The Patriot Files Forums  

Go Back   The Patriot Files Forums > Conflict posts > Vietnam

Post New Thread  Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old 03-29-2017, 03:10 PM
Boats's Avatar
Boats Boats is offline
Senior Member
 

Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: Sauk Village, IL
Posts: 21,784
Thumbs up This Day in History: Last US Combat Troops Withdraw from Vietnam

This Day in History: Last US Combat Troops Withdraw from Vietnam
March 29, 2017 11:32 AM
RE: http://www.voanews.com/a/last-united...3/3786745.html

On this day 47 years ago, the last remaining American combat troops pulled out of Vietnam, ending direct U.S. military involvement in the war following the signing of a peace accord.

Two months earlier in Paris, representatives of the United States, North and South Vietnam, and the Vietcong signed the accord, designed to allow Americans to withdraw “honorably” from the war, which killed more than 58,000 Americans and deeply divided the country.

Anti-Vietnam war protesters march up Fifth Avenue in New York City on April 10, 1966.

Its key provisions included a cease-fire throughout Vietnam, the withdrawal of U.S. forces, the release of prisoners of war, and the reunification of North and South Vietnam through peaceful means. The South Vietnamese government was to remain in place until new elections were held, and North Vietnamese forces in the South were not to advance farther, nor be reinforced.

An exit strategy had been in place since 1969, President Richard Nixon’s famed “Vietnamization” policy, which he unveiled in a televised address to the nation.

​As the last American commander in Vietnam left, a force of 7,200 American civilians employed by the U.S. Department of Defense stayed behind to aid the South Vietnamese in their continuing battle with the Communist government in the North.

The war spanned three American presidencies, starting with President John F. Kennedy, who first sent military advisors to aid the South Vietnamese, through the administration of President Lyndon Johnson, when American troop casualties spiked and the war became increasingly unpopular under the direction of then Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara, all the way to the Nixon presidency.

Then-vice presidential nominee Gerald R. Ford (R) listens as President Richard Nixon, accompanied by Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, speaks in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, Oct. 13, 1973.

President Nixon was accused of — and repeatedly denied — sabotaging Johnson’s efforts to end the war in 1968. Just last year, notes from H.R. Haldeman, Nixon’s closest aide, revealed that the president in fact directed his campaign efforts to scuttle peace talks over fears it might grant his opponent, Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey, an edge in the 1968 election.

An American soldier reads a paperback book while waiting to leave Vietnam along with the last remaining U.S. military personnel in 1973.

In Vietnam, the peace deal quickly fell apart. Even before the last American troops departed on March 29, the communists violated the cease-fire, and by early 1974 full-scale war had resumed.

At the end of 1974, South Vietnamese authorities reported that 80,000 of their soldiers and civilians had been killed in fighting, making that year the war’s deadliest.

On April 30, 1975, the last few Americans still in South Vietnam were airlifted out of the country as Saigon fell to communist forces.

I sure was glad that shit was over. But as some of us know we weren't exactly greeted with - Thanks for your Service then.
__________________
Boats

O Almighty Lord God, who neither slumberest nor sleepest; Protect and assist, we beseech thee, all those who at home or abroad, by land, by sea, or in the air, are serving this country, that they, being armed with thy defence, may be preserved evermore in all perils; and being filled with wisdom and girded with strength, may do their duty to thy honour and glory; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

"IN GOD WE TRUST"
sendpm.gif Reply With Quote
Sponsored Links
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is On

All times are GMT -7. The time now is 05:14 PM.


Powered by vBulletin, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.