Anniversary In 2005<BR> - 30th Anniversary Vietnam War Ended

1965 U.S. informs South Vietnam of intent to send Marines

Ambassador Maxwell Taylor informs South Vietnamese Premier Phan Huy
Quat that the United States is preparing to send 3,500 U.S. Marines
to Vietnam to protect the U.S. airbase at Da Nang.

Three days later, a formal request was submitted by the U.S. Embassy,
asking the South Vietnamese government to "invite" the United States
to send the Marines. Premier Quat, a mere figurehead, had to obtain
approval from the real power, Gen. Nguyen Van Thieu, chief of the
Armed Forces Council. Thieu approved, but asked that the Marines
be "brought ashore in the most inconspicuous way feasible." Rumors of
the imminent arrival of American troops soon circulated in Saigon,
but there was no official word from either government until March 6
when the Johnson administration publicly confirmed that it would be
sending the Marines to South Vietnam.

30 years later

Are we still warring over Vietnam? By Steven Komarow, USA TODAY Fri Apr 29, 6:36 AM ET The thump-thump of the last helicopter taking off from a rooftop in Saigon marked the end of America's time in Vietnam in April 1975. The U.S. death toll was about 58,000, almost 40 times the number so far in Iraq. In interviews to mark the anniversary, U.S. servicemembers, civilians and South Vietnamese allies tell about their experiences. Now it's 30 years since South Vietnam fell to Communist forces, and by coincidence, 60 years since the end of World War II. That means the entire Vietnam War took place closer to WWII than to today, a symbolic threshold that puts the Vietnam War firmly in the province of historians. (Graphic: Fall of Saigon)