49 years ago: Saigon falls to NVA - the Vietnam war is over

[n5wd]

Though skirmishes continued for a few days, by and large the Vietnam war ended 40 years ago today when North Vietnamese tanks occupied Saigon, now known as Ho Chi Minh City, the capital of the south, known then as the Republic of Viet Nam. The RVN ceased to exist that day.

By the end of the war, estimates are that over 2 million people, including over 50,000 American forces, had been killed during the war.

To absent comrades!

[gljjt]

Last service member out of Viet Nam, Sgt (at that time) Terry Bennington, USMC. Last Marine to board the last helicopter leaving the US Embassy in Saigon. I have a Time magazine from the 20th anniversary of that day with pictures, one of which is some very tired Marines exiting the helicopter onto the carrier deck. After forcibly moving the ambassador to a helicopter that then departed, the 11 remaining Marines on the roof barricaded the door against the mob below and waited for a ride, prepared to die there. They had their issued weapons and a bag of grenades. Only way out was helo. Terry Bennington retired years later as a Sergeant Major.

[philip964]

My Mom's dying wish was to see the wall in DC.

I had a deferment, then a high lottery number. I did not serve.

I remember starting college and seeing young men a few years older than me walking with canes.

Pro war people at the time used the domino theory as a reason to fight the war. The second domino never fell.

A friend vacationed there last week.

I remember Johnson's speech on the gulf of Tonkin incident. Apparently his speech was a lie to increase our forces in Vietnam.

Our military learned a lot from the war.

Not sure our leaders did.

Civil wars are bad things, stay away.

One thing I learned, you never go to war without a declaration of war. And if you do it is total war to win using everything you have. You should never have a kinda war.

[TNacp99]

If yoou have not see the movie documentary "Last Days in Vietnam", then you must. As a child of the war, I came to America in 1977. I had the blessing of living under Communism for a year before escaping. I call it a blessing because the oppression, injustice, and suppression of free thought that I experienced and witnessed are lessons that I always carry with me. The Communists were masters of propaganda. The NVA soldiers that were in Saigon truly BELIEVED that the South was being enslaved by America and that they were fighting to liberate us. All were shocked at seeing how much more prosperous and free the South was compated to the North.

I am grateful for every veteran who served in Vietnam. Thank you so much for your sacrifice is not enough, but it is from the depths of my heart. America is my country now. Thank you America. It was and IS the greatest nation on Earth. Period.

[stroo]

That was a dark day. Democrats in Congress refused to fund the South Vietnam armed forces. As a result they ran out of ammo, fuel and weapons, at which point North Vietnam overran them in a conventional attack. So many sacrificed so much and Congress just threw it away. Sort of like Obama threw away all the gains our boys paid for with their blood in Iraq. Dark day.

Thanks to all of those who served in Vietnam. You did not get the respect you earned and deserved.

[stroo]

This article is a pretty good short summary of the Vietnam war and the lies we were told by the media and Left. http://www.wsj.com/articles/saigons-fal ... 1430348832" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Redneck_Buddha]

The one thing we have learned from history, is that we don't learn from history.

[Abraham]

Yet, many in the U.S. think communism/socialism is THE way to go forward.

College students are taught this garbage by leftist professors. They are taught WE on the right are oppressors.

The students grow older without examining what they taught and wholeheartedly accept the drivel foisted upon them.

Those who've lived under the horror that is communism/socialism know fully well what a corrupt system it is.

TNacp99 knows the truth along with many others who escaped communism only to find it's evil seeds growing here...

[mcscanner]

On the day the war ended I was on a Destroyer Escort somewhere in the South China Sea maneuvering with the fleet task force. We had departed the coastal waters of Viet Nam several days before. On that day I went to the navigator's shack to get the current Lat./Long. and wrote it down.

I keep that information for years. At least 10, maybe 15 years, possible longer I don't really recall. During that time more information was made public about the war. I learned of the disparity between what I knew when I was there (Viet Nam) and what was happening here (US) during that time. I was not a happy camper. One day while going thru my personal papers I came across that Lat./Long. note. I destroyed it not wanting any reminder of that time or location. It felt good at the time, but now I have some regret I did not keep it. The memories are still with me today and I believe the destruction years ago would ease the pain. Silly me.

Don't think for a minute I would not volunteer again. That the service I was in and the persons I serviced with I still hold in highest regard. I serviced my country, received an education and had a template of meaning and structure overlaid on my life that was lacking as a person of 18 years that only the military can accomplish.

My issues were with L. Johnson and R. McNamara and their activities and decisions we lived with at the time. Obama is of the same cut of fabric as those two.

I love my country today as much as every, warts and all.

GOD bless America
Mike Crain

[The Annoyed Man]

My Mom's dying wish was to see the wall in DC.

I had a deferment, then a high lottery number. I did not serve.

I remember starting college and seeing young men a few years older than me walking with canes.

Pro war people at the time used the domino theory as a reason to fight the war. The second domino never fell.

A friend vacationed there last week.

