1975+-+South+Vietnam+falls+to+the+communists

= South Vietnam falls to the communists =

Overview[[image:south_vietnam_flag.gif width="150" height="102" align="right" caption="South Vietnam Flag"]]
By dawn of April 30, 1975, communist forces from North Vietnam had moved into Saigon, where they met little resistance. The South Vietnamese forces had fallen under the advancement of the North Vietnamese. The most recent fighting had begun in December 1974, when the communists had launched an attack against the lightly defended province of Phuoc Long, located north of Saigon near the Cambodian border, taking the provincial capital at Phuoc Binh on January 6, 1975. Despite previous presidential promises to provide aid if such events took place, the United States did nothing. Nixon had resigned from office and his successor, Gerald Ford, was unable to convince a hostile Congress to make good on Nixon's earlier promises to rescue Saigon from communist takeover.

Important Details
On April 25, 1975, South Vietnamese President Nguyen Van Thieu resigned his power to Vice President Tran Van Huong. This act left the south with basically no leader. In fact, after one day in power, as South Vietnamese Gen. Duong Van Minh had taken control of power. With no support from American forces, the south was left almost completely defenseless. On the morning of April 30, northern tanks had crashed though the Presidential Palace gates in Saigon. After North Vietnamese Col. Bui Tin accepted the surrender from Gen. Duong Van Min, Tin said to Minh, “You have nothing to fear. Between Vietnamese there are no victors and no vanquished. Only the Americans have been beaten. If you are patriots, consider this a moment of joy. The war for our country is over."

Conclusion
The United States involvement started in 1956, with U.S. Military Assistance Advisor Group (M.A.A.G.) assuming responsibility from the French in training South Vietnam’s forces. Then, anticipating the fall of Saigon, President Ford declares the end of U.S. involvement in 1975. The United States had bean at war for 19 years. In that time the nation went through many changes politically, socially, and emotionally. This period saw political corruption like McCarthyism and the Watergate Scandal. Socially, the people went from free love and political activism in the 60’s, to the subdued inner family living of the 70’s. Finally, the nation felt an emotional change from the war. In the beginning people both support the war and the soldiers, but by the end both were seen as an evil. The people no longer had the emotion to care. (2009-10.1.2.J) Referances __[]__ __ [] __