Search for a missing friend at Khe Sanh
FOREWORD REVIEWS 2016 INDIES BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARD
"Michael Archer established himself as a worthy spokesman for Vietnam War veterans in 2004 with publication of his poignant combat memoir, A Patch of Ground: Khe Sanh Remembered. Now, Archer has delivered a powerful sequel in The Long Goodbye, a brutally honest and impassioned work of nonfiction that takes us even deeper inside America's faltering war in Vietnam in early 1968. The focal point of The Long Goodbye is Archer's best friend from high school, Lance Corporal Thomas Patrick Mahoney III, who survives his combat debut at Hue City, only to go missing under mysterious circumstances at Khe Sanh. The Long Goodbye builds to a climax in contemporary Vietnam, with Archer playing the role of relentless cold-case detective, driven by loyalty and devotion to unravel the mystery of Tommy Mahoney's disappearance, and to bring home his beloved friend. Many Americans would rather not remember the anguish of our lost crusade in Vietnam. In The Long Goodbye, Michael Archer reminds us why we should never forget." -GREGG JONES has been a foreign correspondent, investigative journalist and Pulitzer Prize finalist author. His critically acclaimed works of nonfiction include Last Stand at Khe Sanh and Honor in the Dust.
"Skillfully blending history and biography, Michael Archer tells a compelling story of the Vietnam conflict and its aftermath. His timely revisiting of the epic battle of Khe Sanh reminds us that for those who experience combat a war may never end."-- GEORGE HERRING, Alumni Professor of History Emeritus at the University of Kentucky, is a leading authority on U.S. foreign relations. His books include America’s Longest War and From Colony to Superpower.
"Marines don't leave their dead behind, goes the adage, and in The Long Goodbye Mike Archer demonstrates the truth of that statement and the double-edges of its meaning... Archer gifts us with the vivid, utterly compelling story of his stubborn devotion to a friend and of the grim reality of war and its long echoes into the lives of veterans. This is a book that will leave its grip on your heart. It deserves to stand with the classics not only of the Vietnam War but of all wars." —WAYNE KARLIN is an award-winning author and editor. His numerous works of fiction and nonfiction include Wandering Souls: Journeys With the Dead and the Living in Viet Nam. A Marine veteran of combat in Vietnam, Wayne teaches languages and literature at the College of Southern Maryland.
"Exhaustively researched... will bring tears to the eyes of the most hardened reader and fresh knowledge to the most well-read historian. It is a terrific book that deserves a wide readership." KENNETH J. CAMPBELL, Associate Professor Emeritus, Department of Political Science & International Relations, University of Delaware.
"