Inside Hanoi's Secret Archives; Solving the MIA Mystery
New York: Simon & Schuster, 1995. First Printing [Stated]. Hardcover. 462, [2] pages. Illustrations. Map. Glossary. Source notes. Index. DJ is in a plastic sleeve. Malcolm McConnell was born in Illinois and raised in Wisconsin. At the age of 18 he enlisted in the United States Army and was honorably discharged after one year. He attended the University of Wisconsin and after graduation he left Wisconsin at the young age of 21 to work for the State Department in Washington, DC as a Foreign Service Officer; he was placed in Africa for 8 years. At age 30 he resigned from the State Department. Mr. McConnell started his personal writing career and wrote two novels that were realistic spy stories. He states that he got his inspiration for his novels from his experience in Africa. Mr. McConnell taught creative writing at four different universities. Mr. McConnell was a roving editor/writer for Reader’s Digest for 25 years. His work at Reader’s Digest allowed him to travel all over the world to cover a wide variety of stories. During this time he was able to visit Asia, Europe, Russia, the Middle East, Africa and South America. Mr. McConnell has also written 24 books, covering military and scientific subjects. Malcolm McConnell is the co-author of the New York Times number 1 bestseller American Soldier with Gen. Tommy Franks and My Year in Iraq with L. Paul Bremer III. Based on exclusive access to secret Vietnamese archives and classified U.S. sources, the authors have revealed highly sensitive documentation on American POW/MIA's during the Vietnam War from the highest echelons within the Vietnamese government. Derived from a Kirkus review: A timely and well-presented work that seeks to dispel the myth that there are still American POWs held in Southeast Asia. Reader's Digest editor McConnell, who often writes on military and governmental affairs, provides another in a recent set of books that convincingly debunk the assumption that Vietnam, for reasons known only to itself, continues to hold US servicemen prisoner more than 20 years after American withdrawal. This assumption has fed a cottage industry that preys on the families of those soldiers still unaccounted for. Today more than 2,000 are officially listed as missing in action. In reality, both sides know that these persons are dead. Using research gathered by Schweitzer, the first American to gain access to Vietnamese army records concerning POWs and MIAs as part of a quasi-official ``backdoor'' intelligence operation known as ``Swamp Ranger,'' McConnell documents a truth that is far more credible than the suspect conspiracy theories peddled by MIA organizations and some members of Congress. The US is unable to declare the remaining missing as lost because of overly stringent identification standards established as a result of lobbying by some of the families of those on the MIA list. The Vietnamese government has been unwilling to officially release information in its possession that could resolve matters because it fears a loss of face, since it declared early on that it had made available a full accounting. The situation in Hanoi has been complicated by bureaucratic wrangling between civilian officials and the military over who will control the information. The reality is that truth sells less well than hopeful, provocative fiction. Access to Vietnamese records makes this the definitive closure of a sad chapter in American history and must reading for all those interested in the topic. Condition: Very good / Very good.
Keywords: Vietnam, POW's, MIA's, Missing in Action, Henry Kissinger, Ross Perot, Pham Duc Dai, John McCain, Richard Armitage, Prisoners of War, Garner Bell, Joint Casualty Resolution Center, Swamp Ranger Operation, John Vessey
ISBN: 0671871188
[Book #52128]
Price: $45.00