On April 30, 1975 we watched in horror as the last American helicopter left Saigon.  The United States had not only lost the war in Vietnam, we left with our tail between our legs.  What made the fall of Saigon so significant to me is that I served two tours in Vietnam as a linguist.  Since it was rare for the Vietnamese people to meet an American who could speak their language, they were anxious to talk to me.  One question I was asked all the time was this:  “Is the United States going to abandon us like France?”  I told them no, that the U.S. was not like France.  We would not abandon our friends.  Unfortunately, I was wrong.  In the end, few people in the history of warfare have been more abandoned to their fate that the South Vietnamese who foolishly believed the U.S. to be a dependable ally.  To this day, whenever I encounter a Vietnamese person who was in South Vietnam during the war the first thing I do is apologize.  It is too bad that our President who has apologized for the U.S. all over the world never thought to apologize for deserting our friends and allies in South Vietnam.

Now it looks like we will be seeing the fall of Baghdad, only it will be much worse.  The North Vietnamese were bad dudes but they don’t even compare to the Muslim extremists trying to take over Iraq.  Perhaps a miracle will happen.  Perhaps the Iraq people will come together and fight against the darkness.  Perhaps, but I doubt it.  One thing is certain, they will get little or no help from the U.S. and they would be absolutely insane to trust us.  That is the ultimate tragedy, because if Muslim extremists take over Iraq, that will endanger the entire world.

Now I watch the destruction in Baghdad and I think of all those in our military who sacrificed so much to give Iraq a chance.  I think of those being slaughtered today and I shudder to realize we will not even consider offering genuine help.  Barack Obama made it clear he wanted to leave Iraq, regardless of the consequences.  Well welcome to the consequences.  Once again people are paying a terrible price for foolishly believing that we would be a dependable friend.  I see this and all I can say is:  I am so sorry. 

TDM