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They Are All My Family: A Daring Rescue in the Chaos of Saigon's Fall
In the chaotic final days of the Vietnam War in April 1975, as Americans fled and their Vietnamese allies and employees prepared for the worst, John Riordan, a young banker, the assistant manager of Citibank's Saigon branch succeeded in rescuing 106 Vietnamese. They were his 33 Vietnamese staff members and their families. Unable to secure exit papers for the employees, Citibank ordered Riordan to leave the country alone. Safe in Hong Kong, Riordan could not imagine leaving behind his employees and defied instructions from his superiors not to return to Saigon. But once he did make it back on the last commercial flight, his actions were daring and ingenious.
In They Are All My Family, Riordan recounts in a vivid narrative how the escape was organized and carried out. He assembled all 106 of the Vietnamese into his villa and a neighboring one telling them to keep their locations secret. A CIA contact told him that only dependents of Americans were allowed to escape on U.S. military cargo planes. Riordan repeatedly went to the processing area and claimed groups of the Vietnamese as his relatives—his wife and children—somehow managing to get through the bureaucratic shambles. Eventually he went back and forth to the airport 15 times. Filling out papers in groups, using false documents and even resorting to a bribe, he succeeded in rescuing the group. For the last round, the group drove the bank van to the airport pretending they had bundles of money to transport. Miraculously, all these gambits worked and the Citibank group made it to Guam and the Philippines, eventually reuniting at Camp Pendleton in California. All the while, Riordan assumed he had been fired for ignoring orders but once the mission was completed, his extraordinary commitment and resourcefulness won him widespread praise from senior officials. Citibank spent a million dollars to resettle the Vietnamese, offering jobs to some of the staff and their spouses.
Decades later, Riordan has located the Vietnamese and reconnected with them, sharing accounts of those frantic days and the derring-do it took to get them out to safety. John Riordan is now a farmer in Wisconsin. His story of those fateful days decades ago and their aftermath provides a compelling insight to the courage of individuals when all seemed lost. For all the tragedy of the Vietnam War, this saga is an uplifting counterpoint and a compelling piece of micro-history.
In They Are All My Family, Riordan recounts in a vivid narrative how the escape was organized and carried out. He assembled all 106 of the Vietnamese into his villa and a neighboring one telling them to keep their locations secret. A CIA contact told him that only dependents of Americans were allowed to escape on U.S. military cargo planes. Riordan repeatedly went to the processing area and claimed groups of the Vietnamese as his relatives—his wife and children—somehow managing to get through the bureaucratic shambles. Eventually he went back and forth to the airport 15 times. Filling out papers in groups, using false documents and even resorting to a bribe, he succeeded in rescuing the group. For the last round, the group drove the bank van to the airport pretending they had bundles of money to transport. Miraculously, all these gambits worked and the Citibank group made it to Guam and the Philippines, eventually reuniting at Camp Pendleton in California. All the while, Riordan assumed he had been fired for ignoring orders but once the mission was completed, his extraordinary commitment and resourcefulness won him widespread praise from senior officials. Citibank spent a million dollars to resettle the Vietnamese, offering jobs to some of the staff and their spouses.
Decades later, Riordan has located the Vietnamese and reconnected with them, sharing accounts of those frantic days and the derring-do it took to get them out to safety. John Riordan is now a farmer in Wisconsin. His story of those fateful days decades ago and their aftermath provides a compelling insight to the courage of individuals when all seemed lost. For all the tragedy of the Vietnam War, this saga is an uplifting counterpoint and a compelling piece of micro-history.
256 pages, Hardcover
First published April 7, 2015
6 people are currently reading
133 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
May 21, 2017
What an amazing story. The author of this book tells us the true story of how he helped over a hundred South Vietnamese escaped from their country in April 1975 when the Communist North Vietnamese militarily brought about the collapse of the South Vietnamese government. Again this is one incredible story and I am got to enjoy this story near the forty second anniversary of the fall of Saigon (the capital of South Vietnam).
The author John Riordan was one of the American managers in FSNB’s branch in South Vietnam. FSNB later became known as Citibank. While there were a few Americans in FSNB in Vietnam they did hire local Vietnamese nationals to work for them. As the Vietnam War came near to a close there was much uncertainty in the air about the future of the branch in Vietnam. Of course hind sight looking back the days were numbered but as the book pointed out most people in South Vietnam did not know the full grasp of what was going on given the government censorship. FSNB gave the orders for the Americans involved with the Vietnamese branch to leave because of the imminent danger but that would mean leaving behind the Vietnamese nationals. There is of course a big risk for those left behind as the Communists would not appreciate capitalistic bankers in their new order. While Riordan was temporarily waiting in Hong Kong the author decided to go back to Vietnam and helped bring his Vietnamese colleagues out of the country. But this was going against Riordan’s employer’s very own prohibition to him to not go back to Vietnam or else he and others like him would be on their own. As the author tells the story he is not one who is a maverick who breaks rules and protocol. But the author just could not abandon his fellow co-workers and friends behind. So he broke the rules and flew back to Vietnam to do the impossible: help save the Vietnamese employees of FSNB by coordinating the employees and their families out of the country. It is an incredible story filled with twists and turns. Somehow the author was able to assist over a hundred Vietnamese to flee.
I admire the author’s moral courage. This book was a good lesson that what is right is not always what is legal or according to what others have to say. I love how the author tells us he is not the kind of man to be brash or break rules. But here Riordan just couldn’t stomach the fact that people would be left behind and when he took off to go back to Vietnam he essentially made peace that it was worth losing his job and career over.
The book was very insightful of the last days in Saigon before the city fell to the communists. It also reveal how the American embassy and US government in Vietnam was so out of touch with reality. More outrageous to me is the fact that the American Embassy could have done more in the beginning to help coordinate an orderly evacuation; but the Ambassador in Vietnam was in denial.
A very very touching story. I admit I cried with this work. I’m a son of a Vietnamese War refugee and this work brought back memories of what my mom use to share about her family escape from the Communists. This work also made me sad. Sad to think of the betrayal by the United States to carry out her promise to her allies and supporters. Yet the work also left me very grateful. The end of the book feature letters and emails of those whom the author help fled from Saigon. It was touching to hear these people’s appreciation for what Riordan has risked and done to bring them out of the country. These Vietnamese sharing their appreciation for America also made me think of how grateful I am to be an American in the land of the free, home of the brave.
The author John Riordan was one of the American managers in FSNB’s branch in South Vietnam. FSNB later became known as Citibank. While there were a few Americans in FSNB in Vietnam they did hire local Vietnamese nationals to work for them. As the Vietnam War came near to a close there was much uncertainty in the air about the future of the branch in Vietnam. Of course hind sight looking back the days were numbered but as the book pointed out most people in South Vietnam did not know the full grasp of what was going on given the government censorship. FSNB gave the orders for the Americans involved with the Vietnamese branch to leave because of the imminent danger but that would mean leaving behind the Vietnamese nationals. There is of course a big risk for those left behind as the Communists would not appreciate capitalistic bankers in their new order. While Riordan was temporarily waiting in Hong Kong the author decided to go back to Vietnam and helped bring his Vietnamese colleagues out of the country. But this was going against Riordan’s employer’s very own prohibition to him to not go back to Vietnam or else he and others like him would be on their own. As the author tells the story he is not one who is a maverick who breaks rules and protocol. But the author just could not abandon his fellow co-workers and friends behind. So he broke the rules and flew back to Vietnam to do the impossible: help save the Vietnamese employees of FSNB by coordinating the employees and their families out of the country. It is an incredible story filled with twists and turns. Somehow the author was able to assist over a hundred Vietnamese to flee.
I admire the author’s moral courage. This book was a good lesson that what is right is not always what is legal or according to what others have to say. I love how the author tells us he is not the kind of man to be brash or break rules. But here Riordan just couldn’t stomach the fact that people would be left behind and when he took off to go back to Vietnam he essentially made peace that it was worth losing his job and career over.
The book was very insightful of the last days in Saigon before the city fell to the communists. It also reveal how the American embassy and US government in Vietnam was so out of touch with reality. More outrageous to me is the fact that the American Embassy could have done more in the beginning to help coordinate an orderly evacuation; but the Ambassador in Vietnam was in denial.
A very very touching story. I admit I cried with this work. I’m a son of a Vietnamese War refugee and this work brought back memories of what my mom use to share about her family escape from the Communists. This work also made me sad. Sad to think of the betrayal by the United States to carry out her promise to her allies and supporters. Yet the work also left me very grateful. The end of the book feature letters and emails of those whom the author help fled from Saigon. It was touching to hear these people’s appreciation for what Riordan has risked and done to bring them out of the country. These Vietnamese sharing their appreciation for America also made me think of how grateful I am to be an American in the land of the free, home of the brave.
February 7, 2017
This is a harrowing tale about the last days of the Vietnam War. John Riordan was one of 3 American employees at the FSNB (now Citibank) branch in Saigon. After the bank decided to evacuate all foreign employees Riordan’s sense of loyalty made him go back to help the Vietnamese employees and their families leave the country. Riordan writes very coolly about incredibly tense events. Riordan and all of the families had to worry about their evacuation plans being discovered by the collapsing South Vietnamese government who would see it as desertion, and also had to worry about being targeted by the advancing North Vietnamese. There was also a chance that their paperwork wouldn’t be accepted by the Americans in charge of evacuating people. There are a lot of interesting and historical details in the book about expat life in Saigon during the War, other foreign companies’ evacuation plans, mixed messages from the American embassy, and keeping the bank operating while everything is falling apart. The Epilogue gives updates on many of the people from the book, while also stressing the importance of protecting civilians in wartime.
December 1, 2018
Riordan tells an engaging story about the end of the battles in Vietnam Nam. What is unusual about the story is that Roirdan is the manager of an American bank operating in what was South Vietnam. He had been a soldier in the Vietnam war. After returning home, he gets a college degree and quickly ends up in bank management. He moves through the levels of work and, based on good college scores and a demonstration of management skills, he is sent to Vietnam to manage a US bank.
When it’s clear that the Northern soldiers will take over Saigon, he works in multiple ways to enable all of his staff to leave the country. His decision making and networking in Saigon were remarkable. We get an exciting ending to the story.
When it’s clear that the Northern soldiers will take over Saigon, he works in multiple ways to enable all of his staff to leave the country. His decision making and networking in Saigon were remarkable. We get an exciting ending to the story.
December 18, 2017
I enjoyed this account about the final days of our involvement in the Vietnam War. The memory of South Vietnamese people running to get on the last few planes and hanging off helicopters as we literally fled the battlefield is one that should shame us all. The author of this book stayed behind, risking his job and his life, to save his Vietnamese co-workers from certain punishment and possible death. He writes not as a hero, but as a human being that just couldn't leave friends behind.
Recommend.
Recommend.
October 12, 2019
I listened to the audio book and it's just okay. I have a hard time recommending this book.
I was expecting a war story book and this book is not that. Instead, this book is about a banker working for FCNB in Saigon, who has past military experience and in Vietnam during the U.S. Vietnam war, who returns to Saigon as it falls into the hands of the Communist North Vietnamese to get his fellow Vietnamese co-workers out of Saigon and Vietnam.
The good news is the book is short and can be summarized by that paragraph above.
I was expecting a war story book and this book is not that. Instead, this book is about a banker working for FCNB in Saigon, who has past military experience and in Vietnam during the U.S. Vietnam war, who returns to Saigon as it falls into the hands of the Communist North Vietnamese to get his fellow Vietnamese co-workers out of Saigon and Vietnam.
The good news is the book is short and can be summarized by that paragraph above.
September 3, 2018
Listed to this story about John Riordan’s efforts to get his employees and their families out of Saigon right before the North Vietnamese took control of this city. An amazing story about how one person can make a huge difference.
March 1, 2020
This book is a moving depiction of loyalty and its' rewards. Set during the fall of Saigon, John Riordan successfully wrote a story of compassion and loyalty. The characters are real, and the emptions raw.
This book was read for my book club, and everyone loved and was moved by it.
This book was read for my book club, and everyone loved and was moved by it.
May 23, 2017
True story of how John Riordan returned and helped get the Citibank (FBNY) indigenous employees out of the country before the fall of Saigon. Easy read.
March 12, 2019
Interesting story. Would like to know more about the Vietnamese people's lives before and after. Maybe one of them will write a sequel.
October 19, 2019
If you're at all interested in the evacuation and fall of Saigon, this is a must read. It's a quick easy read with light suspense. Don't expect something like Affleck's Argo.
November 10, 2023
Intriguing insight into a selfless person and the good intentions of a big company, CITI bank in trying to rescue employees from the fall of Saigon
October 3, 2016
Well written, compelling story. It felt like the author talked a lot without the benefit of moving the story along. It is definitely HIS story of how he helped the people escape Saigon, as there is not much shared about the Vietnamese who were the ones running.
I had to laugh when the thanks he wrote in the Afterword was almost longer than a full chapter! I guess if you're only going to write one book, you'd better cover every important person in your life.
One last issue that bothered me, just minor enough to bring the stars down to 3. The author repeated himself, multiple times. As in, the exact amounts of people who have been born from the original 106 who escaped, etc. It's not a big deal, but it shows either a lack of editing, or a man who is slightly more forgetful in his older years....which is understandable.
Overall, I'm glad I spent the time to read the book, I knew bits and pieces about Vietnam, and this filled in a bit of information.
I had to laugh when the thanks he wrote in the Afterword was almost longer than a full chapter! I guess if you're only going to write one book, you'd better cover every important person in your life.
