Forty years ago, the last of U.S. combat troops
left Vietnam.
Vietnam Withdrawal Anniversary In this April 10, 1973 photo, Gen. Alexander M. Haig, center, is greeted by acting ambassador Charles Whitehouse, left, and another embassy official following Haig's arrival, in Saigon, the last stop in his whirlwind tour of Indochina. The trip was made at the behest of President Nixon. As the last U.S. combat troops left Vietnam 40 years ago, angry protesters still awaited them at home. North Vietnamese soldiers took heart from their foes' departure, and South Vietnamese who had helped the Americans feared for the future. While the fall of Saigon two years later — with its indelible images of frantic helicopter evacuations — is remembered as the final day of the Vietnam War, Friday marks an anniversary that holds greater meaning for many who fought, protested or otherwise lived it. (AP Photo/Neal Ulevich)
AP Photo/Neal Ulevich
Vietnam Withdrawal Anniversary Visitors to the Vietnam Military History Museum walk around the remains of an American fighter jet that was shot down or crashed close to Hanoi during the Vietnam War on Thursday, March 28, 2013, in Hanoi, Vietnam. Friday, March 29, is the 40th anniversary of the withdrawal of American combat troops from Vietnam. (AP Photo/Chris Brummitt)
AP Photo/Chris Brummitt
Vietnam Withdrawal Anniversary A foreign visitor looks at the remains of an
American fighter jet in the grounds of the Vietnam
Military History Museum on Friday, March 29, 2013
in Hanoi, Vietnam. Friday was the 40th anniversary
of the American troop withdrawal from Vietnam. (AP
Photo/Chris Brummitt)
Brown Water Navy One of the last remaining river patrol boats used
by the U.S. Navy during the Vietnam War is lifted
from the Naval Support Base display at the
Patriots Point Naval and Maritime Museum in Mount
Pleasant S.C. on Tuesday, March 26, 2013. The boat
is going to a boatyard for a month for $30,000 in
repairs. (AP Photo/Bruce Smith)
AP Photo/Bruce Smith
Brown Water Navy One of the last remaining river patrol boats used
by the U.S. Navy during the Vietnam War is lifted
from the Naval Support Base display at the
Patriots Point Naval and Maritime Museum in Mount
Pleasant S.C. on Tuesday, March 26, 2013. The boat
is going to a boatyard for a month for $30,000 in
repairs. (AP Photo/Bruce Smith)
AP Photo/Bruce Smith
Vietnam Withdrawal Anniversary A bird sits in a cage overlooking the engine of an American B-52 bomber in a lake in Hanoi, Vietnam, on Friday, March 29, 2013. The plane was was shot down during the Vietnam War, and the engine fell into the lake. Friday is the 40th anniversary of the American troop pullout of Vietnam. (AP Photo/Chris Brummitt)
AP Photo/Chris Brummitt
Vietnam Withdrawal Anniversary A foreign visitor looks at the remains of an
American fighter jet in the grounds of the Vietnam
Military History Museum on Friday, March 29, 2013
in Hanoi, Vietnam. Friday was the 40th anniversary
of the American troop withdrawal from Vietnam. (AP
Photo/Chris Brummitt)
Tony Lam Vietnamese businessman Tony Lam, right, orders
Vietnamese food at Vien Dong restaurant, a North
Vietnamese style restaurant he founded with his
wife in Westminster, Calif., Thursday, March 28,
2013. Lam was 36 on the day the last U.S. combat
troops left Vietnam. He was a young husband and
father, but most importantly, he was a
businessman and U.S. contractor furnishing
dehydrated rice to South Vietnamese troops. In
1992, Lam made history by becoming the first
Vietnamese-American to elected to public office
in the U.S. and he went on to serve on the
Westminster City Council for 10 years. (AP
Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
Vietnam Withdrawal Anniversary Visitors to the Vietnam Military History Museum
walk around the remains of an American fighter jet
that was shot down or crashed close to Hanoi
during the Vietnam War on Thursday, March 28,
2013, in Hanoi, Vietnam. Friday, March 29, is the
40th anniversary of the withdrawal of American
combat troops from Vietnam. (AP Photo/Chris
Brummitt)
Vietnam Withdrawal Anniversary Vietnam war veteran Ho Van Minh talks about his experience as a North Vietnamese soldier during the war at the Vietnam Military History Museum in Hanoi Thursday, March 28, 2013. The 77-year-old lost his right leg to a land mine while advancing on Saigon, just a month before that city fell. Friday, March 29, marks the 40th anniversary of the American withdrawal of combat troops from Vietnam. (AP Photo/Chris Brummitt)
AP Photo/Chris Brummitt
James H. Warner Former North Vietnamese prisoner of war James H.
