Winner: American Society of Journalists and Authors Outstanding Book Award, General Nonfiction, 2006. Here, culled from extensive interviews and research, is the achingly dramatic story of the end of the Vietnam War as told from both sides of the conflict. Included are never-before-revealed accounts from people of every level involved in the war: NVA and Viet Cong soldiers, U. S. embassy personnel, guerilla commanders, civilians, generals, double agents— and leaders from both sides including former president Gerald Ford and North Vietnamese military commander General Tran Van Tra. From the first hints of the final offensive from the north, to the gut-wrenching hours before the fall of Saigon when a brave pilot defied his orders to return to base and rescued the last five Marines from the rooftop of the U. S. embassy, Goodnight Saigon is an unforgettable narrative of war, and those who live with its aftermath.