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thedrifter
10-15-04, 05:10 AM
Saigon embassy Marines reunite at Parris Island
Submitted by: MCRD Parris Island
Story by: Computed Name: Lance Cpl. Paul W. Hirseman III
Story Identification #: 20041014121449




MCRD/ERR PARRIS ISLAND, S.C.(Oct. 15, 2004) -- April 29, 1975, just before daybreak, North Vietnamese Army tanks began to roll into the South Vietnamese city of Saigon, signaling the beginning of the end for American forces in Vietnam. Only a handful of Marine Security Guards were left to defend the American Embassy against the rapidly approaching NVA and Viet Cong forces while Marines, embassy employees and Vietnamese civilians were airlifted out.

Twenty-nine years later on MCRD Parris Island, a handful of the veterans who served in Saigon during the Vietnam war arrived Oct. 8 to observe today's Corps, and to reflect on their experiences with their former comrades.

"It is probably best described as having been a real adventure," said Jack Phillips, a Marine stationed in Saigon in 1967. "You know, we had about 100 guys with us at the time to guard the U.S. Embassy. It was a pretty big unit for the area."

The former Marines spent the day observing activities on the Depot including watching recruits train and taking time to visit the Parris Island Museum.

Of the Marines present in the group, one was on hand to see the final moments of the U.S. involvement in Vietnam. He was one of the few Marines called upon to fight back the masses of panicking Vietnamese outside the embassy gates, and to keep watch for Viet Cong assassins and NVA tanks and troops.

"Yes, I was the last man out there, down to the last chopper" said John Valdez, a Marine who was stationed in Saigon from September 1974 to April 30, 1975, the last day of American occupation in Vietnam. "We had to defend the embassy in case of any attack, since there were civilians and documents in there, I was just the last man there."

There was a Marine presence in the city before the waning years of the war, and many of the Marines returning to Parris Island had experiences within the first few years of the war.

"It was a good duty until the Tet Offensive," said Micheal Goodman, a Marine stationed in Saigon from January 1967 to February 1968. "We always felt that we were pretty safe in Saigon, but Tet changed that for us."

Saigon sometimes proved to be just as difficult for the Marines called to guard it as the jungle could be, and presented its own unique challenges as well.

"I would be sitting in a tent with my typewriter, hoping they wouldn't call me for patrol, but they did," said Gustav Tomuschat, a Marine who served in Saigon from 1972 to 1973. "There weren't any front lines out there, it wasn't something you could look out and see. Things would be different every day."

Despite the difficulty faced by the many Marines who served in Saigon throughout the war, none of the veterans who returned to Parris Island showed regret for serving their country wherever they were needed.

"Yes, despite all that, I loved it," said Jim Nelson, a Marine in Saigon from 1974 to 1975. "I loved every minute of it, it was what I had joined to do, my duty."

http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/image1.nsf/Lookup/20041014122850/$file/saigon(L).jpg

Michael Goodman, a Marine stationed at the embassy in Saigon during the Vietnam war, smiles as he reads information about the history of women in the Marine Corps during a reunion aboard the Depot Oct. 8. Goodman and other Marines who served at the embassy visited the Depot to spend some time observing recruit training, as well as to visit the Parris Island Museum and the Marine Corps Exchange. Goodman served in Saigon from 1967 to 1968.
Photo by: Lance Cpl. Paul W. Hirseman III

http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/mcn2000.nsf/0/759D011EF2BFB3EB85256F2D00593F45?opendocument

Ellie