Warner poses in Boonsboro, Md., on Thursday,
March 28, 2013, the eve of the 40th anniversary
of the withdrawal of the last U.S. combat troops
from Vietnam. Warner, 72, of nearby
Rohrersville, Md., says his 5 1/2 years of
forced labor and interrogation reinforced his
conviction that the United States was right to
confront the spread of communism. (AP
Photo/David Dishneau)
Richard Nixon, Richard M. Nixon, Nguyen Van Thieu In this April 2, 1973 photo, President Richard
Nixon and South Vietnamese President Nguyen Van
Thieu are in profile as they listen to national
anthems during arrival ceremonies for Thieu at
the Western White House in San Clemente, Calif.
As the last U.S. combat troops left Vietnam 40
years ago, angry protesters still awaited them
at home. North Vietnamese soldiers took heart
from their foes' departure, and South Vietnamese
who had helped the Americans feared for the
future. While the fall of Saigon two years later
— with its indelible images of frantic
helicopter evacuations — is remembered as the
final day of the Vietnam War, Friday marks an
anniversary that holds greater meaning for many
who fought, protested or otherwise lived it. (AP
Photo)
Henry Kissinger In this Thursday, May 3, 1973 photo, Henry Kissinger, President Nixon's foreign affairs adviser, briefs newsmen on Nixon's annual State the World report to Congress at the White House in Washington. The report states that North Vietnam risks renewed war with the Untied States unless it lives up to the Vietnam cease-fire. As the last U.S. combat troops left Vietnam 40 years ago, angry protesters still awaited them at home. North Vietnamese soldiers took heart from their foes' departure, and South Vietnamese who had helped the Americans feared for the future. While the fall of Saigon two years later — with its indelible images of frantic helicopter evacuations — is remembered as the final day of the Vietnam War, Friday marks an anniversary that holds greater meaning for many who fought, protested or otherwise lived it. (AP Photo/Harvey Georges)
AP Photo/Harvey Georges
Vietnam Withdrawal Anniversary In this March 29, 1973 photo, Camp Alpha, Uncle Sam's out processing center, was chaos in Saigon. Lines of bored soldiers snaked through customs and briefing rooms. As the last U.S. combat troops left Vietnam 40 years ago, angry protesters still awaited them at home. North Vietnamese soldiers took heart from their foes' departure, and South Vietnamese who had helped the Americans feared for the future. While the fall of Saigon two years later — with its indelible images of frantic helicopter evacuations — is remembered as the final day of the Vietnam War, Friday marks an anniversary that holds greater meaning for many who fought, protested or otherwise lived it. (AP Photo)
AP Photo
Daniel Ellsberg In this Wednesday, April 12, 1973 photo, Daniel
Ellsberg, co-defendant in the Pentagon Papers
trial, talks with newsmen after he testified in
Los Angeles. Next to him is his wife, Patricia.
