Last Man Out (53 page)

Brenda and I just weeks after we’d adopted Joe and Mim.

The airfield in the Long Tieng valley. The CIA compound was to the right of the large rock formation.

Hmong troops on a CH-53 helicopter. In the 1960s, these men were some of the best fighters in the world.

I am sitting with men from my GM on a position northeast of Long Tieng shortly after the cease-fire in 1973.

My bodyguard, Loi, standing by the gifts for the orphans at the 1974 Christmas party. He desperately wanted to leave with me when the war ended but, in the confusion, was left behind.

Tom F. (left) and Mac (bending over, right) on a boat outing with the staff and families from the CIA office in Can Tho in early 1975.

South Vietnamese refugees aboard the
Pioneer Contender
en route to Phu Quoc Island from Cam Ranh Bay. I boarded the same ship days later and bid farewell to Vietnam.

Capt. Edward C. Flink, master of the
Pioneer Contender
. He evacuated tens of thousands from Vietnam.

Barge similar to the one used to transport refugees from the pier at Vung Tau to the
Pioneer Contender
.

Hmong recruits receiving military training.

Hmong recruits receiving marksmanship training in the mountains of Laos.

Three members of my rifle platoon during a break from field operations.

Terry Barker and I at the 1974 Christmas party for the orphanage at Vi Thanh.