Tiger Cage: An Untold Story
Editorial Reviews
William W. Hanna, Professor English/Communication, and Director of College Publications, West Liberty State College, West Liberty, West Virginia; and movie critic. News-Register, February 23, 1998.
New Book Shatters 30 Years Of Myth. It's true, most people would just as soon forget all about the war in Vietnam. But history won't go away, and controversy continues to swirl. Countless accounts have been written about the conflict and myriad films have been made.
But people shouldn't believe everything they read, and that's exactly the point behind Tiger Cage--An Untold Story, a shockingly revealing new book about how the press was manipulated into misleading the American public about the treatment of prisoners in Vietnam.
Howard Cosell used to pride himself on "telling it like it is," and that's exactly what Don and Shirley Bordenkircher have done in Tiger Cage. Bordenkircher, who has served as a warden at three maximum-security prisons, was stationed in Vietnam from 1967 to 1972. During that time he held the position of Senior Advisor to the South Vietnamese Director of Corrections, and in this capacity he observed firsthand what went on at the 41 correctional centers, and especially at the prison on Con Son Island.
In 1970, a group including a freelance journalist and a Congressional aide (now U.S. Senator Tom Harkin), visited Con Son Island with the express purpose of seeing the notorious Tiger Cages. The word was that these were practically primitive cells for housing prisoners. The stories to the press emanating from this visit presented a terribly distorted view of the correctional facilities in Vietnam.
As Bordenkircher writes in his introduction, "The Tiger Cage story put out in 1970 stands as one of the most successful operations ever undertaken by Hanoi's Department of Psychological Warfare."
At the prodding of his wife, who wrote and edited the book, Bordenkircher finally decided to break his long silence in the matter to tell the story he believes needs to be told. The result is a painstakingly researched account of what conditions at Con Son Island were really like in 1970.
The book begins with Bordenkircher's arrival in Vietnam and proceeds to chronicle the events leading up to and including the infamous Tiger Cage incident. Bordenkircher literally takes the reader along with him as he tours the various correctional facilities and maps out strategies for improving them. And he doesn't paint a pretty picture.
For example, the following is the way he describes some of the physical facilities: "There were numerous features of the physical plants which were in dire need of improvement. But the kitchens were, without a doubt, in the greatest need. While two or three of the kitchens were clean, well lighted, and ventilated, the remainder were dirty, dark, and usually in a bad state of repair. Each boasted a horrendous fly population. It was commonplace, nearly mandatory, to put a handkerchief over your nose and mouth to assure you wouldn't inhale flies."
Bordenkircher pulls no punches as he recounts the successes and failures of his mission in Vietnam. He includes you in his fascinating tour of duty, and when you finally learn the truth behind the Tiger Cage incident, you'll be as shocked, appalled, and enraged as Bordenkircher himself.
Tiger Cage is not a book for the faint of heart because the Bordenkirchers spare no detail in describing certain prison conditions and various punishments inflicted on prisoners. Reading parts of this book often is tantamount to watching a particularly bloody boxing match in that we are at once horrified and mesmerized.
Another thing Bordenkircher has done is supplement the narrative with a copious supply of photographs. Although he succeeds quite well in describing various places throughout the book, the photographs provide a nice complement to the text by giving the reader a visual perception of the war's atmosphere. The book also features a number of appendices containing informative diagrams and the complete text of important documents.
Tiger Cage may not be what those who used the incident to their own advantage want to see in print. But it's a story the American people should know, and Bordenkircher is to be commended for telling it.
Book Description
As an immediate response, to a threat from Hanoi and the Viet Cong concerning the well-being of American POW's, the United States put into place men and means to help the plight of Americans held by the enemy. TIGER CAGE is the story of that effort, the Americans who did it, the Americans who fouled it, and the lie that lives on as the truth.
Tiger Cage: An Untold Story
Tiger Cage: An Untold Story,D. E. Bordenkircher,S. A. Bordenkircher,Abbey Publishing,0966177142,General,Military,Politics - Current Events,Ethics,Government,History,History - Military / War,Media,Phoenix,Prisoners,Prisoners of war,Prisons,Sociology,U.S. Government,Vietnam,Vietnam War, 1961-1975,Vietnamese Conflict, 1961-1975
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