One day too long
Subtitle: top secret site 85 and the bombing of North Vietnam
By: Timothy N. Castle.
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Published: 1999
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 371
Subjects: United States. Central Intelligence Agency.; Vietnamese Conflict, 1961-1975 -- Laos.; Vietnamese Conflict, 1961-1975 -- Secret service -- United States.; Vietnamese Conflict, 1961-1975 -- Aerial operations, American.
Description: "One Legacy of the Vietnam War is a painful lesson in how not to wage war. The incident at the heart of One Day Too Long reveals in microcosm what went wrong in Vietnam, from the highest policy-making levels down the chain of command to what actually transpired on the field.".

"On March 10, 1968, at the height of the war, eleven U.S. servicemen disappeared from a top secret radar base in Laos, their loss never fully explained by the American government. What happened that fateful night, and why were American airmen stationed at "Lima Site 85"?".

"Because of the covert nature of the mission at Lima Site 85 - providing bombing instructions to U.S. Air Force tactical aircraft from the "safe harbor" of a nation that was supposedly neutral - the wives of the eleven servicemen were warned never to discuss the truth about their husbands' assignment. But one, Ann Holland, refused to remain silent.

Timothy Castle draws on her personal records and recollections and upon a wealth of interviews with surviving servicemen and recently declassified information to tell the full story.".

"Castle reveals how the program, code-named "Heavy Green," was conceived and approved at the highest levels of the U.S. government. He describes the selection of the men and the construction and operation of the radar facility on a mile-high cliff in neutral Laos, even as the North Vietnamese Army began encircling the mountain.

He chronicles the Communist air attack on Site 85, the only such aerial bombing of the entire Vietnam War, and further details the successful ground assault and current U.S. and Vietnamese efforts to explain away the missing men.".

"A saga of courage subterfuge, and intrigue, One Day Too Long reveals a shocking betrayal of trust: for thirty years the U.S. government has sought to hide the facts and now seeks to acquiesce to ever-changing Vietnamese explanations for the disappearance of eleven good men."--BOOK JACKET.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 333-339) and index.