Ellsberg, who vividly described his journey to
disillusionment in Vietnam on Wednesday, will
climax that story on Thursday, telling jurors
how he risked his government career to copy the
Pentagon Papers, hoping to end the war. As the
last U.S. combat troops left Vietnam 40 years
ago, angry protesters still awaited them at
home. North Vietnamese soldiers took heart from
their foes' departure, and South Vietnamese who
had helped the Americans feared for the future.
While the fall of Saigon two years later — with
its indelible images of frantic helicopter
evacuations — is remembered as the final day of
the Vietnam War, Friday marks an anniversary
that holds greater meaning for many who fought,
protested or otherwise lived it. (AP Photo)
AP Photo
Vietnam Withdrawal Anniversary In this March 29, 1973 photo, Camp Alpha, Uncle Sam’s out processing center, was chaos in Saigon. Lines of bored soldiers snaked through customs and briefing rooms. As the last U.S. combat troops left Vietnam 40 years ago, angry protesters still awaited them at home. North Vietnamese soldiers took heart from their foes' departure, and South Vietnamese who had helped the Americans feared for the future. While the fall of Saigon two years later — with its indelible images of frantic helicopter evacuations — is remembered as the final day of the Vietnam War, Friday marks an anniversary that holds greater meaning for many who fought, protested or otherwise lived it. (AP Photo)
AP Photo
John Sinclair FILE - This March 16, 1971 file photo shows John
Sinclair Jr., then imprisoned leader of the
Radical White Panthers, before his sentencing in
Detroit. Protesting the Vietnam war was among many
of the passions of the all-around counter-culture
figure immortalized in the John Lennon song, "John
Sinclair." (AP File Photo)
AP File Photo
Vietnam Withdrawal Anniversary In this March 29, 1973 photo, In a curious ending to a bizarre conflict, American troops board jets under the watchful eyes of North Vietnamese and Viet Cong observers in Saigon. As the last U.S. combat troops left Vietnam 40 years ago, angry protesters still awaited them at home. North Vietnamese soldiers took heart from their foes' departure, and South Vietnamese who had helped the Americans feared for the future. While the fall of Saigon two years later — with its indelible images of frantic helicopter evacuations — is remembered as the final day of the Vietnam War, Friday marks an anniversary that holds greater meaning for many who fought, protested or otherwise lived it. (AP Photo)
AP Photo
Vietnam Withdrawal Anniversary In this March 29, 1973 photo, Camp Alpha, Uncle Sam’s out processing center, was chaos in Saigon. Lines of bored soldiers snaked through customs and briefing rooms. As the last U.S. combat troops left Vietnam 40 years ago, angry protesters still awaited them at home. North Vietnamese soldiers took heart from their foes' departure, and South Vietnamese who had helped the Americans feared for the future. While the fall of Saigon two years later — with its indelible images of frantic helicopter evacuations — is remembered as the final day of the Vietnam War, Friday marks an anniversary that holds greater meaning for many who fought, protested or otherwise lived it. (AP Photo)
AP Photo
Vietnam Withdrawal Anniversary In this Thursday, March 30, 1973 photo, As the
last 55 troops to leave Vietnam debarked their
Air Force C-141 at Travis Air Force Base. As the
last U.S. combat troops left Vietnam 40 years
ago, angry protesters still awaited them at
home. North Vietnamese soldiers took heart from
their foes' departure, and South Vietnamese who
had helped the Americans feared for the future.
