Escape with honor

Francis Terry McNamara was U.S. consul general in the provincial capital of Can Tho, the man in charge of American interests in the Mekong Delta. Arriving for his third Vietnam tour in 1974, he had no idea he might become one of the Americans who would have to "turn out the lights" as South Vietnam fell. When the U.S. Embassy gave the evacuation order in April 1975, he was determined to keep some of the promises his country had made. With his dedicated consulate staff and Marine guards, McNamara organized a complicated and dangerous riverine evacuation of hundreds of Filipino and Vietnamese…