Saigon Evacuation by Marines - 30 years later

[stupifiedgig]

My father served aboard the U.S.S. Hancock.

[noobler9]

in any democracy, blame falls on all, because the democracy is all

just remember that

[fruityrice]

Don't ever blame our U.S. soldiers for this war, it was the pol-idiots in the government

[synbadify]

I was there onboard the USS Vancouber LPD-2. I do wonder what happened to everyone that we evacuated to Subic Bay... It was such a sad day for the South Vietnamese. I also wonder what happened to all the folks we turned away....

[AccordGTR]

From propaganda perspective, some people saw the war as American democracy saving a 3rd world nation from totalitarianism. But in reality, in the 60's, American democracy only existed inside the US with white Americans while blacks had to fight for their civil rights. US govt supported brutal dictators in South Vietnam, Philippines, Iran, Iraq and other countries which oppressed their people. Some Americans were smart enough to know the truth but others were lost in its propaganda.

[walkingdead7]

Semper Fi,i checked out your channel,i just subscribed.I have a friend who was with 2/4 during Eagle Pull,i join 1979 was with 1/9

[Agent1W]

Well, at least I'm happy that the Soviets fell in '91. We did win the Cold War in the end.

[AccordGTR]

@Agent1W Happy for what? You never beat the Soviets - that was another US propaganda to try to justify the billions spent and lives lost for nothing. It's people like you that keep the war going so that military industrialists make profits off the blood of ignorant Americans and foreign civilians. That kind of BS is out in the open already. Perestroyka brought the USSR down but its their people that won, not America. Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan were American disasters.

[ctenar1970]

If you -Americans -supported free election in 1956,this tragedy couldn't happen ,though Ho Chi Minh could win election

[faroutadventures]

I blame Congress for denying funding . At least it would have gave more time to do the evacuation right. It may have gave Kissinger more time to negotiate a more organized compromise with the North.

[loboekintza]

I can not understand how America lost the Vietnam War. The liberal and progressive spirit of Jimmy Carter and Obama has pervaded the whole and the United States is no longer the protector of the Western world for many years has softened welfare, many years ago has given up fighting. what a pity.

[bvde2002]

Total failure of planning from the US government.

No surprise they lost the war.

Worst job ever to be a us soldier there at the time.

The US should have started evac 2 weeks prior the surrender they could have saved a lot more vietnamese that deserved it.

[KCrouse95630]

@bvde2002 @bvde2002 : Its an interesting debate in terms of logistics and what-if's. Some blame Ambassador Martin and some blame Nixon - the Watergate issue crippled Pres. Ford's ability to back up promises made by Nixon and Congress denied requested funding for support to South Vietnam earlier in 1975. In terms of a short time line, immediately Pres. Thieu's resignation on April 21 might have been a more effective launching point. I respectfully disagree with your "worst job" characterization.

[ebonics4everyone]

@bvde2002 Barry Goldwater was right. We should have exterminated every single Vietnamese person with nuclear weapons.

[goodtotheend1]

are any of these Marines still alive?

[happymana]

@goodtotheend1 Loads. The Evac was in 75. Most marines at the US Emabassy didn't witniss the brutal combat of 67-69.

[KCrouse95630]

@goodtotheend1 : Yes, many of the Marines involved in the evacuation are still alive. Its interesting that the video clip was a CBS Saturday Evening News piece from 5 years ago. Now "35-years later" we'll meet again in Washington, D.C. later this month and once again visit the Vietnam Veterans Memorial to pay our respects. Since the clip was aired, three more Marines from our unit have passed away - one @ age 66, one @ age 54 and one @ age 52.. s/f Ken

[andrelebaron]

@KCrouse95630 Those poor guys died too young. I read somewhere that there were armed ARVNs who must have been quite bitter about being left to a very bad fate, watching this from across the street. That would have made it pretty stressful. Is this true?

[KCrouse95630]

@andrelebaron In the moment (I was at the embassy) I don't recall it being "stressful" ... it was an operation that we were carrying out and I honestly don't recall stress, angst or worry (no, "I hope we make it out"). I was a young - perhaps naive - 19 year old LCpl (E-3) who had been in the Marine Corps for just shy of 2 years at the time. At my level, I was just trying to do the very best I could to carry out the instructions of the tasks assigned me and not worry about other tasks.

[spitfyre31]

@KCrouse95630 Semper Fi..I was encouraged when I saw this video since I have only located two docs with footage of my uncle in them and was hoping to learn more about his time in the embassy. His name is James J. Daisey and was one of the marine sec. guards to Ambassador Martin. He died 15 yrs ago this 1/24 and had not had the opportunity to talk to him about it...I was young and he did not discuss Vietnam. I'm hoping to learn more. It is important to our family & s/b passed down

[487Consulting]

@spitfyre31 please send me a note at kcrouse95630@gmail.com - Your Uncle Jim was a heck of a Marine. I still remember that red hair of his and way he (and Colin Broussard) always carried himself when with the Ambassador. He and Colin were the two Marines personally with the Ambassador most of the time. Sadly, Colin passed away at age 54 on Christmas morning 2005 and I miss them both. I'm more than glad to help you in any way I can. Please write off-line. s/f

[treesloth16]

Truer words have never been spoken: ' Ultimately, only God can save the world.'

[goodtotheend1]

I welcome you home from R.COTTEN E-4 USMC 1967-1971

[KCrouse95630]

Cpl. Cotten - Thanks... s/f Ken

[TheMambavenom]

how may billions were fritterd in this war?

[hpbkn]

fuk you sengoku16 and ho chi minh he started this whole daym war which costs millions of vietnamese lives trying to unify the country for wat you assholes wanted to live like the communist the south wanted democracy it shouldve been left like that north vietnam and south vietnam all those lives lost for nothing fuk ho chi minh

[ih8tbush]

HO approached Americans as early as 1917 (Wilson @ Versailles) he bought our democracy rhetoric, but was repeatedly rebuffed by US who favored theFrench Colonial Masters.

[NOLIBERALBIAS]

Who said ok to give Vietnam to the French after 1945? At the begining VietMing? were just a bunch of Vietnamese patriots that did not want their country to be control by foreigner. Like the Colonist in America before the Independent. We turned them down and gave the French a green light. Communist or not, they had to turn to Russia, who were more than happy to help, for support in getting independent. So who planted the seeds 4 these tragic events at the beginning? Not the soliders on all sides.

[sengoku16]

ho chi minh saved my country..1975..laos and vietnam was finally free from american oppression

[seamonkey41]

God Bless all US soldiers and Marines

semper fi

[ih8tbush]

God Bless all US soldiers and Marines as well...if you served our nation in uniform Seamonkey, I thank you. If you did not...I praise your support. Regardless of the conflict...we must never forsake our uniformed servicemen.

[SimonDolan]

This is Bullshit. The Americans caused this then you hear these people saying they felt sorry for people left behind.

[KCrouse95630]

Sir: You may wish to review the Paris Peace Accords that were signed in January of 1973. It was a communist agression against the south that ultimately led to the evacuation. Relative to the people left behind, I can assure you that the Marines on the roof felt very sorry for the people left behind - many of whom ultimately voted with their feet and fled Vietnam by boat or other means.

[SimonDolan]

It strikes me (as a neutral) that the Americans wish to be viewed as heroes regarding this war when in fact, it was a huge political misjudgement regarding the domino effect. I sincerely apologise for confusing the brave Marines with the cowardly Politicians.

[cskirk]

I guess it was B.S. when a compassionate marine allowed my wife, who was 2 at the time, and her mother and father board one of those choppers. They became U.S. Citizens. God Bless those marines who had to make difficult decisions that day. My wife's uncle's family were not that fortunate. They drowned in the South China sea fleeing the communists. Those marines did not make one policy decision. They just tried to the best they could that day.

[IconOfSin24148]

Well they had to play God that day, and I guess in the end, we find out that the only one best suited for playing God is...well, God.

The communists will pay one day, for all their misery they inflicted. Hopefully with Iraq, we finally didn't repeat history.

Hopefully.

[ZHLu]

Before you continue being so gauche, simondolan, read these two articles FIRST:

gulag. hu/ jacoby. htm

vietquoc. com/ whylost. htm

[SimonDolan]

I respect your thoughts but the whole thing was quite tragic and an embarrassment to the Americans from start to very end.

[vietman90210]

why would the americans do that?!

so sad

[dtran1999]

Damn, what an awesome story!

[KCrouse95630]

I recently walked the streets of Saigon. It would be hard to argue that ultimately the ideas of capitalism and free markets have won out over a the socioeconomic structure of a classless / common ownership form of society that is more classic of a communist state. I wonder if Ho visited Saigon today he would find it in keeping with his beliefs and teachings.

[Wildrider666]

1Lt George T. Shea and Capt William C. Nystul were CH-46 pilots of HMM-164 flying from the USS handcock (CVA-19)were lost just before midnight 750429. The are KIA on the WALL (O1W)They are listed after the two Marines KIA at the airport. A sad distinction to be the last deaths in an unpopular and fatally unsupported War. War is the only place where you feel so alive and so dead at the same and you get to go back every time you close your eyes.

[KCrouse95630]

You are correct... The names on the Wall also include the names of the Marines killed during the Mayaguez incident including (even more unfortunately) the names of those left behind that were subsequently. Ralph Wetterhahn's book, "The Last Battle" does an excellent job with the story and is based on interviews with Khmer Rouge memebers and multiple trips to the region. Sadly as well, the bodies of Lt. Shea and Capt Nystul were also never recovered... Semper Fi, Ken

[laufuman]

40 years before everybody worried the country to be communism, no body know one day after communism will what happened, so escape is the one way .

[canadabuon]

most people dont understand vietNam people army ( north vietnamese) weas doing right thing..if they didnt attack south vietnam, vietnam now would be like north and south korea,we dont want to be like that,one of other sides north or south doesnt matter have to attack other to be united.!!

[Zeldovich]

What? The north should have left the south well enough alone. I'd rather have a divided Vietnam with a more prosperous south than one united, miserable country. That being said, I don't favor war as a means to bring about such results.

[adammehra]

Are you serious?!?

[nzer19]

Are you retarded? Perhaps the North should have adopted capatilism 40 years ago instead of only starting to adopt it 20 years ago?

[Zeldovich]

Will this scene be played out again in Baghdad soon?

[XxSaigonSweetiexX]

I wouldn't be suprised if it did.

[sebastian577]

Very possible

[masieu]

Thanks for this clip. Thsnks for remiding the other people about what the VC did to South Vietnamese after the war.

[nocards67]

The Vietnamese that could not get saved...what happened to them? Did they get shot? Did they just run off?

[KCrouse95630]

Many of them (the South Vietnamese military officials) served lengthy prison terms - referred to by the North Vietnamese as "re-education camps." 12 - 16 years seemed to be about average. There are a number of stories of Vietnamese that remained behind that now reside in America. There is a new movie out - "Journey from the Fall" - which I have not seen, but is receiving good reviews. More references for books if you are interested. Ken