An enormous crime

the long version

The dramatic history of living American soldiers left in Vietnam, and the first full account of the circumstances that left them there. Based on thousands of pages of public and previously classified documents, this book makes a convincing case that when the American government withdrew its forces from Vietnam, it knowingly abandoned hundreds of POWs to their fate. The product of 25 years of research, it exposes the reasons why these American soldiers and airmen were held back by the North Vietnamese at Operation Homecoming in 1973 and what these men have endured since. This is a history of America's leaders in their worst hour; of life-and-death decision making based on politics, not intelligence; and of men lost to their families and the country they serve, betrayed by their own leaders.--From publisher description.