Tears Before The Rain: An Oral History of the Fall of South Vietnam

by Larry Engelmann

In this stunning history, soldiers and civilians, both American and Vietnamese, tell what it was like in the spring of 1975 as Hanoi carried out its final, successful offensive against the Republic of Vietnam. Generals, ambassadors, pilots, marines, politicians, doctors, seamen, flight attendants, journalists, children, and even Vietcong soldiers describe the growing demoralization, panic, and chaos as the collapse gained momentum. American survivors recall with raw emotions the escape of the last airliner out of Danang, the chilling helicopter airlift from the U.S. embassy roof in Saigon, and the painful abandonment of their South Vietnamese allies. Former boat people relate their hair-raising encounters with Thai pirates; and in a new postscript, an American government official describes the resettlement of 130,000 Vietnamese refugees in America over the ensuing months. Touching, heroic, and unforgettable, these dramatic narratives illuminate the closing act of one of the central events of modern history.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, War, Oral History

418 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 1990

Reviews

[Philip · Rating 5 out of 5]

Few books are more raw, real of visceral than a good oral history. The voices, the emotions - even so long after the fact - are still so heartfelt and close to the surface. And certainly nothing is more authentic than stories told "in their own words:" and so the Marines here sounds like Marines - intelligent, dangerous yet unfailingly polite; the sailors curse like sailors; the diplomats and politicians sound depressingly like dips and pols; the children sound so heartbreakingly like children…

I've read other excellent such books on WWI (The Last of the Doughboys: The Forgotten Generation and Their Forgotten World War), WWII (Voices of the Pacific: Untold Stories from the Marine Heroes of World War II) and black soldiers in Vietnam (Bloods: Black Veterans of the Vietnam War: An Oral History), and so Tears Before the Rain is an excellent - if thoroughly depressing - addition to this shelf.* That said, however, it tells a much smaller story than any of those books. Tears doesn't address the Vietnam War as a whole, but - as the title spells out - focuses solely on the event-filled month of April 1975 (from the fall of Danang until the fall of Saigon) and its aftermath: the occupation of Saigon; the people who escaped (and suffered so horribly at the hands of both Thai pirates and uncaring neighboring countries), and those left behind (including the far-too-many mixed race "GI kids" who were - and continue to be - seen as outcasts by both North and South).

The first two-thirds of the book focuses on the Americans, and so we get the same stories - the crash of the "Operation Babylift" flight, the cutting down of the embassy tree, the deaths of Corporals McMahon and Judge (the last two U.S. servicemen killed in Vietnam) during a rocket attack on Tân Sơn Nhứt airport, the massive (and massively unorganized) helicopter evacuation - repeatedly told from different perspectives. But this repetition makes these tales even more impactful, while also highlighting how people's memories (or self-interests) can be so different. As always, at the highest levels everyone blames everyone else - the CIA blames the defense department who blames the ambassador who blames everybody except himself, (and of everyone interviewed here, former Ambassador Graham Martin comes off as the most pompous ass in the bunch). But thankfully we're given numerous other viewpoints as well - the remaining (and overworked) military contractors; the civilian doctors and nurses; the various print and TV media; the overwhelmed U.S. Fleet personnel who received and processed both the U.S. and Vietnamese evacuees, (and who famously then pushed the unloaded helicopters into the Pacific so that others could land).

The rest of the book then looks at (or more correctly, listens to) a sampling of those Vietnamese who survived - both North and South, powerful and poor, young and old, rescued and left behind - all of whose stories are varying degrees of heartbreaking.

That's not to say there are no heroes here. Of particular note are the commercial flight crews who risked their lives flying in and out of combat zones to evacuate soldiers, civilians and children alike; and especially the doctors and nurses of the Saigon Adventist hospital, each of whom legally "adopted" 50-60 Vietnamese so that they could evacuate them as dependents. And of course, it helps to be reading this book nearly 35 years after its publication with the knowledge that as we approach the golden anniversary of the events described here, we can safely look back and say that Vietnam is a radically different - and "better" - country today than it was back then. Vietnam is currently not only considered a safe investment alternative to China, but even seen in Washington as "a potential U.S. ally," with every president since Bill Clinton having visited Hanoi, (Biden himself went less than two months ago).

