President Ford tried to prevent a communist takeover. He asked Congress to approve seven hundred million dollars in military aid for South Vietnam. Congress said no. The American people were tired of paying for the war.
(SOUND)
Saigon, the South Vietnamese capital, fell to communist forces on April thirtieth, nineteen seventy-five.
President Ford ordered the rescue of American citizens and South Vietnamese who had supported the American efforts. Few people who saw those struggling to escape Saigon will ever forget that day.
MARINE AT AMERICAN EMBASSY: “Please stop pushing – one at a time.”
Terrified Vietnamese were screaming for help at the American Embassy. Everyone was pushing, trying to escape the city. Some held on to overloaded military helicopters as the aircraft tried to take off.
As a signal to American citizens to prepare to leave, Armed Forces Radio had played the song "White Christmas."
(MUSIC: “White Christmas”/Bing Crosby)
Some were to go to an apartment building where a helicopter would pick them up from the roof. But other people also tried to get onto the helicopter -- a scene captured in a famous news photo of the fall of Saigon.
The former South Vietnamese capital was renamed Ho Chi Minh City.
(MUSIC)
In the Middle East, Henry Kissinger led negotiations after the nineteen seventy-three Arab-Israeli war. Israel agreed to give up some captured territory. In return, the United States promised not to recognize or deal with the Palestine Liberation Organization unless the PLO met certain conditions.
最新
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25