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Where They Lay: A Forensic Expedition in the Jungles of Laos – History's Largest Helicopter Battle and the Mission to Recover Fallen Soldiers
Where They Lay melds an account of an elite military team's high-tech, high-risk search for a Vietnam War pilot's remains with a remarkably immediate and poignant retelling of his final intense hours.
In far-flung rain forests and its futuristic lab near Pearl Harbor, the Central Identification Laboratory (CILHI) strives to recover and identify the bodies of fighting men who never came home from America’s wars. Its mission combines old-fashioned bushwhacking and detective work with the latest in forensic technology.
Earl Swift accompanies a CILHI team into the Laotian jungle on a search for the remains of Major Jack Barker and his three-man crew, whose chopper went down in a fireball more than thirty years ago. He interweaves the story of the recovery team's work with a tense account of Barker's fatal attempt to rescue trapped soldiers during the largest helicopter assault in history. Swift is the first reporter ever allowed to follow a recovery mission, as these unique archaeological digs are called, in its entirety, and he got his hands dirty, combing the jungle floor for clues amid vipers, monsoons, and unexploded bombs.
Where They Lay resounds with admiration for those who fell and those who seek them. But Swift also raises hard questions about these recovery missions. Is it worth $100 million a year to try to bring home the lost from old wars? Is it worth the lives of today's soldiers? (Seven Americans died in the line of duty just months before Swift went in country.) And is the effort compromised by the corruption among native officials overseeing missions in their countries?
As new conflicts draw our attention, Where They Lay throws brilliant light on war's cost to soldiers and to those they leave at home.
In far-flung rain forests and its futuristic lab near Pearl Harbor, the Central Identification Laboratory (CILHI) strives to recover and identify the bodies of fighting men who never came home from America’s wars. Its mission combines old-fashioned bushwhacking and detective work with the latest in forensic technology.
Earl Swift accompanies a CILHI team into the Laotian jungle on a search for the remains of Major Jack Barker and his three-man crew, whose chopper went down in a fireball more than thirty years ago. He interweaves the story of the recovery team's work with a tense account of Barker's fatal attempt to rescue trapped soldiers during the largest helicopter assault in history. Swift is the first reporter ever allowed to follow a recovery mission, as these unique archaeological digs are called, in its entirety, and he got his hands dirty, combing the jungle floor for clues amid vipers, monsoons, and unexploded bombs.
Where They Lay resounds with admiration for those who fell and those who seek them. But Swift also raises hard questions about these recovery missions. Is it worth $100 million a year to try to bring home the lost from old wars? Is it worth the lives of today's soldiers? (Seven Americans died in the line of duty just months before Swift went in country.) And is the effort compromised by the corruption among native officials overseeing missions in their countries?
As new conflicts draw our attention, Where They Lay throws brilliant light on war's cost to soldiers and to those they leave at home.
308 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2003
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About the author
Earl Swift
14 books177 followersLongtime journalist Earl Swift is the author of the forthcoming ACROSS THE AIRLESS WILDS: THE LUNAR ROVER AND THE TRIUMPH OF THE FINAL MOON LANDINGS, due from HarperCollins in July 2021.
He is also the author of seven other books, among them the New York Times best seller CHESAPEAKE REQUIEM (HarperCollins, 2018), the story of an island town threatened with extinction by the very water that has sustained it for 240 years; AUTO BIOGRAPHY (HarperCollins, 2014), a narrative journey through postwar America told through a single old car and the fourteen people who've owned it; THE BIG ROADS (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2011), an armchair history of the U.S. highway system and its effects, physical and cultural, on the nation it binds; JOURNEY ON THE JAMES (University of Virginia Press, 2001), about a great American river and the largely untold history that has unfolded in and around it; WHERE THEY LAY (Houghton Mifflin, 2003), for which he accompanied an Army archaeological team into the jungles of Laos in search of a helicopter crew shot down thirty years before; and a 2007 collection of his stories, THE TANGIERMAN'S LAMENT (UVa Press). He also co-authored, with Macon Brock, ONE BUCK AT A TIME (Beachnut/John F. Blair, 2017), an insider's account of Dollar Tree's rise from loopy idea to retail juggernaut.
Since 2012 he's been a fellow of Virginia Humanities at the University of Virginia. He lives in the Blue Ridge mountains west of Charlottesville.
He is also the author of seven other books, among them the New York Times best seller CHESAPEAKE REQUIEM (HarperCollins, 2018), the story of an island town threatened with extinction by the very water that has sustained it for 240 years; AUTO BIOGRAPHY (HarperCollins, 2014), a narrative journey through postwar America told through a single old car and the fourteen people who've owned it; THE BIG ROADS (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2011), an armchair history of the U.S. highway system and its effects, physical and cultural, on the nation it binds; JOURNEY ON THE JAMES (University of Virginia Press, 2001), about a great American river and the largely untold history that has unfolded in and around it; WHERE THEY LAY (Houghton Mifflin, 2003), for which he accompanied an Army archaeological team into the jungles of Laos in search of a helicopter crew shot down thirty years before; and a 2007 collection of his stories, THE TANGIERMAN'S LAMENT (UVa Press). He also co-authored, with Macon Brock, ONE BUCK AT A TIME (Beachnut/John F. Blair, 2017), an insider's account of Dollar Tree's rise from loopy idea to retail juggernaut.
Since 2012 he's been a fellow of Virginia Humanities at the University of Virginia. He lives in the Blue Ridge mountains west of Charlottesville.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
June 18, 2010
I really liked this book about an anthropological dig along the Ho Chi Minh trail searching for men lost in a helicopter crash in Vietnam. I laughed and I cried. It did not end as I expected, but there was a pretty nice resolution nonetheless. Loved reading about the lives of the men lost in Vietnam and the sacrifices made to search for their remains. Loved experiencing the dedication of military and civilian personel toward this endeavor. Loved visualizing the dignified ceremonies honoring the remains of soldiers brought home 30-40 years after the war's conclusion. I only wish the soldiers who returned alive in the 1970's could have experienced some appreciation and respect from the american people.
October 22, 2012
This book very clearly explains the great pains our country goes to in the recovery of the remains of those Missing In Action. I was struck by how thin the details are that the investigators must use to piece together where the remains of missing service person may be. An aspect of forensic science that is not regularly in the mainstream; but is there everyday.
January 16, 2019
Earl Swift gives such attention to detail. At times, I was so engrossed into the book. I felt like I was right there with them. I loved the photos and diagrams on the pages to help me visualize what was happening at times.
I realized reading this that I really don't know much about the Vietnam War. And what the service men sacrificed and went through. It was very interesting.
I realized reading this that I really don't know much about the Vietnam War. And what the service men sacrificed and went through. It was very interesting.
May 27, 2014
Probably the best non-fiction book I've read in a while love the flow first page to last.
June 28, 2017
This being the first time compelled to write a review gives a clue to how much I enjoyed it. The book hooked me from the start and I was almost sad to finish - I loved it!
March 15, 2019
Swift does an excellent job of relating the difficulties that crews face in attempting to locate and repatriate the remains of U.S. military members that were lost in combat or accidents. He was permitted to join a recovery crew in Laos and work with them on a site to find the remains of four army personnel who were shot down in their Huey helicopter while trying to rescue South Vietnamese military trapped in a failed operation. These brave men knew they were flying into almost certain death, but made the heroic choice to go anyway.
The military and civilian crew that attempts to locate their remains are heroic in their own way. They endure horrible conditions of extreme heat and humidity, poisonous animals, unexploded ordinance, and often less than truthful locals and foreign governments. I was in awe of what they endured in their efforts and admire them greatly. I'm thankful that there are individuals that see the value of returning the missing to their families and their country. And I am thankful that the U.S. government devotes money and personnel to this worthwhile endeavor.
The military and civilian crew that attempts to locate their remains are heroic in their own way. They endure horrible conditions of extreme heat and humidity, poisonous animals, unexploded ordinance, and often less than truthful locals and foreign governments. I was in awe of what they endured in their efforts and admire them greatly. I'm thankful that there are individuals that see the value of returning the missing to their families and their country. And I am thankful that the U.S. government devotes money and personnel to this worthwhile endeavor.
July 30, 2018
For the most part, a very interesting look at what goes into locating and identifying undiscovered military remains, in this case from the Vietnam War era. It goes on a little too long, and gets pretty repetitive in places, but that almost perfectly describes the search process. The book poses some interesting questions, such as is it really worth all these millions of dollars to send expeditions out attempting to locate a few pieces of bone. How you feel about that would probably depend on your view of the military's "leave no man behind" credo, and there probably isn't any right or wrong answer.
June 1, 2023
This is my 3rd title by the author. I have become very comfortable with his style and the depth to which he pursues his subjects. I was a college freshman with a student deferment at the time the incident occurred. For those of my peers who did not go onto to college and were drafted or chose to enlist, this was their terrible reality. A personal acquaintance remains MIA to this day. Our government spends money unwisely on many things, but MIA recovery is not one of them. This book provides a marvelous and touching perspective on the dedicated people who selflessly go to remote and dismal parts of the world to search for those who never came back. This title is more than worth your time to read and reflect on those who were lost, the people who found them and souls of the recovered and those who may never be found.
December 31, 2023
I found this ro be a well written account of the search for the aircrew and their last hours that helped me appreciate the challenges this unit faces in bringing closure to the families of the missing and honoring rhe unwritten pledge to every serviceman/women.loved the light documentary tone which made it an engaging yet informative read. I loved it.
March 21, 2019
Felt a bit cheated on this one. I suspected they wouldn't find who they were looking for, but I expected them to find something. As it was, this was 250+ pages of atmosphere and Swift trying far too hard to create sentiment and emotional resonance and veering into narmy bathos.
April 27, 2019
Superb!
August 15, 2025
5星。
很精彩的報導文學，描述挖掘現場的甘苦談和現場工作人員的故事、他們的生活經歷跟參與過的搜尋任務。透過家屬提供的資料、軍方紀錄、同期士兵和現場目擊者的訪談，組織出1731任務目標四位大兵的人生軌跡，重建他們最後一次任務的戰場環境。鮮明的臨場感、今昔交錯的敘事跟活靈活現的人物群像，讓這本書讀起來就像在看一部迷你影集。
很精彩的報導文學，描述挖掘現場的甘苦談和現場工作人員的故事、他們的生活經歷跟參與過的搜尋任務。透過家屬提供的資料、軍方紀錄、同期士兵和現場目擊者的訪談，組織出1731任務目標四位大兵的人生軌跡，重建他們最後一次任務的戰場環境。鮮明的臨場感、今昔交錯的敘事跟活靈活現的人物群像，讓這本書讀起來就像在看一部迷你影集。
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews