The Eagle Weeps by Lieutenant colonel Keith Honaker offers stunning lessons from his deployment to Vietnam in February 1952. He arrived in Saigon as a member of the US Military MAAG Vietnam program. His experience illustrates the repeated failures of France to defeat the Viet Minh.
At the same time, Lieutenant colonel Honaker invited his family to join him in Saigon. Only a select few American officers brought their families to Vietnam. Shockingly his wife Wilma was abducted by Viet Minh agents during a trip to Hanoi. Only a French officer saved her from departing a safe zone around Hanoi. Can you imagine if Wilma had been taken prisoner or killed by the Viet Minh? Certainly shocking to read 65 years later.
During his deployment, France was seeking to remove American officers from the field. Lieutenant colonel Honaker and his fellow American officers in Saigon were not even informed of the French plans for the Dien Bien Phu until after the airlift began.
Likewise there are additional moments in the book that reveal a deep misunderstanding to the early American MAAG mission. As Lieutenant colonel Honaker describes in the opening chapters, his arrival in Vietnam was like landing in another world. His experiences are very foretelling to the next for next 23 years for America.
Surprisingly, as we would later learn, the Viet Minh were preparing a very strong defense of their country. A mature network of spies including those who served American military families as house servants greeted the Honaker family upon their arrival.
Above all, the most shocking revelation was the investigation of a US Army officer running guns to the Viet Minh. Likewise, Brigadier Francis G. Brink, Chief, United States Military Assistance Advisory Group, Indochina; died on June 24, 1952 as a result of the investigation. Brink, ordered back to Washington committed suicide in an office inside the Pentagon. Brink’s wife remained in Saigon until Lieutenant colonel Honaker could schedule her move back home. Yet he was also quick to understand the culture of bribery was actually apart of everyday life throughout Vietnam.
Similarly, many respected authors including Bernard Fall have written extensively regarding France’s long-coming defeat in Vietnam. Lieutenant colonel Honaker’s experiences with French officers clearly confirm Fall’s observations.
For example, the French army demanded American officers review their honor guard at each base Honaker and his fellow American officers visited. Reviewing French and Vietnamese colonial troops in formal dress uniforms for ceremonial purposes according to Lieutenant colonel Honaker and his fellow US officers found this an incredible waste of time.
In conclusion, The Eagle Weeps is a valuable addition to my Dien Bien Phu retrospective. Lieutenant colonel Honaker provides a powerful personal story. His insights clearly reveal why the French met defeat at Dien Bien Phu and ultimately were forced out of Indochina and also off the world stage.