The Fall of Saigon

[statquo]

I visited several times, first in 1993, but not as a war tourist.
"Vietnam: More Than Just A War"

I’ve been there several times as well. One of my favorite countries in the world to visit. Definitely more than just a war.

[DOR]

Not sure if any of you have been to Vietnam, but I was there before Covid and toured a lot of the country.

I was able to do a lot of the war tours, checked out the Hanoi Hilton, a lot of the museums in Hanoi where a lot of US equipment is displayed, the former palace and US embassy in Saigon etc. But also along the DMZ, Khe Sanh, Camp Carroll, the Rockpile, Con Thien, and other locations along Highway 9 to the Laos border. I did the Hamburger Hill hike which was interesting. I also toured a lot of the Mekong and the former Iron Triangle. Those tunnel systems the NVA and VC used are really impressive. Also spent a day in the Citadel in Hue which is mostly rebuilt but was hard to believe was absolutely destroyed during the Tet Offensive.

Highly recommend it.

I visited several times, first in 1993, but not as a war tourist.
"Vietnam: More Than Just A War"

[statquo]

Not sure if any of you have been to Vietnam, but I was there before Covid and toured a lot of the country.

I was able to do a lot of the war tours, checked out the Hanoi Hilton, a lot of the museums in Hanoi where a lot of US equipment is displayed, the former palace and US embassy in Saigon etc. But also along the DMZ, Khe Sanh, Camp Carroll, the Rockpile, Con Thien, and other locations along Highway 9 to the Laos border. I did the Hamburger Hill hike which was interesting. I also toured a lot of the Mekong and the former Iron Triangle. Those tunnel systems the NVA and VC used are really impressive. Also spent a day in the Citadel in Hue which is mostly rebuilt but was hard to believe was absolutely destroyed during the Tet Offensive.

Highly recommend it.

[Albany Rifles]

Joey Bishop! He was the real deal about that time.

[tbm3fan]

Last set...

[tbm3fan]

Now set 4...

[tbm3fan]

Set 3 now...

[tbm3fan]

It worked so let's try again

[tbm3fan]

Let's give this a try a little at a time. Five sets of four each.

[DOR]

A bunch of the journalists who made their first breakthroughs in Viet Nam were friends of mine in Hong Kong, at the legendary Foreign Correspondents’ Club. Hugh Van Es, who shot the iconic picture of the helicopter taking people off the roof of a “embassy” (*ahem*, CIA) building was one of them. Very educational.

[TopHatter]

For me the most amazing story of all of them was that of the USS Kirk...

https://www.npr.org/2010/09/01/12957...vietnam-s-navy

I've been meaning to buy the book about the Kirk's story.

[tbm3fan]

For me the most amazing story of all of them was that of the USS Kirk...

https://www.npr.org/2010/09/01/12957...vietnam-s-navy

Quite a story that I hadn't heard.

You know for a month the Hornet had personal photographs taken by a soldier during his tour in Vietnam in 1969 if I remember correctly. He took many and made a book out of them but displayed dozens aboard the Hornet. I shot pictures of them. Need to see if I can actually get this site to cooperate on uploading them when at home.

[Albany Rifles]

For me the most amazing story of all of them was that of the USS Kirk...

https://www.npr.org/2010/09/01/12957...vietnam-s-navy

[Albany Rifles]

[Albany Rifles]

46years ago today Saigon fell. I remember seeing these photos in the news then and for some time thereafter.