The gripping and remarkable true story of author Ralph White's desperate effort to save 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, Ralph White was asked by his boss to transfer from the Bangkok branch of the Chase Manhattan 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 and 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. The senior staff members there urged him to evacuate the entire staff of the branch and their families, which was far more than he was authorized to do. Quickly he 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 the remarkable story of a city on the eve of destruction and the colorful characters who respond differently to impending doom. It's about one man's quest to save innocent lives not because it was ordered but because it was the right thing to do.
Ralph White came to America in the early 1970s while the Vietnam War was still raging. On his Christmas break while teaching courses in Chicago he drove Route 66 to Los Angeles. In the desert of New Mexico he had his first spiritually transcendent experience. He says, “I felt like my mind expanded in consort with the scope of the landscape: seeing the vast stars above, the silence, and just the scale of the landscape.” All this was accompanied by the soundtrack of George Harrison playing My Sweet Lord. “I was having these profound experiences and if they were real then nothing could be more important...I made the decision to follow my heart and investigate.” And his heart took him to Canada, later driving from Vancouver through Central America, ending up in Peru and Ecuador. He received his “life assignment” in Machu Picchu and that was an insight about the need to create a more holistic and ecological world and culture and society. He started the Open Center in New York to do just that. Later, he had many other exciting and enlightening travel experiences including an undercover trek into Tibet and being in Russia during Glasnost. He also shares with us the importance of the teachings of Rudolph Steiner. (hosted by Justine Willis Toms)
