Workers use plastic flowers to build a display marking the 38th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War at a public park in the centre of Hanoi on April 24, 2013. The fall of Saigon (now Ho Chi Minh City) on April 30, 1975 marked the victory of Northern communist Vietnam against the United States and their South Vietnam ally and opened the way to the country reunification after years of fighting.
FILE -In this Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2009 file photo, Jan Scruggs, founder and president of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, points out where grass is growing out over the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington. As the last U.S. combat troops left Vietnam 40 years ago, angry protesters still awaited them at home. North Vietnamese soldiers took heart from their foes' departure, and South Vietnamese who had helped the Americans feared for the future. While the fall of Saigon two years later with its indelible images of frantic helicopter evacuations is remembered as the final day of the Vietnam War, Friday marks an anniversary that holds greater meaning for many who fought, protested or otherwise lived it.
FILE - In this March 29, 1973 file photo, the American flag is furled at a ceremony marking official deactivation of the Military Assistance Command-Vietnam (MACV) in Saigon, after more than 11 years in South Vietnam. While the fall of Saigon in 1975 with its indelible images of frantic helicopter evacuations is remembered as the final day of the Vietnam War, March 29 marks an anniversary that holds greater meaning for many who fought, protested or otherwise lived the war.
In this April 10, 1973 photo, Gen. Alexander M. Haig, center, is greeted by acting ambassador Charles Whitehouse, left, and another embassy official following Haig's arrival, in Saigon, the last stop in his whirlwind tour of Indochina. The trip was made at the behest of President Nixon. As the last U.S. combat troops left Vietnam 40 years ago, angry protesters still awaited them at home. North Vietnamese soldiers took heart from their foes' departure, and South Vietnamese who had helped the Americans feared for the future. While the fall of Saigon two years later with its indelible images of frantic helicopter evacuations is remembered as the final day of the Vietnam War, Friday marks an anniversary that holds greater meaning for many who fought, protested or otherwise lived it.
In this Wednesday, April 12, 1973 photo, Daniel Ellsberg, co-defendant in the Pentagon Papers trial, talks with newsmen after he testified in Los Angeles. Next to him is his wife, Patricia. Ellsberg, who vividly described his journey to disillusionment in Vietnam on Wednesday, will climax that story on Thursday, telling jurors how he risked his government career to copy the Pentagon Papers, hoping to end the war. As the last U.S. combat troops left Vietnam 40 years ago, angry protesters still awaited them at home. North Vietnamese soldiers took heart from their foes' departure, and South Vietnamese who had helped the Americans feared for the future. While the fall of Saigon two years later with its indelible images of frantic helicopter evacuations is remembered as the final day of the Vietnam War, Friday marks an anniversary that holds greater meaning for many who fought, protested or otherwise lived it.
In this Thursday, May 3, 1973 photo, Henry Kissinger, President Nixon's foreign affairs adviser, briefs newsmen on Nixon's annual State the World report to Congress at the White House in Washington. The report states that North Vietnam risks renewed war with the Untied States unless it lives up to the Vietnam cease-fire. As the last U.S. combat troops left Vietnam 40 years ago, angry protesters still awaited them at home. North Vietnamese soldiers took heart from their foes' departure, and South Vietnamese who had helped the Americans feared for the future. While the fall of Saigon two years later with its indelible images of frantic helicopter evacuations is remembered as the final day of the Vietnam War, Friday marks an anniversary that holds greater meaning for many who fought, protested or otherwise lived it.