And yet - what have we learned from this history; from any of our many mistakes here? Ultimately, the main theme in this book is that of chaos; that despite having "plans in place" for the fall of Saigon - bus schedules, pickup points, prioritized lists of evacuees - every one of these quickly turned to shit in the face of actual events.** And so how could we have expected anything else when we watched the same thing happen again in the 2021 "Fall of Kabul," following another well-intentioned but failed intervention (that ironically replaced Vietnam as "America's longest war")? ***

I'm sure there will be - or already are - similar oral histories of America's most recent adventures in Central Asia. But if so, I don't think I'm ready for them yet...maybe give me another twenty years. Meanwhile, this book - while now more "history" than "current events" - still deserves a wider audience, both as a tragic tale of geopolitical hubris, and as a (most likely unheeded) warning against the next time.
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* Although such books don't necessarily have to be non-fiction. Probably the most famous fiction oral history is World War Z, although War of the Worlds: Global Dispatches is also very good.

** See "No plan survives first contact with the enemy;" Helmuth von Moltke.

*** See "Those who fail to learn the lessons of history are doomed to repeat them;" George Santayana. See also "We have met the enemy and he is us;" Pogo.

[Vinh-Thang · Rating 5 out of 5]

Overall, an excellent book about the last days of the Vietnam war. Each story is incredible and it is hard to imaginge a human being being subjected to the traumas desbribed in the book. It is heart-wrenching to imagine the desperation, the chaos of those days and I have to constantly remind myself that this is real stories happening to my own countrymen not so long ago.

Two stories that leaves the most impression with me are respectively in the very first chapter about people on board the last flight to Danang and in one of the later chapters about a woman finding herself holding a dead baby which turned out to be alive and well.

After closing the book I find myself having strong conflicting feelings, which is in my opinion due to the qualities of the books. On the one hand you have this extreme desperation of the people who would do anything to survive, and on the other hand you see some amazing pictures of humanity where some people would go to incredible lengths to help other people. Generally speaking, this is something I encounter while studying history. I find the study of history extremely fascinating because of this contrasted picture: Humanity would sink into the darkest bottoms, yet collectively we would rebound each time. The world has known periods of incredible chaos, yet today here we are in a world that is flawed yet so beautiful. Of course in the meantime countless lives and even generations are lost, sidelined by History.

So yeah in a nutshell, this is what I look for in a history book: sadness at what human beings could be reduced to, gratitude for the present and hope for the future. I think Tears Before The Rain is certainly a good book in that sense.

Five stars.

PS : I read this in preparation for the 40th anniversary of the day the Vietnamese stopped killing each other.

[Liam · Rating 3 out of 5]

I blew off reading this book for a long time; I suspected that it would be a difficult book to read, and it was. All wars scar people either physically, psychologically, or both; this particular conflict took a very long time, and so scarred a comparatively large number of people. The fall of Saigon on April 29th, 1975 had such an enormous impact on so many people around the world that reading about it is itself a bit like measuring the last fading tremors after a massive earthquake. So many of us who remember that day have at least an indirect connection with the war which ended on it that it is difficult to be objective. Although necessary and important from a historical perspective, reading about so much betrayal and incompetence simply leaves a bad taste in one's mouth, figuratively speaking...
This book is well put together, but as with all oral histories care needs to be taken by the reader to check and double-check statements of alleged fact, which can at times be colored by self-interest, inaccurate memory, or simple ignorance.

[Hal · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just finished this amazing oral history of the fall of Saigon and the immediate aftermath and then the experiences of the "boat people." Dozens of people tell their personal stories that are at the same time inspiring and heartbreaking. One should put aside his/her views on the U.S. participation in the war and let these participants tell their story without any commentary.

I guarantee some views will change. Included are interviews with North and South Vietnamese civilians and government workers and officials and military personnel, U.S. military and government workers and officials, contract workers from the U.S., news people and finally the boat people. The results of the duplicity on both sides of the war after the so-called Paris Peace Accords is heart-rending.

I especially appreciated it because one the accounts was written by an acquaintance of mine. I didn't know this til I read the book.


Be prepared for a real emotional experience.

[Pei-jean Lu · Rating 5 out of 5]

Admittedly, when I came across this book I was rather apprehensive about reading it as my father’s family is the one of many that were affected by the Vietnam War and the topic is often one I don’t like to ask about as it leads to a lot of resentment from my dad. I’m glad that I did persevere as this oral history has given me a much broader aspect of the history of the war

[Teresa · Rating 5 out of 5]

The stories in this book were gripping. Incredible stories of survival, heroism, and villainy. Many people from differing backgrounds were interviewed for this historical compilation of "eyewitness accounts" of the events that took place during the fall of Saigon. It's amazing what some people have lived through and inspiring to read about their unbreakable spirit.

[Scott Porter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Worth reading for the last third containing accounts by refugees.