Why Didn't You Get Me Out?: A POW's Nightmare in Vietnam

 Author's Summary

Frank anton went to Vietnam in 1967 to serve the country he loved. Now, more than thirty years later, he tells the story of how his own government failed him...

For give hellish years, American soldier Frank Anton was held as a POW in Vietnam. Subject to disease, starvation, and physical and psychological torture, Anton and his fellow prisoners held out hope that the U.S. government would find and rescue them.

When he was finally freed in 1973, Anton returned to the United States bruised and battered. And the most devastating blow of all had yet to even be struck. Upon his release, Anton and debriefed by the government and saw both aerial photographs of the prison camps where he was held and a close-us picture of himself walking the grueling Ho Chi Minh Trail. The government had known all along where and when Anton and his fellow soldiers were being held--and made no attempt to rescue them.

Now, in this harrowing first-person account and shocking expose, Frank Anton recounts his years as a POW and the aftermath--devoting his life to understanding why and how his own government left him and others to suffer and possibly die in the Vietnamese prison camps. And the answers he's uncovered will forever astound and disturb you.

MWSA Review

I first meet Frank Anton when he and I were in Florida in 2002.  We had just landed our Huey helicopter and he came out on the airfield to talk to us.  That conversation got me really interested in learning more about his man.  He handed me a signed copy of his paperback book, “Why Didn’t You Get Me Out?"  I devoured it, much like a starving man might over indulge on his first meal after a long fast.  The book hooks your interest from the very beginning.  You are pulled into the real life story of a survivor.

He spent five brutal years at the hands of NVA and the VC.  He lived in conditions that others would never survive in.  He was staved, tortured and held captive while holding out hope that his government would come and get him out of there.

His first person accounts of what happened inside his POW camp and the betrayal by a fellow American solider will keep you on the edge of your seat.  This is not a fairly tale told by some Hollywood script writer for some Rambo character — this is the real McCoy American hero story.

You will find this to be one of the best accounts of being held captive to come out of the Vietnam War. Certainly this is a must read if you wish to have a fuller understanding of the total history of that period of our nations history.  It will make you question our own government non-actions and responses.  It may even have you asking the same question that Frank did, “Why Didn’t You Get Me Out?”

Reviewed by: Bill McDonald (2000)