I remember Johnson's speech on the gulf of Tonkin incident. Apparently his speech was a lie to increase our forces in Vietnam.

Our military learned a lot from the war.

Not sure our leaders did.

Civil wars are bad things, stay away.

One thing I learned, you never go to war without a declaration of war. And if you do it is total war to win using everything you have. You should never have a kinda war.

Like you, I had a high lottery number (339), did not get drafted, and did not enlist. I would like to visit the Black Wall some day, but I am also afraid that I would not be able to stand it. So many men dead from my generation. War memorials like that have always moved me profoundly, but with the Wall in particular, I even tear up when I see footage of it on TV. I know that I owe a debt of gratitude to those who gave that price, payable in part by visiting that memorial. Maybe some day.........

[oljames3]

My draft number was well over 300. Don't remember, exactly. After earning an Associate's Degree in Engineering, I enlisted in the Army's 1st Cavalry Division, combat arms unassigned. Served with the 2/19FA, 1CD 1973-1978. I saw the travelling Wall on Camp Mabry, in Austin, Texas. I had been recalled to active duty with the Texas Army National Guard, so I was in uniform. I found the section of names covering 73-75. Too many names of heroes who died in my place.

[Jumping Frog]

I had a deferment, then a high lottery number. I did not serve.

Like you, I had a high lottery number (339), did not get drafted, and did not enlist.

My draft lottery number was 017, pulled on March 20, 1974 for birth year 1955. However, they were no longer drafting at that time. By then, everyone knew we had stopped active combat in Viet Nam and I didn't see much point in enlisting to be one of the last people there.

If the draft was still active, I would have been called with a number like 017. If called, I would have gone.

[SkipB]

I joined the Army in 1960. It was one of the best moves of my life. I spent 10 1/2 years in and was medically retired in 1970. During my time in I served two tours in Vietnam. The first in '66 and '67. the second was later '68 to March '69. My 3rd Purple heart was on March 16, 1969. That one sent me to Brook Army Medical Center for 19 months. I very much enjoyed my time in and have no regrets at all. It also makes me feel good to see those from Vietnam that were able to make it over here after the war to live in a free country again. It makes me feel like what I served for and gave for was worth something. I hope I explained that right. One other thing, for those that were lucky enough to not get drafted and missed out on the war, not to fear you didn't miss anything. Several of my family were lucky in that way also. It is just the way it was.

[baldeagle]

My Mom's dying wish was to see the wall in DC.

I had a deferment, then a high lottery number. I did not serve.

I remember starting college and seeing young men a few years older than me walking with canes.

Pro war people at the time used the domino theory as a reason to fight the war. The second domino never fell.

Not true. Both Cambodia and Laos fell to communism.

Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines, Indonesia all had to put down communist uprisings. The Philippines are STILL dealing with communist "revolutionaries" today, 70 years later

A friend vacationed there last week.

I remember Johnson's speech on the gulf of Tonkin incident. Apparently his speech was a lie to increase our forces in Vietnam.

Not true. Both incidents occurred, and the North Vietnamese admitted the first one after the war (by boasting about the attack in their war museum.)

Our military learned a lot from the war.

Not sure our leaders did.

Nope. Our leaders haven't learned a thing. They're still micromanaging wars, despite the abundant evidence from Vietnam that doing so is the height of stupidity. Johnson once boasted that the Air Force couldn't "bomb an outhouse without his permission". How ignorant is that? Leaders should declare wars (or not), but the professionals should fight them. Leaders should listen to the professionals and authorize (or not) the actions they request on a macro level, but they should never be involved in day to day military decisions. They don't know anything about strategy and tactics, logistics, or anything else a military leader knows.

We could have won the Vietnam War in two to three years, if the Administration had done what the military asked them to do - cut off the Ho Chi Minh trail. They never did, so the North could supply their troops in the South as much as they wanted to, creating an endless war, and the South and her allies were forced to defend a 1500 mile western border that was mountainous jungle, which was what they wanted. Our leaders were too cowardly to go into Laos and cut off the trail, because they were worried about international opinion.

The right thing to do in Vietnam was to send US troops just south of the militarized zone, from the South China Sea to eastern Laos, set up major bases and smaller FOBs in a defense line and force the North to either fight or give up while preventing them from invading the South. Let the South Vietnamese military mop up the communists that remained in the south and then build their economy while our troops prevented the North from invading.

Civil wars are bad things, stay away.

One thing I learned, you never go to war without a declaration of war. And if you do it is total war to win using everything you have. You should never have a kinda war.

Absolutely true, but the cowards in Congress will never declare war again. They don't want to be held responsible for the results.

[baldeagle]

Like you, I had a high lottery number (339), did not get drafted, and did not enlist. I would like to visit the Black Wall some day, but I am also afraid that I would not be able to stand it. So many men dead from my generation. War memorials like that have always moved me profoundly, but with the Wall in particular, I even tear up when I see footage of it on TV. I know that I owe a debt of gratitude to those who gave that price, payable in part by visiting that memorial. Maybe some day.........

You should go. I did. It was extremely hard and very emotional, but it was also healing.