Saigon fell on April 30, 51 years ago from tomorrow. Saigon was once called the Paris of the Orient on the eve of its cataclysmic destruction. This is a captivating true story of author Ralph White’s successful effort to save nearly the entire staff of the Saigon branch of Chase Manhattan Bank and their families before the city fell to the North Vietnamese Army.
In April 1975, White was asked by his boss to transfer from the Bangkok branch of the bank to the Saigon branch. He was tasked with closing the branch, if and when, it appeared that Saigon would fall to the North Vietnamese Army to ensure the safety of the senior Vietnamese employees. But when he arrived, he realized the situation in Saigon was far more perilous than he had imagined. Senior staff members there urged him to evacuate the entire staff and their families, which was more than he was authorized to do. He quickly realized that no one would be safe when the city fell, and it was no longer a question of whether to evacuate, but how. “Getting Out of Saigon” is an edge-of-your-seat story of a city on the eve of its destruction and the colorful characters who responded differently to impending doom. It’s a remarkable account of one man’s question to save innocent lives.
During Ralph White’s career in corporate finance spanned the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s when he worked for Chase Manhattan Bank and later for American Express and Sumitomo Bank. His assignments included Vietnam, Thailand, Hong Kong, Japan and New York. He is a graduate of Columbia University’s School of Business Administration. After 9/11, Ralph traded his corporate finance career for public service and writing. He founded and served for 10 years as the president of the Columbia Fiction Foundry, a writing workshop for alumni of Columbia University.