WAR ENDS IN VIETNAM : A LOOK BACK

President Gerald Ford

April 29, 1975

“During the day on Monday, Washington time, the airport at Saigon came under persistent rocket as well as artillery fire and was effectively closed. The military situation in the area deteriorated rapidly.

“I therefore ordered the evacuation of all American personnel remaining in South Vietnam.

“The evacuation has been completed. . . .

“This action closes a chapter in the American experience. I ask all Americans to close ranks, to avoid recrimination about the past, to look ahead to the many goals we share and to work together on the great tasks that remain to be accomplished.”

Casualties of War

American

57,690 dead, including 10,446 lost to accidents or disease.

South Vietnam

223,748 killed in action, not including the final offensive on Saigon.

North Vietnam and Viet Cong

666,000 killed in action, according to unofficial estimates.

Others

5,227 South Koreans, Australians, New Zealanders and Thais killed.

Vietnamese Civilians

300,000 South Vietnamese and 65,000 North Vietnamese were killed, by some unofficial estimates.

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Former Defense Secretary Robert S. McNamara

April, 1995, in his book “In Retrospect: The Tragedy and Lessons of Vietnam”

” . . . We made our decisions in light of those values. Yet we were wrong, terribly wrong. We owe it to future generations to explain why.”

U.S. Dead in Other Wars

Civil War: 524,332

Union 364,511; Confederate 159,821.

World War I: 116,516

World War II: 405,399

Korean War: 54,246

Sources: Facts on File; IBC USA Licensing Inc.; “Vietnam,” Thomas D. Boettcher, Little Brown; wire services.