Getting Out of Saigon: How a 27-Year-Old Banker Saved 113 Vietnamese Civilians

Mark Bramhall narrates White’s debut memoir, describing his harrowing experience as a 27-year-old bank executive ordered to close the Chase Manhattan Branch in Vietnam just before the fall of Saigon. White is shocked and overwhelmed when he realizes the enormity of his assignment, which requires him to evacuate the bank employees and get their families to safety. Once he decides to make things happen, he taps into his personal resources and creativity to get the job done. Bramhall’s performance starts in a stilted manner as the emotionally uninvested White assesses the dire situation at hand, then becomes smoother and more dynamic as White gets to know the people he is rescuing. Bramhall shows White’s savviness as he deals with local politicians and makes the right second-level contacts so that all the puzzle pieces fall into place. Bramhall gives slight regional accents or vocal nuances to many of the people quoted in the book, making them distinctive from the author’s narrative voice. White’s affection and sense of responsibility for the people he rescues grow immeasurably as he meets more Chase employees during this two-week ordeal.