Blog | Last Plane Out of Saigon | Richard Pena | John Hagan | Austin TX | Vietnam War | Veterans - Last Plane Out of Saigon

Last Plane Out of Saigon

Our Veteran's Need Our Help

11/9/2017

Photo Credit: Bob Daemmrich - Texas Tribune

Photo Credit: Richard Pena

Every Veteran's Day, Texas Access to Justice Foundation submits an op-ed to be picked up by papers throughout the state of Texas. This year's piece is written by Chief Justice Nathan L. Hecht (pictured above on the left) and Richard Pena (pictured above on the right). Their article is timely and vital as it addresses the needs of our Veterans and what can be done to help from a legal standpoint.

Each year on Veteran's Day our Nation has the wonderful opportunity to reach out and express how thankful we are for our Veterans and current service members. However, the truth is that they need much more than only our thanks and their needs must be addressed year round, not only on this holiday. You can find and read the full article by clicking any of the links below!

Waco Tribune - Herald: Article

The Monitor | McAllen, TX: Article

Texas Access to Justice Foundation Facebook Page

Chief Justice Nathan L. Hecht has been a member of the Texas Supreme Court since 1988 and is a U.S. Navy veteran. Richard Pena is a Vietnam veteran and practicing attorney in Austin. He is a former president of both the American Bar Foundation and the State Bar of Texas and is co-author of the book “Last Plane Out of Saigon.”

Vietnam Travel Opportunity

5/19/2017

You're Invited!
It is my honor, as leader of our upcoming delegation to Vietnam, to invite you, and a guest, to be a part of this important, and first of its kind, cultural mission. This delegation was developed to give our delegates the opportunity to experience the traditional, slower paced city of Hanoi as well as the modern, fast paced Ho Chi Minh City, which is still referred to by its old name of Saigon. We will experience, firsthand, the culture of Vietnam, as well as, lovely countryside, spectacular landscapes and remarkable destinations such as, the beautiful and renowned Halong Bay.

The inspiration for this trip and the theme, "In Our Steps", comes from the desire of many Americans to visit, or revisit, this country that is important and continues to be deeply embedded in our national consciousness. Some of the places we will visit are places where American soldiers themselves walked. The trip is also inspired by my recent book, Last Plane Out of Saigon, which is largely comprised of my journal entries while I worked in the operating room of Vietnam’s largest military hospital during the last year of the war, pursuant to being drafted after my first year of law school. I left on the last day of American military involvement in March 1973.

This unique journey will allow you to discover the charms of the new Vietnam, while revisiting the traditional and timeless culture of the people. You will find that a majority of the Vietnamese people were born after the war, and they genuinely like Americans. This exclusive experience will be enhanced by the personalized care and attention you will receive from the specially selected National and Local Guides. Their knowledge of the people, customs and country will allow you to immerse yourself in the rich history and cultural heritage of this country which has been, and is, important to America.

Join me on this exciting adventure and be a part of history as you experience all that Vietnam has to offer.

Itinerary
Since "In Our Steps" is unlike any other program, special attention was put into developing the itinerary and it has been thoughtfully tailored to account for the distinctiveness of this delegation. Click to view or download the itinerary. The program convenes on November 6, 2017 in Hanoi, Vietnam and ends on November 13, 2017 in Saigon. This means a departure from the U.S. on November 5th with the return flight on November 13th.

The photos below were taken during my previous delegations to Vietnam

Cost
The estimated cost per delegation member is $4,995. This price includes an array of additional features, which our partners at Academic Travel Abroad have worked hard to include so that once you are in Vietnam, most of your expenses are covered.

**Scroll to the bottom of this page to read more about this extensive travel package.**

Reserving Your Place
As the delegation will be limited and due to the extensive planning and communication involved in coordinating a program of this nature, please respond with your intentions regarding this invitation as soon as possible. Please RSVP to Professionals Abroad at 1-877-298-9677 or enroll via the web by clicking HERE. A $500 deposit is required to reserve your place as part of the delegation. You are encouraged to bring a guest and forward this invitation to others you feel would be interested! We look forward to hearing from you regarding your participation and truly hope you can join this interesting delegation.
There is an optional extension to Cambodia following the conclusion of this trip. For more information about the extension visit www.professionalsabroad.org and search "In Our Steps" under the Search Our Delegations section, or click here to be taken to this program's extension page.