One last issue that bothered me, just minor enough to bring the stars down to 3. The author repeated himself, multiple times. As in, the exact amounts of people who have been born from the original 106 who escaped, etc. It's not a big deal, but it shows either a lack of editing, or a man who is slightly more forgetful in his older years....which is understandable.
Overall, I'm glad I spent the time to read the book, I knew bits and pieces about Vietnam, and this filled in a bit of information.
December 13, 2016
This book was amazing. Normally I have issues when book timelines are disjointed, but the memories flowed well and the book feels like are sitting listening to Mr Riordan telling about the events like they happened yesterday. I liked that the book did not abruptly end when they got out of Vietnam, but gave you enough sense of the direction of the families so you felt the story had closure. I am too young to remember the Vietnam war, but I have heard much of the ugly that surrounded it and the hatred here at home for anyone involved in it. It was refreshing to hear a story where friendship was worth dying for and companies cared about employees set among the ugliness we normally read about this time.
April 1, 2015
A fascinating read about the dangerous extraction of over 100 Vietnamese natives out of Saigon days before its fall to the Communists. Being born only 2 years before this time, I didn't know about the trials these people had to go through for their freedom, from their own country even. A short but intriguing read, it went fast, mainly because I couldn't put it down. Not everyone sets out to become a hero when things just need to get done, but one is a hero when they don't give up as the impossible blocks your path. Just a short piece of history in a long battle, but well worth the read.
June 12, 2015
I had only read, heard, or seen very little of the fall of Saigon so I found this book very interesting. It is a very easy read and John Riordan really makes the book about the events of the fall of Saigon as it related to the Vietnamese employees at the First National City Bank of Saigon. I really liked that the book actually focused on the fall of Saigon and not John, meaning there was no ego involved.
I would definitely recommend this book to get a different perspective than just from a combat viewpoint.
I would definitely recommend this book to get a different perspective than just from a combat viewpoint.
October 11, 2016
Amazing story of John Riordan and his rescue of 105 Vietnamese and their families. John was a Citibank employee. When the fall of Saigon began to happen, he and his American co-workers were ordered to leave. Citibank attempted to get the native Vietnamese out as well, but everything they attempted failed. Riordan had been an officer in Vietnam for a covert special forces group, and used his contacts to get all of them out in spite of being forbidden by his superiors to do so because of the danger. All of the employees are eventually sponsored by Citibank to find new countries to relocate to.
November 27, 2016
Amazing story
.In the chaotic last days of final escape from Saigon , Riordan risked his life and career by returning after being ordered to get out. He felt obligated to do the "right thing" and attempt to rescue as many of Citibank's Vietnamese employees AND their families as he could. In total the list was 106 rescued and flown out to safety. Within a couple of days, the North invaded and bombed out the airport. The city was taken.
.In the chaotic last days of final escape from Saigon , Riordan risked his life and career by returning after being ordered to get out. He felt obligated to do the "right thing" and attempt to rescue as many of Citibank's Vietnamese employees AND their families as he could. In total the list was 106 rescued and flown out to safety. Within a couple of days, the North invaded and bombed out the airport. The city was taken.
January 9, 2017
Great first hand experience of the weeks before North Vietnam overran the South. Could have used more editing and definitely much improved if further researched; would have been nice to be filled in further, less on Riordan's personal war (and civil) experiences and more on the history of America pulling out of Vietnam (and more history of what was happening on the home front). fair read, great insight into personal lives.
July 10, 2024
Truly an amazing story about the lengths John Riordan went through to evacuate his colleagues and friends before the fall of Saigon. It was really interesting to read about what transpired the month leading up to the final days, which included many details you don’t get in news articles. But note there won’t be heavy political details about the war.
April 23, 2015
A great unknown story of one man's valiant and heroic effort to return to Saigon to rescue his banking work family and their loved ones and get them to a safe environment and how he dared great odds to do that and get them settled in the US.
January 3, 2016
Interesting read.
June 4, 2016
Recommended
Great book. One man trying to do the right thing against insurmountable odds.
Reads like a dime western! Great adventure
Great book. One man trying to do the right thing against insurmountable odds.
Reads like a dime western! Great adventure
December 29, 2016
This author is another friend of mine. John's story was on 60 Minutes. He is a hero, who saved so many people and risked his own life to do it. Another inspiring book to read.
March 31, 2017
Riordan chose to go back into Vietnam to bring out to safety all the native workers at Citibank's Saigon branch. What he does his efforts to save co-workers is breathtaking and remarkable.
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews