The preview above gives a pretty accurate feel for the American Experience Documentary Last Days in Vietnam. If you are really interested in detail about Vietnam, the documentary has it. For the average viewer, some of this might be repetitive, but still worth it. Here are a few interesting details:
- When then President Richard Nixon left office on August 9, 1974, Vietnam's fate was sealed. The North Vietnamese thought Nixon was a madman who would destroy North Vietnam if provoked. With Nixon out of the way, the final Ho Chi Minh Offensive began on December 7, 1974.
- Ambassador Graham Martin refused to believe the end was coming and would not allow planing for an evacuation. Army officers and Marines (Stuart Herrington, Steve Hasty, and others, to include Vietnamese officers) began planning and executing a "Black Ops" evacuation plan, countermanding their direct orders from the Ambassador.
- Richard Armitage, who was Deputy Secretary of Defense in the Bush II administration until resigning after the Valerie Plame Affair, served three combat tours in Vietnam and then was US Defense Attache in Vietnam. He organized the evacuation of the Vietnamese Navy and the evacuation of South Vietnamese military and civilians.
Starting on Memorial Day 2012, the 13 year Commemoration of the Vietnam War began with a Presidential Proclamation. When, exactly, the Vietnam War started is a matter of contention, but this year marks an increase in media and public interest. Ken Burns and Lynn Novick's documentary The Vietnam War was a decade in the making and will start airing this Sunday. It is not to be missed.