Travel
Travel arrangements will be arranged through Professionals Abroad, a division of Academic Travel Abroad. The 60-year-old organization handles the logistical arrangements for prestigious organizations, such as National Geographic, The Smithsonian, The New York Times – Times Journeys and many top professional associations and universities.

Questions
If you have questions regarding the delegation, contact our Program Representative at Professionals Abroad, at 1-877-298-9677.

I am pleased to be involved in this exciting opportunity and hope that you will strongly consider participating in this historic delegation to Vietnam.

Sincerely,
Richard Pena
Delegation Leader

To learn more about my past delegations visit www.legaldelegationsabroad.com

Download Itinerary

**Included Features**

The price of this trip includes, but is not limited to excellent accommodations, city travel expenses and an extensive meal program. From the moment you touchdown in Vietnam to your departure, you will have National and Local Guides watching out for your every need. Enjoy your stay throughout at luxurious Five Star Hotels in both Hanoi and Saigon. For your overnight excursion to the gorgeous Halong Bay, you will stay in an elegant and authentic Chinese sailing ship. Traveling accommodations will include baggage handling, to and from, each destination throughout your visit. This also applies to day excursions and any city changeovers. Costs associated with land and boat travel are covered, as is the airfare from Hanoi to Saigon that occurs mid-way through the program. All activities that are scheduled for the delegation, as a whole, are also included in the price. This means all Museum Tickets, Guided Tours, Sight-Seeing & local Attraction fees, Live Theater Tickets, the City Bike Tour and much much more are all included. Most meals will be provided, which includes dining-out opportunities featuring genuine and local Vietnamese cuisine. Additionally, the price accounts for all tips and/or other gratuities related to planned group activities & the included meals.

Anthony Bourdain, renowned traveler, chef and food connoisseur, visited Vietnam for an episode of his CNN series Parts Unknown. Click to read an article that features some of Bourdain's experiences and highlights his trip to Vietnam!

Spread Love Not Hate

2/14/2017

Click photo for source

It is no secret that today marks a day dedicated to love and sharing it with others. Love and peace are important messages, especially now, and today is the day to pass on these virtues to one another. Those who we value, and trust as the protectors of our nation, spread their love to all of us as they risk their lives. We must say ‘thank you’ and remember their bravery and selflessness.

Their service means that they leave loved ones behind, and for others it can mean leaving the opportunity for love behind . . . love lost and love never realized. Everyone is touched by war. It can alter and change the course of people’s lives forever. This also extends to families and friends and loved ones.

The Last Plane Out of Saigon team wishes you and your loved ones a wonderful Valentine’s Day. Today is a day of celebration, reflection and acknowledgment of how powerful love can be. Truly hold your loved ones dear and cherish your time with them.

New Year Same Nixon

1/3/2017

click photo for source

It is a new year and time for a new blog post! Hopefully, 2017 has already presented the opportunity for new changes and growth for you. Even though it is a new year not everything is new…there are some topics of conversation that will always be relevant and present themselves with even more relevance and vigor with each passing year.

Although we entered into the Vietnam war in 1955 it is still significant as we enter 2017. In fact, a recent article from the New York Times (published online on December 31st, 2016 . . . just before the new year) reveals some interesting truths about the escalation of the Vietnam War and Richard Nixon’s involvement. The article, which can be found HERE, is written by John A. Farrell who is working on his book “Richard Nixon: The Life.” While doing research for this upcoming book, Farrell came across documentation of Nixon’s correspondence with his Chief of Staff: H.R. Haldeman. For more information on Haldeman, click here to view his Wikipedia page.

In Farrell’s article he explains that, “Haldeman’s notes were opened quietly at the presidential library in 2007.” In the notes you can find documented correspondence, which indicates that Nixon actively tried to keep the war going for personal political gain.

Farrell writes about how the letters reveal that Henry Kissinger “[alerted] Nixon that a deal was in the works: If Johnson would halt all bombing of the North Vietnam, the soviets pledged to have Hanoi engage in constructive talks to end a war that had already claimed 30,000 American lives.” The communication between Nixon and Haldeman brings to light that, “Nixon directed his campaign’s efforts to scuttle the peace talks, which he feared could give his opponent, Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey, an edge in the 1968 election.” In fact," . . . [Nixon] ordered Haldeman to ‘monkey wrench’ the initiative.” This order was given on October 22, 1968 and is in reference to the negotiations Johnson was trying to initiate.

