to take the film with him from Manila to New York.

Once we were back at the TV station, we processed 200 feet of 16mm film Ken had shot and selected for his fast-approaching satellite broadcast. Although Ken was obviously very tired he thoughtfully penned his script as the film was processed and converted to video tape. Ken did his voice over to narrate the images. All that was left was to wait for either the PanSat or TeleSat communication satellites to pass overhead. We all watched and listened to Ken’s harrowing tale of chaos, tears, anger and relief during the last moments of our involvement in Vietnam. We all feared for those who either decided to stay or were left behind. All Ken wanted to do now was to get back home to Hong Kong, his family and get some sleep. So I drove him to the airport and when we got to customs he was asked why his entry visa stamp was missing from his passport. He told them he didn’t have one because he had just been evacuated from Saigon by helicopter. We then had to run over to the Foreign Minister’s office to get Ken squared away with his papers and get him on the next flight.

While the advancing NVA were shelling Tan Son Nhut on a regular basis during their march toward the city, Ann gathered her

Frank Mariano ABC-TV News

things into a small case, and boarded the bus to be flown out of the airfield on the morning of the 29^th before it became too dangerous. I had returned to Hong Kong on May 1^st and slept for the next 24 hours. We were soon reunited with my father, Ann and my sisters again.

When ABC asked my father to interview Hillary Brown about the reporting she did during the last days in Saigon, dad refused to do so saying in part that the story which had consumed him over such a long time was his to tell but not hers.

We then left Hong Kong to arrive in Los Angeles.  Dad had gone from being a freelance stringer to bureau chief and was now relegated to doing what he called “Mickey Mouse” stories for ABC at KTLA-TV.  Of the more than  3,000 accredited members of the press who covered the Vietnam War, many found themselves in similar situations as my Dad’s or unemployed and unable to find work during the post-war recession. My father realized it was time for him to move on again so he left KTLA to become a teaching fellow at Harvard's JFK School of Government the next semester. He focused on the Vietnam War and the media and addressed the important question of the time: Could our nation ever be able to effectively engage in future conflicts with an unfettered, free press recording it for all to read, listen to and watch?

Epilogue: 1976

Tony recalls happier times  in Vung Tau, Vietnam with stepmother Ann and his two adopted sisters Mai and Katie.

While in Cambridge, he thought he was having a heart attack, which is what killed his father 11 years earlier.  But it was pericarditis, an inflammation of the heart sac, so his doctor prescribed aspirin to treat it as it was the only anti-inflammatory medication available at the time.

Following Harvard, Dad went to Washington, DC in June and found he was unemployed for the first time in his life. But a few days after watching the bicentennial July 4^th celebration in our nation’s capital he came down with a fever. I drove him to George Washington Hospital to meet with his cardiologist Dr. Michael Halberstam who happened to be David Halberstam’s brother - the author of a seminal book on Vietnam - “The Best and the Brightest.”  Dad would go into the ICU after a procedure to relieve the pressure squeezing his heart. 5 weeks later he died from complications at 45 years old August 8^th, 1976…41 years ago.

He was interred at Arlington National Cemetery with honors and joined only six  years later he was followed by his Vietnamese daughter, our sister, Jane Katherine "Buttons" Mariano. AAnn Bryan Mariano continued her career as a writer and reporter with The Washington Post and remarried in 1995 to Robert E. McKay. She passed away in February 2009 at 76 in Belmont, Massachusetts of complications from Alzheimer’s disease and joined by her widower Robert this year at 91. My dear sister Anna, who now goes by Mai, lives with her husband and teenage daughter in Columbus, Ohio. I work in the culinary  and hospitality industry in Pebble Beach, California where I recently married my second wife and have two adult children from my first marriage.

"Life with My Father ABC-TV journalist Frank Mariano" By Tony Mariano

Part I — Growing up in a War

America’s First Television War

When we embarked on “Escape from Saigon – a Novel,” the authors focused much of the story on the journalists who risked their lives to deliver the good, the bad and the ugly events of what was then America’s longest and certainly most controversial war. Our fictional characters Lisette Vo, NBS-TV’s first female war correspondent and the first Vietnamese- American on-air journalist portends the future of broadcasting and the emergence of cable. Sam Esposito, her colleague and friend, was with The Washington Legend. Sam is the archetypal cynical Ivy League reporter who cuts through layers of military obfuscation until he gets the story.

We also strove to give our readers, especially those who grew up taking the internet, cell phones, IM and Skype for granted, an appreciation of how hard it was to deliver the news halfway around the world only four decades ago. In those days 16mm sound-on-film cameras were the latest technology and satellite transmission was in its infancy and spotty.

While Lisette Vo and Sam Esposito are fictional, Tony Mariano’s story is real. Tony recalls the people who brought the Vietnam War into our living rooms in as close to “live” as possible. This included most especially his father ABC-TV’s Frank Mariano. His relationship with his dad, whom he joined in Saigon in 1973 as a high school age teen, gave him a ringside seat to the war.

Tony Mariano

The elder Mariano started out as an Army pilot, flying helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft and training South Vietnamese aviators, so Tony grew up first as an Army “brat” for the first 12 years of his life. Eventually Frank Mariano, shocked by the My Lai Massacre and other events became disenchanted with the Army. He left active duty, and launched his career in broadcasting as a stringer—freelance reporter—for ABC- News Radio then TV before he was later elevated to Saigon Bureau Chief by the network.

While in Vietnam, his son often worked as a sound technician and field producer with network news crews and, as the war came to a close, he wound up in Manila during the evacuation of Saigon where he played a pivotal role in transmitting reports of South Vietnam’s collapse to the world. Tony's life was an adventure, but he also paid a price for living in a family where journalism came first. Here is his story.

 

Tony Mariano in his words

Frank Mariano, pre ABC-TV as an Army Pilot

As an Army brat, The Vietnam War experience has been a personal and integral part of my awareness from the time I was a seven-years old Army brat living at Camp Wolters, Texas, where my father Frank A. Mariano was a 34-year-old captain. He was there training South Vietnamese helicopter pilots when he received orders to deploy to Nha Trang, Vietnam in April of 1964 with the 339^th Transportation Company whose motto was “Always in Good Hands” — something my father sincerely took to heart as he was a piloted “Big Daddy” and the “Octopus” Ch-37 Mohave— the largest helicopter in the Army’s inventory.

He was shot down more than once and three AK-47 rounds barely miss his head while piloting a DHC-4 Caribou cargo plane. This was his re-introduction to Asia since leaving Seoul, South Korea, where in 1954 as a young artillery officer he met my mother Vee “Rusty” Russell. She was a beautiful Red Cross SRAO worker, a “Donut Dolly,” at a MASH unit. They were reunited stateside, got married in Carmel, CA and I was born at Camp Gary AFB, TX in 1956.

Dad loved flying, but he also wanted to become a writer. So the Army assigned him to editor of the Army Aviation Digest at Ft. Rucker, Alabama. which was and still is the home of Army Aviation.  His second tour in Vietnam was as a public information officer. During his second  tour in Vietnam he was as a public information officer with the 1st Avn Brigade Headquarters in Bien Hoa, which began in January of '67 and entailed flying members of the press to the battles, writing for the brigade magazine The Hawk and briefing the press. He represented the Army aviation with pride, perspective and his own opinions.  But the growing number of journalists he met, and those with whom he flew, countered much of the positive information he was getting and putting out for public consumption. At the time American casualty rates had become twice the number from the year before.

When his tour came to an end and he was ready to come home. It was January of 1968. He was at Tan Son Nhut airfield getting ready to board his flight home to rejoin me and my mother in La Jolla, when the Tet Offensive erupted and shook my family to its core. Viet Cong sappers had breached the walls of our embassy in Saigon while armed conflict broke out around the country. I imagined it was to be his last overseas tour before serving out his 20 years and retire with an Army pension and move on. What was a young son’s desire for that to happen after so long was not to be.

At home, the Tet Offensive began a paradigm shift that would tear our society’s fabric into many factions. Then Dad learned about the My Lai massacre in March of 1968. He realized he could no longer remain in the military full time so we left San Diego and La Jolla to go back up the coast to Monterey and Ft. Ord where he flew his last military helicopter and then left the reserves as a Major.

He and my mother bought a house in the quaint village of Carmel where they had been married 12 years earlier in 1956.  My mother and I would call that house our home for the first time and we were there all together as a family again.  But my father, now a civilian, was compelled to return to Vietnam. He arrived with about $1,500 in his pocket in late ’68 figuratively trading in his grip on a helicopter’s cyclic and collective to hold a microphone and begin a new career as a stringer for ABC News Radio at age 39. Though he was away from home, I was comforted by the fact that I could hear his voice on the  radio and see him on TV.

Then during the later part of 1969 he surprised when he flew from Vietnam to California to join me on a three-day Boy Scout hike in the mountains of Big Sur. I was so proud to have him share an insider’s perspective of the war with the other fathers as we sat around the campfire.

1970-72

Dad paid his dues in Vietnam for a year and came stateside again to join the ABC affiliate KGO-TV in San Francisco as its political and war reporter, covering many of the protest marches, moratoriums and other anti-war demonstrations around Northern California as the tide and sentiment turned further against the war and our nation’s began to rip, tear and split along so institutional, generational, political, religious, patriotic, racial and class lines.

By now, my parents were separated and would soon divorce. During that time I often joined him in San Francisco where I saw the professional news gathering process up close and was fascinated by it.

He would soon marry Ann Bryan at Sutro Park near the city's famous Cliff House and Sutra Bathhouse on the beach. Ann was now my stepmother and I also gained a new sister to love as my own at the same time—a beautiful 18-month old

Anna and Katie

Vietnamese baby girl Thai Ngoc Bich nicknamed “Buttons” who Ann, as a single woman living in Vietnam, had adopted when she was six-weeks old. Ann had first arrived in Saigon in 1966 to start up the Pacific Edition of the Overseas Weekly as its editor and reporter and successfully sued the Pentagon to allow her publication to be distributed side-by-side with the Stars and Stripes.

Our life together as a family lasted only a few hours after their wedding that day because that same evening my father, Ann, little Buttons and with a small entourage of friends in tow, took the short drive to SFO to board a flight back to Saigon where they would live for the foreseeable future. When the boarding call came we tearfully embraced each other and waved goodbye. My head and my entire world were left spinning at the departure gate as I watched them take off westward over the Pacific into the fading light of dusk. I headed back to an empty house and the next day returned to Carmel and to my mother who was also dealing with what had just happened.

Soon afterward my parents agreed I could join them in Saigon as long as I got my focus back on my schoolwork—the last thing on my mind. It was September 1972.

Things moved pretty quickly after that as The Peace Accords had been signed, our POW’s had been repatriated and all American combat forces had left the country. For them the war was over. Though when I arrived in Saigon there was still a significant contingent of Marine security personnel for the US embassy and other government agencies, American contractors and ex-patriates who would set the stage for what was going to be an exciting time to be there.

I arrived in March and started my senior year of my high school studies through the University of Nebraska, Lincoln Extension, which was an accredited school for American dependents in Saigon. I attended my classes until I had satisfied the minimum requirements for graduation in 1974 and took the GED exam.

Dad gave me an after-school job with the ABC bureau on the 6^th floor of the Caravel Hotel.  I was to monitor and record various English language radio broadcasts from Hanoi and transcribe them for others to cull for information. I also worked as a soundman on a couple of assignments out in the field as well and felt proud to have the responsibility of being a small cog in the news gathering operation. I got to know all of my father’s Vietnamese staff and began to learn how to speak the language.

Shortly after I arrived, my father introduced me to the CBC Band – (Con Ba Cu – “Mother’s Children”) a large family of talented Vietnamese who performed amazing rock ‘n’ roll and who had first started playing music together since 1963 when they won their first talent contest. They did what they had to do to support their family of nine in the slums outside the city. I quickly became endeared to them, their music and they all accepted me almost like a brother in their family. With their help, my language skills improved daily. The band left the country in 1974 and I wouldn’t see them again until 1976 in Washington, DC.

Tony Mariano, part-time sound tech for ABC

I’d also become an amateur photographer and had taken a film production course in Carmel as well as visits to television studios that helped me understand what went into producing and broadcasting a professional news story. Around that time Dad proposed a 10-year retrospective of his Vietnam experiences from 1964 through 1974, which would take about a week to shoot.

Ann and I joined him along with his ABC camera crew. It was on that trip I first saw much of countryside and the ravages of the war. Though I was never under hostile fire I was always aware of my surroundings. It took a drunken South Vietnamese officer to draw his .45 sidearm and put it to my temple to look at the possibility of my death in the face for the first time. In his rant he was frustrated over America abandoning the ARVN and the Rangers of which he was one. His immediate superior talked him down, took his weapon and the soldier lost face. 

