Table of Contents

1. Sustained Reprisal 2. "I Wonder If It Is Worth It" 3. Heavy Green 4. "Commando Club" 5. Sowing the Wind, Reaping the Whirlwind 6. Folly at Nam Bac 7. The Heights of Abraham 8. Imminent Threat 9. "Everything to Defeat the U.S. Aggressors." 10. "One Day Too Long" 11. Deniability 12. Oath of Secrecy 13. An End and a Beginning 14. "The Highest National Priority" 15. Return to the Mountain 16. Hanoi 17. Conclusions

Promotional Information

The incident at the heart of this book reveals in microcosm what went wrong in Vietnam, from the highest policy-making levels down the chain of command to what actually transpired on the field. On March 10, 1968, seven U.S. servicemen disappeared from a top secret radar base in Laos, their loss never fully explained by the American government. Castle recounts a harrowing story--of government coverups, military miscalculations, and crucial policy errors.

About the Author

Timothy N. Castle served two tours in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War, flying over Laos from Nakhon Phanom Air Force Base on thirty-eight combat support missions. Since 1990, he has traveled to Laos frequently as a researcher and senior Department of Defense POW/MIA investigator for Laos, and as a consultant for NBC News. He is senior researcher at the CIA Center for the Study of Intelligence. He is also the author of At War in the Shadow of Vietnam (Columbia).

Reviews

Castle's suspenseful writing style and dogged tenacity penetrate the decades-long US government efforts to hide this shameful event. This authoritative account is also a refreshing departure from the all-too-common practice of describing dubious adventures without documenting sources. -- Colonel Michael E. Haas Military Review Informative, exciting, and sympathetic. -- Chris Pastilelis Houston Chronicle An excellent work that will surely provoke discussion and debate. Many historians will welcome the research into this previously little known area of the Vietnam War. Others will appreciate the author's exposure of what he claims to be government cover-up. Finally, no one will be able to resist the compelling description of a widow who takes on the callous bureaucracy to discover the truth behind her husband's disappearance in Laos The Journal of Military History Part of the fascination of Castle's book comes from the odyssey he and the families [of the missing men] took inside the ludicrous world of top-secret military information. -- Steve Weinberg The Seattle Times A combination of history, analysis, investigative journalism, and personal crusade focusing on the fate of nine U.S. Air Force personnel missing in action in Laos. The VVA Veteran An almost perfect example of investigative history not falling over into 'gotcha' journalism. -- Roland Green A. L. A. Booklist An invaluable book about one important incident in the secret war in Laos in 1968 that appears at a most opportune time. -- Anthony Day Los Angeles Times