This is exactly what author Richard Pena, outlines in his book, Last Plane Out of Saigon. Pena, who served as an OR tech in Vietnam kept journal notes about his observations and thoughts about the war. The excerpts below, written in 1972, correlate with what Farrell writes about in his piece on Nixon.

In the past there was a “lack of evidence of Nixon’s direct involvement” what were acts of treason such as the “Chennault affair.” However, as this article shows, proof is finally coming to light in 2017. Nixon denied his involvement repeatedly, and Farrell writes, “Nixon had cause to lie. His actions appear to violate federal law, which prohibits private citizens from trying to ‘defeat the measures of the United States’.”

In contrast to Nixon’s dishonesty, the passages from Last Plane Out of Saigon, which are included above, show the truth. In Last Plane Out of Saigon Pena conveys important messages on how America must learn from the mistakes it made with the Vietnam war. The reality is, that Nixon’s “treachery” was felt then and now. It was felt during the time of the Vietnam war by our soldiers and felt now, as veterans still deal with the aftermath of Nixon’s decisions.

Ultimately, Farrell’s opinion piece from the New York Times gives credence to the messages found in Last Plane Out of Saigon and illustrates the importance and significance of the book. As we enter 2017, we must remain mindful that the Vietnam War and its distresses are still very much prevalent.

In addition to bein published online, this article was sent to print and was released on January 1, 2017 on Page SR9 of the New York edition. It is featured under the headline: Tricky Dick’s Vietnam Treachery.

Celebrating the Memory of Loved Ones

5/30/2016

Memorial Day is a day to remember all of the brave U.S. souls who gave their lives to protect us. Our nation has seen many wars and for those who have read Last Plane Out of Saigon, you know the message Richard Pena sends about the consequences of war. The loss of human life is a consequence that has unfortunately touched so many lives.

Everyday we remember those who gave such an ultimate sacrifice. However, while we remember our loved ones who served, we do so with a heart that celebrates their memory. Last Plane Out of Saigon puts special focus on the consequences of the Vietnam War, but lives are lost everyday. It is not only the 58,000 lives lost in Vietnam that we honor, but also every life lost, and every life altered by war. We look to the future and hope that we can find a way to help our veterans who return from war.

The Last Plane Out of Saigon team hopes that everyone is safe this holiday and spends time with their families and loved ones.

This past April Richard Pena and the Last Plane Out of Saigon team were asked to be a part of the Vietnam War Summit held at the LBJ Presidential Library in Austin, TX. Below are some photos from the Summit, which are an illustration of the honor and reverence we strive to show those who gave their lives and fought for our country.

Quote etched in flower garden at the LBJ Presidential Library in Austin, TX.

Richard Pena at the half-scale replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. This picture was taken in Austin, Texas during the Vietnam War Summit.

Flower bouquet left by Vietnamese soldiers in order to pay respect for the lives lost in the Vietnam War.

Letters & flowers placed at the foot of the half-scale replica of the wall in memory of loved ones. This picture was taken in Austin, Texas at the Vietnam War Summit.

Related Links
Vietnam War Summit
Texas Lawyers for Texas Vets

Guest Blogger: Adrian Foster

4/5/2016

Adrian Foster is an instructional coach and works with Harmony Public Schools North Cluster in Houston, Texas. This week he is featured as our guest blogger! The Last Plane Out of Saigon team is thrilled to share Mr. Foster's reflections on our latest speaking engagement with the group of educators who gathered to listen to Richard Pena.

Adrian Foster shaking hands with Richard Pena at Last Plane Out of Saigon speaking Engagement for Harmony Public Schools | North Cluster.

An Educator’s Take on Last Plane Out of Saigon

These are the typical tools used to teach history in most schools across America. They encourage minimal student engagement, little critical thinking, and do not work to develop the 21st century skills that our young students will require once they become adults. I’m an instructional coach for a district in Texas. Basically, I help teachers learn how to create more engaging, rigorous, and effective lessons. One of the strategies I have been pushing all year onto my teachers has been the use of primary sources and first-hand accounts of the events covered in our curriculum. Such materials help students build literacy skills, categorize, compare and contrast, find bias, and learn to think critically. This, in turn, allows students to be more challenged and requires engagement on their part as they are responsible for breaking down a document for content information.

As I attended an educational conference earlier this year, I had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Richard Pena and learning about Last Plane Out of Saigon. I was very intrigued by the preview of the book that I received and immediately started reading it when I got home. I quickly found that I couldn’t put it down. The experiences that Mr. Pena wrote about from his days in a South Vietnam operating room were raw, discomforting, and honest. I wrestled with what I had learned in school about the Vietnam War and the events that surrounded it, and the reflections and thoughts of a man who experienced it on a daily basis. It caused me to consider and ponder the current situation that we find ourselves in as a nation and gave me a deeper appreciation for those who served in the military during such a contentious time. As I put the book down I thought to myself, “All of my students need to read this”. I knew that an account like the one in Last Plane Out of Saigon would be engaging, provide essential content about the Vietnam War, and would challenge the students to think critically about Mr. Pena’s experiences and on warfare in general.

I immediately contacted Mr. Pena and asked him if he wouldn’t mind being my guest at an upcoming professional development day that I was organizing for my social studies teachers. I was thrilled when he accepted and I was even more excited when I contacted my teachers and found that they were extremely interested in this unique opportunity. My plan was to allow Mr. Pena to share his book with my teachers and give them a first-hand account of his experiences from an Army operating room during the Vietnam War. I would then describe how his book could be effectively utilized in our classrooms. During his presentation, Mr. Pena was honest, insightful, and very engaging. My teachers were left excited to read the book and to figure out how they could use passages to teach and illustrate the Vietnam Era curriculum that they were preparing to teach during the last quarter of the school year.

As I followed up with my teachers about Mr. Pena and Last Plane Out of Saigon, I was overwhelmed with positive feedback. They loved his presentation, and loved his book. I know that the students we teach will be equally enthusiastic about learning history using this book. It makes history real, helps them internalize the information, and challenges them to think about things bigger than their classroom, school, or community. Not only will it engage students in a history lesson, it will help to create responsible and patriotic citizens.

I am grateful for Mr. Pena’s willingness to collaborate with me and share his incredible experiences with my humble gathering of young teachers. I hope that other educators can see the important contribution that Last Plane Out of Saigon can make to their curriculum and instruction. It is definitely a unique account that will enrich and challenge their students.

RELATED LINKS:
Harmony Public Schools Website
Pictures from the event

National Vietnam Veterans Day

3/29/2016

Picture Taken by the Last Plane Out of Saigon team at the
Veterans Memorial Museum in Katy, Texas.

Today is recognized as National Vietnam Veterans Day. This day was chosen back in 2012 by President Barack Obama when he signed a presidential proclamation, March 29th of that year, to honor those who served in Vietnam.

Please join us as we honor all of the 3.1 million Vietnam Veterans who served. Their valor deserves to be recognized and the Last Plane Out of Saigon team strives to honor all our veterans, not only today, but every day.

Our nation is protected every day by the bravery and selflessness of our soldiers. As we reach out to them today, we must remind ourselves that even though we cannot truly know their sacrifices they deserve our thanks.

The following passages from Last Plane Out of Saigon, illustrate how impossible it is for those who did not, or have not served to know the depths of what each of our soldiers endure in a war. However, we must strive to show our appreciation and respect for our armed forces. It is the least we can do.

There is much that has been said about Vietnam; there is much more that can only be understood by those of us who were there.”

—Richard Pena
Last Plane Out of Saigon | PG. 35

Who can ever know what your personal war involved? You had to remain there and say good-bye to your friends one by one until only you remained. With each good-bye, a little sanity must have been sacrificed. In the end did loneliness reign? Can you ever recreate Vietnam so the untraveled masses can understand what it was actually like?”

—Bozo, Fellow Solider in Vietnam
Last Plane Out of Saigon | PG. 109

Today we join others in honoring Vietnam Veterans, and their loved ones.
We must do our best to recognize you always.

Wishing thanks to all Veterans!

