Football Quiz: [Just shaking things up] 3 players who were
overall #1 draft picks in the 1970s became NFL Hall of Famers.
Name them. Answer below.
April 1975
As we pick up the story, the North Vietnamese army is rapidly
approaching the South Vietnamese capitol of Saigon. On April
18, Secretary of State Henry Kissinger orders the evacuation of
all remaining American personnel from the city. On the ground,
U.S. Ambassador Graham Martin delays, naively thinking that the
U.S. Congress will approve emergency military aid to rescue the
South Vietnamese (ARVN) forces.
President Nixon”s “peace with honor” of 1973 had proved to be
only a “decent interval,” enough time for the U.S. to extract itself
from Vietnam before the South collapsed.
Late in April, the key airfield of Tan Son Nhut was shelled,
making it impossible for planes to take-off and land.
Thousands of refugees, fearing communist rule and reprisals,
sought refuge within the walls of the American embassy.
President Ford and his advisers monitored the situation from the
private quarters of the White House. It was a depressing time for
the administration. Congress had turned down all aid requests
and there was nothing the President could do. Paramount on
Ford”s mind, however, was to avoid the loss of even one more
American.
As the situation became more dire by the hour, Ford ordered
Ambassador Martin again to withdraw all Americans and as many
of their South Vietnamese allies as possible (specifically, those
employed by the Pentagon, State Department and the CIA).
It was the morning of April 28 and with the North Vietnamese
army at the gates of Saigon, the American radio station began
playing its prearranged code:
“The temperature in Saigon is 105 degrees and rising,” followed
by the first 30 seconds of Bing Crosby singing “White
Christmas.”
This was the signal that the final frantic pullout had begun. In the
next 18 hours of “Operation Frequent Wind,” 81 Marine
helicopters operating from the besieged Tan Son Nhut airfield,
shuttled 2,312 Americans and 6,422 non-Americans to offshore
aircraft carriers. It was the largest helicopter evacuation in
history.
In the book “We Interrupt This Broadcast,” author Joe Garner
describes the scene in those last chaotic hours around the U.S.
embassy. [Incidentally, it was just revealed that the famous
picture of the helicopter on the “Embassy” roof was actually of a
CIA safe house a few blocks away from the Embassy complex.]
“To avoid hysteria, a plan was devised to systematically pull the
Marine Guards from their posts at the embassy walls and into the
building. When the signal was given, the soldiers calmly made
their way into the embassy. When the loyalists on the embassy
grounds and the angry crowd outside the embassy walls realized
what was happening, the scene turned chaotic.
“The Marine Guards cut power to the building”s two elevators,
and the remaining personnel climbed the stairwell, closing and
locking the gates behind them to keep the mob at bay. The last
American staff and soldiers on duty gathered on the roof of the
building and in groups of twenty boarded helicopters and were
transported away.”
New York Times reporter George Esper wrote the following for
the paper on April 30, 1975.
“As the American airlift came to an end at 7:52 A.M., Vietcong
gunners sent rockets hurtling into Tan Son Nhut air base. The
last Americans to be flown out of Saigon were 11 of the 800
Marines who had guarded the evacuation operation.
“The 11, who served as the rear guard, fired a red smoke grenade
to guide the CH-46 helicopter in. As it touched down on the roof
of the Embassy, they scrambled aboard and were airbound within
four minutes.
“One of the last civilians to leave was Ambassador Martin, who
boarded the final regular lift of 19 helicopters that had flown out
about two hours earlier.
“After the last Marines had left, hundreds of civilians swarmed
into the compound and onto the roof. On the roof of a nearby
building that had also served as an emergency helipad, several
hundred civilians huddled together, hoping there would be more
helicopters to carry them away.”
There weren”t. Soon after April 30th, the tanks rolled in and the
secret trials and executions of America”s abandoned allies began
almost immediately. A war, never officially declared, was over.
By most accounts, some 2 million soldiers and civilians died
during the Vietnam War, including some 58,000 brave American
GI”s. 100,000 of our fighting men returned home missing one or
more limbs. And in the most shameful chapter of all, the vast
majority of the returning Veterans were treated with contempt in
their own country. May we never act that way again.
Baseball…and the Home Run
Gosh, some of us are sick of the ongoing proliferation of home
runs being hit these days (and the last few years). In this space
we have covered all the reasons like the juiced ball (clearly it is),
the muscled up players, the new smaller parks, and awful pitching
diluted by expansion. Major League Baseball authorities, to date,
have explained it”s more of a cyclical issue. But Steve Hirdt of
the Elias Sports Bureau speaks of a different problem.
“What strikes me as non-cyclical is that hitters have an incentive
to bulk up – more weight training and dietary supplements – and
there”s not a corresponding advantage available to pitchers. It
doesn”t help them to get much bigger and they can”t be throwing
year-round.”
Last year, more homers were hit than ever before, 2.3 per game.
Thus far in 2000 the pace is 2.6. And average runs per game are
up to 10.8 from last year”s 9.9.
And on Wednesday, the St. Louis Cardinals reached 50 HRs as a
team, a record for April. The all-time mark for any single month
is 58 set by the 1987 Baltimore Orioles.
Finally, I saw this baseball transaction in the paper on Wednesday
which solidifies one of the explanations…horrendous pitching.
The Royals acquired right-hander Miguel Batista from the
Montreal Expos for right-handed reliever Brad Rigby.
Batista has a 14.04 ERA in 8-plus innings with Montreal. Rigby,
a 14.16 ERA in 9-plus with the Royals this season. Goodness
gracious.
Top 3 songs for the week of 4/25/70: #1 “ABC” (Jackson 5)
#2 “Let It Be” (Beatles) #3 “Spirit In The Sky” (Norman
Greenbaum).
Quiz Answer: Terry Bradshaw (drafted 1970 from La Tech by
Pittsburgh), Lee Roy Selmon (1976 from Oklahoma by Tampa
Bay), Earl Campbell (1978 from Texas by Houston).
Next Bar Chat, Monday…boxing.
