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Getting Out of Saigon Ralph White

Getting Out of Saigon By Ralph White

Getting Out of Saigon by Ralph White


$15.99
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Summary

Ralph White tells the remarkable story of how as a young banker in Saigon during the final weeks before the city fell to the North Vietnamese, he saved the entire staff of the Saigon branch of Chase Manhattan bank and their families, via a secret American-run network he discovered -- Argo meets The Fall of Saigon.

Getting Out of Saigon Summary

Getting Out of Saigon: How a 27-Year-Old Banker Saved 113 Vietnamese Civilians by Ralph White

A captivating (The Washington Post) true story of courage, resolve, and determination (Christian Science Monitor), author Ralph Whites successful effort to save nearly the entire staff of the Saigon branch of Chase Manhattan bank and their families before the city fell to the North Vietnamese Army.

In April 1975, Ralph White was asked by his boss to transfer from the Bangkok branch of the Chase Manhattan Bank to the Saigon Branch. He was tasked with closing the branch if and when it appeared that Saigon would fall to the North Vietnamese army and ensure the safety of the senior Vietnamese employees.

But when he arrived, he realized the situation in Saigon was far more perilous than he had imagined. The senior staff members there urged him to evacuate the entire staff of the branch and their families, which was far more than he was authorized to do. Quickly he realized that no one would be safe when the city fell, and it was no longer a question of whether to evacuate but how.

Getting Out of Saigon is an edge-of-your-seat (Oprah Daily) story of a city on the eve of destruction and the colorful characters who respond differently to impending doom. Its a remarkable account of one mans quest to save innocent lives not because he was ordered but because it was the right thing to do.

Getting Out of Saigon Reviews

"Captivating....Its hard not to admire [White] for his pluckiness in the face of bureaucratic indifference as well as his growth from a risk-taking adventurer into a humanitarian with genuine compassion for the Vietnamese whose lives depended on him." -- Mark Atwood Lawrence * The Washington Post *
[White's]well-documented, true story offers a gripping play-by-play about the choice to do whats right instead of whats authorized. * Christian Science Monitor *
"An edge-of-your-seat, too-insane-not-to-be-true story." * OprahDaily.com *
A must-read for those of us who were there, for those of us who watched the fall of Saigon on the six oclock news, for all those who lived through that dark period of American history, and for a younger generation who have seen the documentaries and read the books. Ralph Whites Getting Out of Saigon opens old wounds, but also heals. An amazing tour de force and a stunning human drama set against the cataclysm of a lost war. -- Nelson DeMille, bestselling novelist and former U.S. Army first lieutenant in the First Cavalry Division, Vietnam 1967-1968
"A unique, gripping story from the Vietnam War....White's persona seems like something out of a Terry Southern or Ian Fleming novelas does his writing. White tells his inspiring story with wit, panache, humility, and a captivating sense of time and place. A fantastic read." * Kirkus Reviews (starred review) *
"By turns harrowing, enchanting, and leavened with a humor as dark as Saigon's quayside alleys, Ralph White's Getting Out of Saigon belongs on your bookshelf between Graham Greene and Neil Sheehan. Like Greene, White is a mesmerizing tour guide whose tale of rescuing over 100 Vietnamese civilians from the besieged capital city is as poignant as it is eerily prescient. -- Bob Drury and Tom Clavin, coauthors of Last Men Out: The True Story of America's Heroic Final Hours in Vietnam
In the history of the Chase Manhattan Bank, one event stands out as clarifying thebanks responsibility to its employees. In 1975, Chase sent Ralph White to rescue its Vietnamese employees before the fall of Saigon. Only in retrospect do we now know how desperate those employees were, or how extraordinary were the obstacles White faced in rescuing them. -- Anthony Terracciano, former vice chairman of the Chase Manhattan Corporation

About Ralph White

In 1973, Ralph White joined the Chase Manhattan Bank and worked as a business development officer in Thailand and Hong Kong; during his tenure in Thailand, he was temporarily assigned to Vietnam to close the banks Saigon branch as the city fell. Upon return to Chases New York headquarters in 1981, he worked in the International Strategic Planning Division and was a Vice President when he left. White subsequently worked as a business development officer with three foreign banks and earned an MBA at Columbia University. In 2009, he founded the Columbia Fiction Foundry, a writing workshop for alumni of Columbia University. Having served as the organizations president for its first decade, White now serves as its Chairman. He lives in New York City and Litchfield, Connecticut.

Additional information

NGR9781982195182
9781982195182
1982195185
Getting Out of Saigon: How a 27-Year-Old Banker Saved 113 Vietnamese Civilians by Ralph White
New
Paperback
Simon & Schuster
2024-05-09
320
N/A
Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.
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