We are in the USAFA Special Collections Department

2/11/2016

Click photo for source

It is official! Last Plane Out of Saigon is in the United States Air Force Academy, McDermott Library.
The U.S. Air Force Academy located in Colorado Springs, Colorado and has a range of libraries. These include the McDermott Library, the Base Library, departmental reference collections, and field libraries in staff agencies. Last Plane Out of Saigon is in the process of being cataloged in the “Cadet Academic” McDermott Library. Right now, you can go onto the USAFA McDermott Library website and search their Special Collections Department to find us! This is an exciting development for Last Plane Out of Saigon, especially since the library aims to

establish and maintain a special collection of unique and rare items pertinent to the growth and development of the USAF Academy."

Our team is honored Last Plane Out of Saigon is now a part of the Academy’s Special Collections Department and that it is recognized by USAFA as a “unique” and “pertinent” resource. Check out the links below to learn more about the United States Air Force Academy and the McDermott Library.

Related Links:
Last Plane Out of Saigon - Special Collections
United States Air Force Academy
About McDermott Library

Guest Blogger: Allan Van Fleet

12/31/2015

This week the Last Plane Out of Saigon team is honored to have a guest blogger! Allan Van Fleet is a respected lawyer from Houston, Texas, who recently went on a trip to Vietnam this past November. While there, he found the "Last Plane Out" picture of Richard Pena boarding one of the final flights out of Saigon. Van Fleet discovered the picture while visiting a museum in Hanoi and reached out to us. Below is Van Fleet's account of his visit to Vietnam, written exclusively for our blog! Included are his own photographs from the trip. We hope you enjoy this powerful piece by Allan Van Fleet.

It was already steamy by mid-morning November 8 2015. I was in a boat on the Mekong River, on the border of Cambodia and Vietnam.

Earlier, when My girlfriend asked, “What do you think about this?” as she handed me a brochure for educational travel to Vietnam with her alumni association, I thought "Let's go." Previously, I could not have imagined a day when I would look forward to going to Vietnam.

But it is 2015 now. I can remember a time when I hoped like hell never to go to Vietnam. In January 1971, on my 18th birthday, I registered for the draft in Luling, Texas. That August, as I started Rice University, student deferments ended. I was 1-A.

February 2, 1972 dawned cool and clear: a bluebird sky over Houston. KTRU radio carried the draft lottery live. One by one, birthdays were assigned call-up order numbers, which were broadcast across campus. High numbers brought howls of relief. Low numbers sent boys – we were still teenagers – to the ROTC building to postpone their trip to Southeast Asia.

Mine was 161. Too low to celebrate, too high to sign up – or check road maps to Canada. Like everyone in my cohort that night, I drank. A lot.

Almost 50,000 draftees were inducted in 1972. I was not one of them. I heard that guys with numbers in the 150s were called for physicals. I was not. Then, in January 1973, Nixon and Kissinger announced they had achieved “Peace with Honor” in Paris. We all knew it was a ruse. I didn’t care. I wasn’t going. It was over. Again, we drank.

On March 29, 1973 the last plane bringing home American troops left Saigon. Decades later I would learn that Richard Pena was on that plane.

In the late 1990s, I knew of Richard as the President of the State Bar of Texas and got to know him when we both served in the American Bar Association House of Delegates. He served as the State Delegate from Texas and I as the representative of the Section of Antitrust Law, which I would later chair. I found him thoughtful and quiet, but passionate in his belief that law should first serve people, rather than fill pocketbooks.

It was when I was getting ready for my trip to Vietnam that I vaguely remembered Richard had published a memoir of his time in Vietnam. So I downloaded and read Last Plane Out of Saigon. I had no idea it would be such a searing indictment of the war and its effect on men, such as Richard, who were forced to go despite their opposition to the senseless conflict.

I thought of Richard that morning as I stood on the deck of the Mekong Princess, crossing into Vietnam, and I thought of him often during the next two weeks.

From Last Plane Out of Saigon I learned the chaos of the operating theater when the wounded were brought in from battle. From sampans in delta tributaries and canals and from dikes dividing rice paddies, I learned something of what it must have been like to fight a hidden – and effective and inspired – enemy. Our group included Brian, a Yale alum who had been a second lieutenant in Vietnam, spotting artillery from helicopters. He gave us a feel for the horror that sent soldiers to the hospital where Richard served as a surgical assistant. American soldiers, that is. South Vietnamese soldiers had their own hospitals. North Vietnamese and Viet Cong bodies were counted and left for villagers to bury.

Richard recounts honestly the booze and drugs permeating his “downtime” in Saigon. In war – especially against guerrillas in their homeland – there is no downtime. So many not killed by the Viet Cong would die of drugs or drink back home.

But on this trip mostly we learned about the war from the other side. The Vietnamese call it The American War, which evolved from The French War. We met no one – no one – who did not have family killed or wounded in the war. No one believes the official estimate of 1.2 million dead. It’s more like 3 million, almost a tenth of the population at the time. Nam, our guide in the Mekong Delta and Saigon (which the locals still call Ho Chi Minh City), was originally from Hanoi and had three uncles who fought for the North. One came back alive. He had been an artillery and mortar spotter, like Brian, but was up in trees, not helicopters. The remains of a second uncle were discovered ten years after the war ended. (North Vietnamese soldiers had no dog tags; he had written his name on paper he put in a glass penicillin vile found in a mass grave.) One uncle is among the 500,000 still missing. A half a million Vietnamese men missing to this day.

The visit to the War Museum in Saigon was hard. Of course, told from the victors’ point of view, its story vilifies the Americans and their “puppets” in the South. Yet, a memorial wall comprises photographs of those who died from all sides – including American soldiers. The room depicting Agent Orange victims – to this generation – was especially difficult. The amount of toxins poured onto the land and people (including American soldiers) was stunning.

I could not find the photo of Richard among those chronicling the end of the American intervention. That would come later in Hanoi.

From Saigon, we traveled by bus to Cu Chi. Here we would experience the elaborate tunnel system constructed to shelter guerillas – and Vietnamese civilians – from the carpet bombing one presidential candidate wants to bring to the Middle East. We walked around craters the size of swimming pools and crawled through the cramped tunnels.

At an outdoor lecture hall we met Nem, who at 17 lost his right arm and eye in a firefight with Americans. With Nam translating, Nem told us he never liked the term “Viet Cong.” That was coined by Americans, as shorthand for “Vietnamese Communists.”

Nem said he was never a party member, nor were those who fought and lived in the tunnels along with him. They were nationalists who wanted nothing more than an independent and united country free of the French and free of the Americans. But he – as everyone else we met – held no personal animosity toward Americans. “We got news reports of the many American people – especially students – who were against the war. That encouraged us.”

On the way back to Saigon, we stopped at a war cemetery. Row upon row of identical headstones reminded me of US military cemeteries, such as, the one at Fort Sam Houston, San Antonio, where my father, grandfather and uncle are buried. The large sculpture of a woman grieving over a fallen soldier reminded us of the families left bereft.

Throughout the trip, Brian had been enthusiastic – exuberant, really – sharing his experiences and his copious knowledge of American and Vietnamese weapons and tactics. Our best “formal” lecture on board the Mekong Princess had featured Brian and Nam telling their different sides of the war.

That afternoon, Brian was the last to return to the bus from the cemetery. And there he lost it. The former Army officer who directed artillery fire onto the Vietnamese wept openly. Nam, who lost much of his family in the war, took Brian in his arms. All of us on the bus watched and wept with them.

I would learn later that Brian returned from Vietnam to protest the war, including at the massive March on Washington. Richard protested in Austin, before serving. I only protested the 1972 Christmas bombings of Hanoi. It was protest light. My first courtroom experience was watching the arraignment of Rice students who had chained themselves the same federal courthouse in serious protest.

Back in Saigon at night, we sat in the rooftop bar of the Rex Hotel. Specialty drinks included the “B-52” and the “Five-o’clock Follies” – the name journalists gave to the ludicrously optimistic daily briefings the US military provided from the Rex. We looked over the grand plaza that ran for dozens of blocks along Nguyễn Huệ street. A statue of Ho saluted the large crowd of Vietnamese people strolling, sitting, laughing, singing. Over martinis and hot tea we discussed when war is ever justified. To stop a Hitler. To stop a Pol Pot (we had walked the Killing Fields days earlier). But not over differences in religion. Not over differences in economic philosophy.

Ironically, Vietnam today may be more capitalist and entrepreneurial than America. Thousands of small shops dot the streets of Saigon and Hanoi. Local young Yale alumni have already made fortunes in Vietnam. The Hermes store in Saigon is more expensive than the one in Houston. Our guides and other Vietnamese we met were as openly critical of their government as we are of ours.

In Hanoi we saw more of the other side of the war. In the magnificently restored Metropole Hotel, built by the French at the turn of the last century, we toured the bomb shelter added during the war. Our guide told us how as a young boy he would often have to scramble to get into one of the one-person shelters built into the streets.

We visited the “Hanoi Hilton,” originally constructed by the French to imprison, torture, and guillotine Vietnamese resisters of colonial rule. There is something of a shrine to John McCain, including his flight suit, his prison uniform, and his bed. (McCain’s prison bed looked remarkably similar to Ho’s in his House on Stilts – both far from the opulence of the Presidential Palace in Saigon where President Diem lived and ruled.)

“The official policy was not to torture American prisoners,” our freelance guide told us, “but I’m not saying torture didn’t happen. We hated them. They were dropping bombs on us. They were killing us.” I did not know that McCain’s plane had been shot down over Hanoi, into West Lake – today a popular shopping and dining district.

I skipped over much of the Military Museum. I had seen enough, felt enough. There was only one thing still to see. In the room dedicated to the end of the war, I found the photo. American soldiers lined up to board the Last Plane Out of Saigon. Richard is recognizable from the back by his specialist patch and briefcase (mostly covered by a caption in the Hanoi museum) – a briefcase that survived law school and a war he never wanted any part of."

On the Sunday we traveled from Hanoi to Halong Bay, the New York Times ran an op-ed by Neil Sheehan, the in-country journalist who wrote the brilliant history of the war, A Bright Shining Lie. Our bus – coursing through rice paddies on either side – had WIFI, and we read on-line Sheehan’s piece entitled “At the Dawn of the Bloody Vietnam War.” Sheehan recounted a battle in which green American soldiers held off wave after wave of North Vietnamese regulars. “It always galls me when I hear or read of the men who fought the Second World War as ‘the greatest generation,’” Sheehan wrote. Despite inflicting horrific casualties, “the North Vietnamese attackers never managed to break through that line in sufficient numbers to threaten the battalion position, because the men of C Company, First Battalion, Seventh Cavalry, fought and died like the young lions they were.”

Sheehan concluded: “They, and so many others who fought in Vietnam, were as great as any generation that preceded them. Their misfortune was to draw a bad war, an unnecessary war, a mistake by American politicians and statesmen, for which they paid.”

Richard and Brian were among those who paid for that mistake; too many paid the ultimate price.

As I left Vietnam on a flight out of Hanoi’s modern international airport, I thought of my father, a career Army officer and ROTC instructor. My forefathers were soldiers in the Revolutionary War, the Civil War (both sides), the “Indian Conflicts,” the Spanish-American War, World Wars I and II, and the Korean War. I often wondered if I disappointed my father by not volunteering to fight in Vietnam. After my Dad died in 1993, I learned from my brother that Dad, still a lieutenant colonel in the Army reserves in the early 1960s, declined the offer of a star to activate and go to Vietnam as an “advisor.” He also told my brother that had my draft number come up, he hoped I would have found my way to Canada.

Like Richard, I left Vietnam on a plane. But the lottery – the airline upgrade lottery, not the draft lottery – put a glass of Merlot in my hand, not an M-16.

Allan Van Fleet
Houston, Texas
December 25, 2015

Allan Van Fleet is currently a partner at McDermott Will & Emery LLP in Houston, TX. Check out the links below for more information on Van Fleet and other topics mentioned in his post.

Related Links:
Allan Van Fleet
McDermott Will & Emery LLP
Neil Sheehan
A Bright Shining Lie

Tis the Season

12/15/2015

The Last Plane Out of Saigon team wants to wish you a heartfelt Happy Holidays! We know that not everyone will not be home with their loved ones, as many people are serving our Nation. Hopefully, however, we can still spread some warmth this season as we think of all those who serve and remember how lucky we are to have their bravery and protection. As some of you may know, co-author of Last Plane Out of Saigon, Richard Pena, is a distinguished Lawyer in Austin, Texas. This year his firm the Law Offices of Richard Pena celebrates with a non-traditional, yet, festive tree. Of course, the tree would not be complete without Last Plane Out of Saigon atop his law books. Richard Pena's life was completely altered when he was drafted to serve in Vietnam. This tree serves as a reminder of his past and present. We must never forget those who serve for our country and especially those who fought in Vietnam. Wishing safety, love and new memories to everyone this holiday. Check out our season's greetings below!