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From: Andi Wolos & Bob Necci

(POW-MIA InterNetwork)

Re: Book Reviews: Tiger Cage

Date: June 13, 2001

"Tiger Cage: An Untold Story
by S. A. Bordenkircher (Editor), Donald E. Bordenkircher

Paperback - (March 15, 1998) 244 pages

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.

From the Publisher
This is a story so unusual and so full of emotion that even though the setting is Vietnam (a place currently out of vogue in book publishing) it grabs you. We had to publish it. It's not about Vietnam, really, it only happens there. Readers will be surprised.

From the Author
TIGER CAGE has been a grueling exercise getting into print. Although it isn't the kind of writing I generally do, the subject and the experience were so profound I just couldn't rest until it was written. It's one of those stories that just must be told. And writing it for and with my husband was an experience I would think twice about duplicating. He envisioned one thing, I another. The tugs were difficult for us, but in the end I expect the book is a good deal better than it would have been without the collaboration. In any event, I sincerely hope so! There won't be another collaboration any time soon.

From the Back Cover

"Don Bordenkircher serves history and brings peace to himself by telling what the Tiger Cages were, how they got their name, and how they were unfairly exploited to the advantage of the anti-war movement. It is good reading. It is most readable. It needs to be told." Michael G. McCann, Chief, Office of Public Safety, Vietnam, Retired. "There's only one thing wrong with this book. After you've read it you're so damn mad." Judge George Spillers, Retired; Professor Criminal Justice.

Con Son Island, a penal colony in the South China Sea, is where a young congressional aide (now U. S. Senator Thomas Harkin) purported to discover the tiger cages. The resultant expose on South Vietnam's civilian prisons caught the attention of the international press, elevating the aide to expert status and the cages to infamy.

There is, however, an authentic expert on South Vietnam's civilian prisons & the tiger cages, who has, since that incident, stood silent. He is the man who was there-for five years as the Senior U. S. Advisor to the South Vietnamese Director of Corrections. His story is historically relevant. Whether or not it is ideologically relevant is a judgment readers must make for themselves.

The Bordenkirchers have simplified the bureaucratic hierarchies of Vietnam, mapped out CIA & Phoenix involvement, defined Corrections & Detention, ICEX, & the Office of Public Safety; the mission of each; and infused the whole with humor and style.

Bordenkircher is currently Chair and Associate Professor of Criminal Justice at West Liberty State College in West Virginia. He has served as Warden at three maximum security prisons, as a County Sheriff, and as a police chief. He is a court certified expert, and he and his wife, Shirley, this books lead author, collaborate on select private investigations. She continues to work independently on other literary projects.

The publisher, Ann Young , May 13, 1998
"It's unlike any story you've ever read before."
"There's only one thing wrong with this book," another reader says. "After you've read it, you're so damn mad."

Our feedback on this title is diverse. Seems each reader comes away with a strong emotional response and each finds a different message or meaning -- probably from their own experiences in life. But this is exciting to us as publishers. When one book can speak to a wide variety of readers and leave each with a totally different perspective--the book has not only something to say, it says it well. If your interests are with criminal justice, psychology, Vietnam, journalism, political science, prisons, or if you just like to read something a little different--this book is for you. New perspectives are food for thought!

Excerpted from Tiger Cage: An Untold Story by Shirley A. Bordenkircher and Donald E. Bordenkircher. Copyright © 1998. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved

From Chapter 1 -- Dawn in Saigon is extraordinary. There is no wild and crazy traffic. No motorbikes and trucks choking the roadways. The streets have been cleaned. Street vendors aren't yet clogging the roadside. The corrugated doors of shops and restaurants are closed and quiet. The pungent aroma of cooking food is not yet consumed by the odorous vapors of gasoline and truck exhaust. And the tree-lined boulevards are pictures of southern serenity.

Indeed, morning was the time to savor the elegance of this historic and ancient city -- very beautiful, despite the ravages of war. Morning in Saigon was before reality.

I was assigned the job of Senior Advisor to the Directorate of Corrections (DOC), and counterpart to the South Vietnamese Director, Le Quang Mai. One morning, when I arrived at work, Mai was waiting for me with sweaty palms and a solemn face. His extended family of eleven lived in the countryside near Hue he said, and asked for my help to rescue them. He missed his parents, and his six daughters needed their grandparents. He wanted everyone safely in Saigon.

Mai said he had no idea how we would accomplish this feat, but assured me he would not return without them. They meant a lot to him and with or without my help, it was something he must do.

Smuggling nationals from one province to another wasn't my specialty, but I said I'd do what I could. An apocalypse of roadblocks, check points, sniper fire and contested travel documents swirled through my brain.

In the first weeks of May, 1968, in the company of Director Mai and Mr. Gi, my Administrative Assistant/Interpreter, I had surveyed five of the six provincial civilian prisons in I Corp. Our last stop was to be a prison in Thua Thien Province, where the city of Hue had been under siege since the Tet Offensive. We left within the hour. "