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Spite House: The Last Secret of the War in Vietnam
The author of Kiss the Boys Goodbye provides a thought-provoking account of Marine private Robert Garwood who, in 1965, was captured by the Vietcong and held prisoner for fourteen years, only to escape, return to the U.S., and be convicted of collaborating with the enemy. Tour.
- GenresNonfiction
371 pages, Hardcover
First published March 1, 1997
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
July 21, 2019
I’ve read a lot about the Vietnam (Southeast Asia) POW/MIA issue. Having read the authors book “Kiss The Boys Goodbye,” previously I knew some of the Garwood story. This book is just another indictment of the US government and its decades long coverup of all the soldiers they left behind and ALIVE after the Paris Peace Accords and Operation Homecoming. Held illegally by the Vietnamese. Abandoned by the US government. Garwood is one of several thousand betrayed and left to die. This book is five stars because it tells the truth. Too bad the media in the US have never cared about those men.
February 9, 2015
Non Fiction: A marine is held prisoner in Vietnam for 14 years. Not only tortured by his NVA captors, his government turns its back on him.
The book is not a liberal attack on war nor is it a conservative pep rally. This book is a truth, like the kind of truth about yourself that causes you to wince when it crosses your mind.
On the surface, it points out the dangers of directing a war with focus on appeasing media and public opinion rather than winning and the toll that perspective takes on the actual boots on the ground. The book is an excellent read if only for the story of the man and his survival.
Looking deeper into the moral of the story, so to speak, the light it shines on our government leaders and decision makers both military and political, a harsh and blunt spotlight on how often and easily those in leadership tend to forget or ignore the consequences of their "expedient" decisions. Focused on their image, caught up in the game, what they consider "the greater good", they are safely distanced from seeing the effects of those decisions first hand and makes it easy to forget those who have to live and survive the reality of those decisions. It was true then and it is true now.
I love America and our form of government however, I am disgusted by our leaders, the media and kowtowing to public opinion regardless of reality. I wish every member of the three branches of government, the pentagon and security agencies such as CIA & FBI would read this book.
The book is not a liberal attack on war nor is it a conservative pep rally. This book is a truth, like the kind of truth about yourself that causes you to wince when it crosses your mind.
On the surface, it points out the dangers of directing a war with focus on appeasing media and public opinion rather than winning and the toll that perspective takes on the actual boots on the ground. The book is an excellent read if only for the story of the man and his survival.
Looking deeper into the moral of the story, so to speak, the light it shines on our government leaders and decision makers both military and political, a harsh and blunt spotlight on how often and easily those in leadership tend to forget or ignore the consequences of their "expedient" decisions. Focused on their image, caught up in the game, what they consider "the greater good", they are safely distanced from seeing the effects of those decisions first hand and makes it easy to forget those who have to live and survive the reality of those decisions. It was true then and it is true now.
I love America and our form of government however, I am disgusted by our leaders, the media and kowtowing to public opinion regardless of reality. I wish every member of the three branches of government, the pentagon and security agencies such as CIA & FBI would read this book.
July 22, 2012
Quite an eye opener into the truth behind war ...
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews