Rating: 
Summary: Was The Enemy US ?
Review: "Code Name Bright Light" is an extremely well-researched and documented story about the efforts (failures! ) of the United States to rescue its' POWs during the Vietnam War. Just count the footnotes in each chapter! There can be no doubt that the story you will read is authentic. And that is a problem because most Americans will be saddened to learn that the blame cannot be heaped upon a cruel and intransigent enemy but with our own political. military and especially diplomatic leaders. Inter-service rivalry, intra-service rivalry, poor planning and just plain Vietnam-style bad luck all played a large part in the story. But there is so simple "sin-loi" here. Ambassador to Laos William Sullivan and Ambassador to South Vietnam Bunker wholeheartedly emphasized politics over POW rescues. One must ask even now whose side was Mr. Sullivan on? And where was the Johnson White House? Where was Robert McNamara? All very disturbing. There are many better "Vietnam" books but for those interested in the POW story, this is the Bible. I have read 4 other books on POWs, including Ms. Stephenson's "Kiss the Boys Goodbye" and seen the tape "We Can Keep You Forever", but "Code Name Bright Light" tells it all the best. A serious, disturbing but excellent job!
Rating:
Summary: Was The Enemy US ?
Review: "Code Name Bright Light" is an extremely well-researched and documented story about the efforts (failures! ) of the United States to rescue its' POWs during the Vietnam War. Just count the footnotes in each chapter! There can be no doubt that the story you will read is authentic. And that is a problem because most Americans will be saddened to learn that the blame cannot be heaped upon a cruel and intransigent enemy but with our own political. military and especially diplomatic leaders. Inter-service rivalry, intra-service rivalry, poor planning and just plain Vietnam-style bad luck all played a large part in the story. But there is so simple "sin-loi" here. Ambassador to Laos William Sullivan and Ambassador to South Vietnam Bunker wholeheartedly emphasized politics over POW rescues. One must ask even now whose side was Mr. Sullivan on? And where was the Johnson White House? Where was Robert McNamara? All very disturbing. There are many better "Vietnam" books but for those interested in the POW story, this is the Bible. I have read 4 other books on POWs, including Ms. Stephenson's "Kiss the Boys Goodbye" and seen the tape "We Can Keep You Forever", but "Code Name Bright Light" tells it all the best. A serious, disturbing but excellent job!
Rating: 
Summary: Why were no Americans ever recovered?
Review: Captain Veith delivers a very concise description of the military bureaucracy that seemed to dominate POW recovery efforts. It was and still is a travesty.
The possibility he does not consider is that Bright Light was penetrated by the Trinh Sat, or North Vietnamese intelligence organization.
John Plaster makes a credible case that SOG was penetrated from the very beginning. It would follow that Bright Light was also penetrated. Some sources place the penetration agent very high in the South Vietnamese government, but there is credible evidence that the real source was an American (or perhaps Americans) with access to sensitive information.
We may never know, and Captain Veith does the reader a disservice by not considering the possibility.
Rock
Rating:
Summary: A tremendous work on U.S. POW rescue and recovery.......
Review: Code Name Bright Light is a fascinating and highly revealing look into rescue operations in Vietnam performed under the auspices of the Joint Personnel Recovery Center (JPRC) during the longest war ever fought by the United States.
In a six year period, more than 125 rescue operations would be launched to recover U.S. prisoners of war. Attempts to retrieve U.S. servicemen would also be tried by ransoms and prisoner exchanges. The latter methods were minimally successful at best due to the dismal cooperation from the North Vietnamese government and their unwillingness to recognize humanitarian overtures. The actual rescue attempts themselves were outstanding examples of bravery, courage, and audacity in the most harrowing of situation but were also mired in endless problems.
Rescue teams would suffer the indignity of inter-service rivalries and competition, mediocre intelligence information, numerous bureaucratic breakdowns, compromised missions, and bad luck in many cases. Much of this would lead to slow response times to initiate raids on POW compounds which in turn produced many near misses when trying to extricate POW's. On countless occasions, rescue personnel would assault POW camps only to find that prisoners and camp cadre had relocated to new areas only hours before. Although some missions conducted were successful, they would also be bittersweet at the same time. The JPRC teams, during their tenure in Vietnam, were able to rescue hundreds of South Vietnamese POW's but were unsuccessful in ever freeing any living Americans held in confinement.
Leaving no stone unturned, geographically speaking, George J. Veith covers the entire spectrum of Vietnam regarding rescue efforts with serious emphasis placed on Laos which has always been, and continues to be today, highly controversial concerning Americans that are missing in action in that country. In addition, Code Name Bright Light uncovers further high profile operations and rescue missions such as the Son Tay POW camp raid, Operation Thunderhead, the Bat-21 incident, and the notorious Lima Site 85 in Laos. George J. Veith has composed a meticulous and brilliant narrative in Code Name Bright Light which probably deserves recognition for being one of the finest books ever written about the Vietnam war. For those interested in this subject matter, this book is immensely satisfying and comes highly recommended.