For that episode, I was given a special gift as consolation for the embarrassment which still comes back to haunt me every once in awhile. In the darkness, laying in bed next to her warm body, she and I listened to the random chatter of automatic gunfire as nervous guards shot at anything floating down the Perfume River toward the bridge.  Off to the east, there was constant rumbling of artillery fire and we saw mortar rounds hit with plumes of black smoke rising out of range. The following day when we regrouped with my father and Ann. I couldn’t bring myself to tell him what had happened because I didn’t want his Vietnamese crew to take the blame for the incident. From that I learned Vietnamese don’t handle Johnny Walker Red and beer very well especially when they are pissed off.

Part II — The End of a War

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.

"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.

"Escape from Saigon" sets the historical stage for return of "Miss Saigon"

 

The Ambassador won’t leave till

Everyone’s out

The choppers are on their way

There’s room for you all

They’re climbing over the wall!

Get back!

Tell you, don’t shout!

The Ambassador won’t leave till

Everyone’s out

The Ambassador just sent an order to

Freeze

That’s it!

No more Vietnamese!

From “The Fall of Saigon,” Miss Saigon 

Planning to see the new and edgier production of Miss Saigon when it returns to Broadway after its New York debut 25 years ago? Then consider reading "Escape from Saigon - a Novel" and other currently popular books for historical context before you go.

"While all the action in Escape from Saigon takes place during April, 1975—the final 30 days of the Vietnam War—the novel relies on flashbacks, old news accounts and barroom ramblings to put the events portrayed in Miss Saigon into historical and political context. This makes the novel an excellent read for anyone planning to see the show opening on at The Broadway on March 23—especially younger people who know the Vietnam War only through history classes and stories of their parents and grandparents," says Dick Pirozzolo.

Through the novel's principal characters—NBS-TV's Lisette Vo, the network's first Vietnamese American war correspondent, and Sam Esposito the hard-hitting journalist with The  Washington Legend, who infuriated President Richard Nixon with his reporting, the reader learns of the political bungling, missteps and post World War II decisions that led to a war that cost the lives of 50,000 Americana and millions of Vietnamese on both sides of a once divided Southeast Asian nation.

 

  

When Miss Saigon returned to the London stage in 2014, Serena Davies writing for The Telegraph, quoted producer Cameron Mackintosh as saying that inconclusive wars in Afghanistan and Iraq will give viewers a new empathy with Miss Saigon’s depiction of Vietnam as a conflict in which everyone was a victim.

"History has almost caught up with Miss Saigon," he says. "When the show opened it was only 14 or 15 years after the Vietnam War had finished. But now that kind of war and the tragedies that spill out of that kind of conflict… nearly every country in the world has been involved: Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq. We are seeing things develop in Ukraine as we speak. I know I’m biased but when I walk into rehearsals I think, “This musical could have been written this morning, not 25 years ago.” Continue Reading

The Sympathizer

"They call them bui doi, the dust of life" is a poignant aria in Miss Saigon that recalls an America of 1975 that rescued and welcomed mixed-race children who would otherwise have been outcasts in their homeland—a stark contrast to today's government refugee ban that rejects the most vulnerable victims of war.

To understand the life of a young Vietnamese War refugee who was living in Orange County, California, look to Viet Nguyen’s 2016 Pulitzer Prize winning novel, “The Sympathizer,” that examines conflicted foreign allegiances and an America-centric view of foreign conflicts. The “Sympathizer” is an allegory for today’s hyper nationalism and fear of the other.  Nguyen’s companion book of 2015,  “The Refugees” shines a light on the subtle complexities and conflicts of leaving ones native country for a new home in America.

In addition, Lana Noone’s new play, “Children of the April Rain” about Operation Babylift, the ill-fated first flight of mixed heritage children during the last days of the Vietnam War is opening around the country. Rory Kennedy’s film "Last Days in Vietnam" and Ken Burns latest PBS-TV documentary "The Vietnam War" add to the contemporary offerings on the subject.

When I first saw Miss Saigon, I went with a group of eight Vietnamese. All men. None of us left with a dry eye. Going back, and knowing the decisions and misunderstandings that contributed to the tragedy of Vietnam, might just prevent future generations from making the same mistakes. 

“Escape from Saigon - a Novel” by Michael Morris and Dick Pirozzolo was published in January of 2017 by Skyhorse Publishing, New York, NY, 264 pages and lists at $24.95. Further information and an excerpt are available at: www.escsapefromsaigon.com

 

Refugee Ban, Middle East Wars Have Americans Looking to Vietnam War For Answers

Americans—many of whom know the Vietnam War only through stories told by their parents  and grandparents—are looking back at that painful conflict to understand our contemporary foreign entanglements, veterans issues, the media, and especially the refugee ban as a painful shift in how our nation now treats the most vulnerable victims of war.

The wave of interest in a 40-year-old war that divided our nation and defined a generation accounts for the popularity of current literary offerings on Vietnam—among them “The Sympathizer,” “Tribe,” and the just published, “Escape from Saigon  - a Novel."  In addition these and other books, there has been a recent spate of films, TV documentaries and theatrical productions over the past year that shed light on a war that ended abruptly on April 30, 1975.

Vietnam War refugee Viet Nguyen’s 2016 Pulitzer Prize winning novel, “The Sympathizer,” shines a harsh light on conflicted foreign allegiances and an America-centric view of foreign conflicts. The “Sympathizer” stands up as an allegory for today’s new hyper nationalism and fear of the other.  Nguyen’s companion book of 2015,  “The Refugees” further examines the subtle complexities and conflicts of leaving ones native country for a new home in America.

Though not strictly a Vietnam War book, “Tribe: On Homecoming and Belonging,” by Sebastian Junger, examines the plight of returning combat veterans by likening the military to tribal societies where individuals share loyalty, a common purpose and depend on one another for survival. Junger argues that post traumatic stress may stem partly from the loss of community veterans face as they try to adjust to civilian life. When a 22-year-old Army sergeant, who has made life-and-death decisions as leader of a four man-squad in combat, comes home to be surrounded by people who know nothing of his experience the loneliness sets in and becomes overwhelming.

Published in January of 2017, “Escape from Saigon - a Novel” by Michael Morris and Dick Pirozzolo looks at how the Vietnam War shaped contemporary American attitudes in a fast-paced fictional account that compresses the action into the final 30 days of that three-decades-long conflict and put the endgame in context through flashbacks, old news accounts and barroom ramblings about political decisions made in the 1950s that set the stage for war.

The novel recounts the events of April 1975 through the lives of ordinary people most affected by the fighting and political bungling of the powerful they encounter. In addition to Vietnamese and American civilians there are journalists, French expatriates, US Embassy staffers and CIA operatives, all seeking escape by any means possible as the North Vietnamese Army tightens its stranglehold on Saigon—a city once known as the Paris of the Orient. Indeed, the final scenes of “Escape” recount the courage of hordes of Vietnamese refugees and the aviators and sailors who helped them in the biggest air-sea rescue in history, and an America that welcomed them with open arms.

The story is as much about the war as it is about the evolution of media, with much of the plot being about the journalists who covered what was dubbed America’s first television war.  Correspondents back then devoted their youth to covering Vietnam, often for a decade or more and shaped public opinion through vivid, nearly simultaneous TV pictures of battles and newspaper exposés on the Pentagon Papers and My Lai Massacre. “Escape’s” Lisette Vo, NBS-TV’s first Vietnamese-American war correspondent, foreshadows the rise of women in journalism and the advent of 24/7 cable news, while the hard hitting Sam Esposito of The Washington Legend rips into three presidents—especially Dick Nixon—with investigative reports that changed the course of history.

Access to news and information was fairly limited in 1975. There were only three networks. Their anchors were trusted, larger-than-life figures Americans invited into their living rooms. The evening news was appointment TV and we all watched and read essentially the same news—a far cry from today’s media environment with fragmented cable TV audiences and fake Internet news outlets. The technology has improved, but with it Americans lost its sense of community.

In addition to the several books on the Vietnam War, Miss Saigon will be reprised at The Broadway in March and simulcast to local movie theaters in HD to reach a large nationwide audience. Lana Noone’s new play, “Children of the April Rain” about Operation Babylift, the ill-fated evacuation of mixed heritage children during the last days of the Vietnam War is opening around the country. Rory Kennedy’s film "Last Days in Vietnam" and Ken Burns latest PBS-TV documentary "The Vietnam War" add to the contemporary offerings on the subject.

 “Escape from Saigon - a Novel” by Michael Morris and Dick Pirozzolo was published in January of 2017 by Skyhorse Publishing, New York, NY, 264 pages and lists at $24.95. Further information and an excerpt are available at: www.escsapefromsaigon.com