While the fall of Saigon two years later — with
its indelible images of frantic helicopter
evacuations — is remembered as the final day of
the Vietnam War, Friday marks an anniversary
that holds greater meaning for many who fought,
protested or otherwise lived it. (AP Photo)
AP Photo
Vietnam Withdrawal Anniversary In this March 31, 1973 photo, Adm. John S. McCain Jr., left, and his son, Lt. Cmdr. John S. McCain III meet for the first time in Jacksonville, Fla. As the last U.S. combat troops left Vietnam 40 years ago, angry protesters still awaited them at home. North Vietnamese soldiers took heart from their foes' departure, and South Vietnamese who had helped the Americans feared for the future. While the fall of Saigon two years later — with its indelible images of frantic helicopter evacuations — is remembered as the final day of the Vietnam War, Friday marks an anniversary that holds greater meaning for many who fought, protested or otherwise lived it. (AP Photo)
AP Photo
Vietnam Withdrawal Anniversary In this March 27, 1973 photo, Viet Cong and North Vietnamese members of the joint military commission, foreground, shoot photos of U.S. troops as they board an Air Force plane for the flight home from Saigon's Tan Son Nhut Air Base. As the last U.S. combat troops left Vietnam 40 years ago, angry protesters still awaited them at home. North Vietnamese soldiers took heart from their foes' departure, and South Vietnamese who had helped the Americans feared for the future. While the fall of Saigon two years later — with its indelible images of frantic helicopter evacuations — is remembered as the final day of the Vietnam War, Friday marks an anniversary that holds greater meaning for many who fought, protested or otherwise lived it. (AP Photo/Neal Ulevich)
AP Photo/Neal Ulevich
Vietnam Withdrawal Anniversary In this March 28, 1973 photo, a Viet Cong observer of the Four Party Joint Military Commission counts U.S. troops as they prepare to board jet aircraft at Saigonís Tan Son Nhut airport. As the last U.S. combat troops left Vietnam 40 years ago, angry protesters still awaited them at home. North Vietnamese soldiers took heart from their foes' departure, and South Vietnamese who had helped the Americans feared for the future. While the fall of Saigon two years later — with its indelible images of frantic helicopter evacuations — is remembered as the final day of the Vietnam War, Friday marks an anniversary that holds greater meaning for many who fought, protested or otherwise lived it. (AP Photo/Neal Ulevich)
AP Photo/Neal Ulevich
Vietnam Withdrawal Anniversary In this March 27, 1973 photo, an American GI takes a nap atop his luggage as he and other troops wait to begin out processing at Camp Alpha in Saigon, as withdrawal of U.S. troops resume after a 10-day dispute over POWs. All U.S. troops are due out Thursday. As the last U.S. combat troops left Vietnam 40 years ago, angry protesters still awaited them at home. North Vietnamese soldiers took heart from their foes' departure, and South Vietnamese who had helped the Americans feared for the future. While the fall of Saigon two years later — with its indelible images of frantic helicopter evacuations — is remembered as the final day of the Vietnam War, Friday marks an anniversary that holds greater meaning for many who fought, protested or otherwise lived it. (AP Photo/Chick Harrity)
AP Photo/Chick Harrity
Vietnam Withdrawal Anniversary In this March 27, 1973 photo, surrounded by
luggage of other departing GIs, U.S. Air Force
airman reads paperback novel as he waits to
begin processing at Camp Alpha on Saigon's Tan
Son Nhut airbase in Saigon as troop withdrawals
resume after 10 day-delay. More than 900 will
leave with all U.S. troops out by Thursday. As
the last U.S. combat troops left Vietnam 40
years ago, angry protesters still awaited them
at home. North Vietnamese soldiers took heart
from their foes' departure, and South Vietnamese
who had helped the Americans feared for the
future. While the fall of Saigon two years later
— with its indelible images of frantic
helicopter evacuations — is remembered as the
final day of the Vietnam War, Friday marks an
anniversary that holds greater meaning for many
who fought, protested or otherwise lived it. (AP
photo/Charles Harrity)
Vietnam Anniversary FILE - In this March 29, 1973 file photo, the
American flag is furled at a ceremony marking
official deactivation of the Military Assistance
Command-Vietnam (MACV) in Saigon, after more
than 11 years in South Vietnam. While the fall
of Saigon in 1975 — with its indelible images of
frantic helicopter evacuations — is remembered
as the final day of the Vietnam War, March 29
marks an anniversary that holds greater meaning
for many who fought, protested or otherwise
lived the war. (AP Photo/Charles Harrity, File)