Rating: 
Summary: At Last, A Bright Spotlight on U.S. POW Recovery Efforts
Review: Ethicists have debated since time immemorial the question: how many lives is one life worth? Rather than a simple mathematical problem (1=1), this is the question which dogged the men tasked with rescuing U.S. prisoners of war during the Vietnam conflict. There has been the nasty suspicion lingering for years that the U.S. government decided that the math didn't quite work out and so left our POWs in Southeast Asia to meet their fates alone. Congressional hearings have been held, various recovery missions have been launched, and a cottage industry in conspiracy theory has sprung up in the decades since Operation Homecoming in 1973. George Veith blows the lid off much of the secrecy surrounding U.S. efforts to recover POWs in Vietnam and thus evaporates much of the conspiracy theories with "Codename: Bright Light." Despite assertions to the contrary, U.S. special forces made substantial and repeated efforts to free POWs during the war. The main obstacles to repatriation were: the constant relocation of prisoners, the intransigence of the North Vietnamese and their American supporters, the failure of intelligence on POW matters, bureaucratic snafus, and the extremely difficult terrain and climate which made escape a dicey proposition at best. As a result, the Bright Light operation failed to rescue a single American POW during its entire course. Despite these failures, the men supporting Bright Light gave their all to bring our men home and had a substantive impact upon repatriation. Yet most of the surviving members of these teams believe to this day that men were left behind---specifically, those captured in Laos, none of whom returned at Homecoming. Veith has done a great service in writing this book, which likely will earn him derision in conspiracy circles. Despite the demonization of the military brass, Veith portrays the men of Bright Light and their superiors as doing their best to pull men out of the maw of hell despite wrestling constantly with the fundamental question: how many men is one man's life worth?
Rating:
Summary: At Last, A Bright Spotlight on U.S. POW Recovery Efforts
Review: Ethicists have debated since time immemorial the question: how many lives is one life worth? Rather than a simple mathematical problem (1=1), this is the question which dogged the men tasked with rescuing U.S. prisoners of war during the Vietnam conflict. There has been the nasty suspicion lingering for years that the U.S. government decided that the math didn't quite work out and so left our POWs in Southeast Asia to meet their fates alone. Congressional hearings have been held, various recovery missions have been launched, and a cottage industry in conspiracy theory has sprung up in the decades since Operation Homecoming in 1973. George Veith blows the lid off much of the secrecy surrounding U.S. efforts to recover POWs in Vietnam and thus evaporates much of the conspiracy theories with "Codename: Bright Light." Despite assertions to the contrary, U.S. special forces made substantial and repeated efforts to free POWs during the war. The main obstacles to repatriation were: the constant relocation of prisoners, the intransigence of the North Vietnamese and their American supporters, the failure of intelligence on POW matters, bureaucratic snafus, and the extremely difficult terrain and climate which made escape a dicey proposition at best. As a result, the Bright Light operation failed to rescue a single American POW during its entire course. Despite these failures, the men supporting Bright Light gave their all to bring our men home and had a substantive impact upon repatriation. Yet most of the surviving members of these teams believe to this day that men were left behind---specifically, those captured in Laos, none of whom returned at Homecoming. Veith has done a great service in writing this book, which likely will earn him derision in conspiracy circles. Despite the demonization of the military brass, Veith portrays the men of Bright Light and their superiors as doing their best to pull men out of the maw of hell despite wrestling constantly with the fundamental question: how many men is one man's life worth?
Rating: 
Summary: Where Was the Editor?
Review: I am not diminishing the subject nor the author's research, but this book is crying for an editor! The topics are thrown throughout the chapters. There is no continunity, no definition of the mission, nor logical progression of the operation. Reading this book is a task.
Rating:
Summary: Good research, dull writing
Review: If you don't know much about how American efforts regarding POWs were handled in Vietnam, you'll sure know a lot after reading this book. The most dramatic takeaway from this book is the level of bureacracy that kept more lives from being saved. Excellent research, but many times the writing was weak. Frequently, instead of a carefully drawn out tale of a particular POW episode, the author would right away "reveal the punchline." Before even reading the next few pages, then, you knew the outcome, which kind of ruined it. But very well researched.
Rating:
Summary: Detailed research by an author dedicated to the issue.
Review: Jay Veith, while working outside the bureaucratic infrastructure said to be "dedicated" to the PW-MIA issue, has made a major contribution to the families of those missing by compiling this study of wartime efforts to recover our men in captivity. His dedication in making the facts available to the public continues today, and serves as an excellent example to our civil servants, who could do more were they of a mind to do so.
Rating:
Summary: very well researched
Review: Magnificant book, great reference for POW-MIA issue during the Vietnam War. Me and my friends at OPERATION JUST CAUSE, POW-MIA FORUM, NATIONAL ALLIANCE OF FAMILIES, and POWNET love this book and helps for future refernece.
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