One legacy to the Vietnam War is a painful lesson in how not to wage war. The incident at the heart of One Day Too Long reveals in microcosm what went wrong in Vietnam, from the highest policy-making levels down the chain of command to what actually transpired on the field.

On March 10, 1968, at the height of the war, eleven U.S. servicemen disappeared from a top-secret radar base in Laos, their loss never fully explained by the American government. What happened that fateful night, and why were American airmen stationed at "Lima Site 85"? Now, thirty years later, One Day Too Long recounts the harrowing story -- of government cover-ups, military miscalculations, and crucial policy errors -- and offers some measure of closure on this decades old mystery.

Because of the covert nature of the mission at Lima Site 85 - providing bombing instructions to U.S. Air Force tactical aircraft from the "safe harbor" of a nation that was supposedly neutral - the wives of the eleven servicemen were warned in no uncertain terms never to discuss the truth about their husbands' assignment. But one, Ann Holland, refused to remains silent. Timothy Castle draws on her personal records and recollections and upon a wealth of interviews with surviving servicemen and recently declassified information to tell the full story.

The result is a tale worthy of Tom Clancy, told by a scholar with meticulous attention to historical accuracy. More than just an account of government deception, One Day Too Long is the story of the courageous men who agreed to put their lives in danger, performing a critical mission in which they could not be officially acknowledged. Castle reveals how the program, code-named "Heavy Green," was conceived and approved at the highest levels of the U.S. government. In spine-tingling detail, he describes the selection of the men and the construction and operation of the radar facility on a mile-high cliff in neutral Laos, even as the North Vietnamese Army began encircling the mountain. He chronicles the Communist air attack on Site 85, the only such aerial bombing of the entire Vietnam War, and further details the successful ground assault and current U.S. and Vietnamese efforts to explain away the missing men.

A saga of courage, subterfuge, and intrigue, One Day Too Long reveals a shocking betrayal of trust; for thirty years the U.S. government has sought to hide the facts and now seeks to acquiesce to perfidious Vietnamese explanations for the disappearance of eleven good men.

A riveting tale of heroism and patriotism, One Day Too Long tells the full story of a covert military operation in Laos that resulted in the largest ground combat loss of U.S. Air Force personnel during the Vietnam War.

"Timothy Castle's meticulous research has penetrated a veil of secrecy surrounding a fascinating, sad and disappointing story... The implications of this book transcend the experience of Site 85 and highlight the danger of those far removed from the scene making decisions that place people in harm's way. Castle illuminates the price of obsessive secrecy; in this case, a price paid in blood and sorrow by a small group of men and their families."

-- H. R. McMaster, author of Dereliction of Duty

"Castle has done a superb job of researching and writing about a time, place and unit that is little known and even less well understood... The magnificent manner in which these men respond is great reading, their ultimate fate a real tragedy. The actions of those in charge and the treatment of their families should be a subject for mandatory study in our professional military education system."

-- General Ronald R. Fogleman (Ret.). former Chief of Staff, U.S. Air Force

"A gripping story... Castle is able to put a human face on the war, tell a story of a real battle and place that battle in the context of military history, while at the same time illuminating the vexing POW issue."

-- Robert D. Schulzinger, University of Colorado at Boulder

Columbia University Press / New York

www.columbia.edu/cu/cup

Timothy N. Castle served two tours in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War, flying over Laos from Nakhon Phanom Air Force Base on thirty-eight combat support missions. Since 1990, he has traveled to Laos frequently as a researcher and senior Department of Defense POW/MIA investigator for Laos and as a consultant for NBC News. He is an associate professor of National Security Studies at Air University, teaching courses at the Air War and Command and Staff Colleges at Maxwell Air Force Base in Alabama. His is also the author of, At War in the Shadow of Vietnam (Columbia). He lives in Montgomery, Alabama

Cover design- Brady McNamara

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