It is difficult to conceptualize that the most divisive moment in American history since the Civil War, the Vietnam War, ended fifty years ago tomorrow.
The tragic escape from the US Embassy in Saigon, South Vietnam, by the American military and diplomatic personnel, and many South Vietnamese trying to make it onto the helicopters, and many falling to their deaths, marked the end of an involvement by the US, lasting 20 years.
This caused the greatest loss of American lives, other than the Civil War and the two World Wars, a total of 58,000 American military personnel.
An involvement in the war begun by Harry Truman providing military and economic aid to France, beginning in 1950;
followed by about 2,000 “advisers”, under Dwight D. Eisenhower;
an escalation to 16,500 soldiers, including Green Beret combat forces, under John F. Kennedy;
a massive escalation to a final total of 549,500 soldiers in March 1968, under Lyndon B. Johnson;
and very slow withdrawal and dragged out combat until a peace agreement was finalized in March 1973, under Richard Nixon;
and then, the final collapse of South Vietnam by April 1975, under Gerald Ford.
The war divided the nation, as it was the greatest division since the Civil War, and so many survivors’ lives from the war effort suffered dearly, and many of them became victims for years after in so many ways, including those still alive fifty years later!
The nation owes a debt to these surviving veterans, which has never been fully repaid, and now, with cuts in the US Department of Veterans Affairs under Elon Musk and Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency, the failure to follow through on proper treatment and benefits will be a continuing tragedy!