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MARCH 29 — 1973 U.S. begins Vietnam troop withdraw; 1951 Mad Bomber attacks Grand Central Station; 1974 The Mariner visits Mercury; 1776 George Washington appoints Putnam to command New York
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MARCH 29
29 1973 here are the headlines: NYT: Vietnam Accord Is Reached; Cease-Fire Begins Saturday; P.O.W.’s To Be Freed in 60 Days.
Minneapolis Tribune: U.S. Withdraws From Vietnam, but War Goes On.
The Amarillo Daily News in Texas: Era Ticks To an End; For Some GIs, Nam is Home Away From Home.
Indeed it was for many.
Around 7,000 American forces stayed in Saigon to assist the south from its inevitable fall at the hands of the communist North. President JFK first sent military advisers into the southeast territories of Asia defeat commies, but it would be President Lyndon Johnson who would send in 300,000 troops.
But American hadn’t fought in jungles before. The enemy was often difficult to locate as they often blended in with women and children in villages. Between the high numbers of casualties, the infamous My Lai massacre, which I go into bloody detail on my March 10th ep, the war just wasn’t popular at home. Thanks to modern technology, Americans could now watch the horrific and gruesome scenes that took place in Vietnam. The Tet offensive surprised American troops, and though they were finally able to fight back, the damage was done and the Vietcong clearly weren’t giving anything up without a serious fight.
LBJ didn’t even seek reelection, and Secretary of War Robert McNamara was constantly under scrutiny. It wouldn’t be until President Richard Nixon that troop withdrawal began, and that wasn’t until after troop numbers reached a staggering 550,000, the most massive air and land campaign ever, and moving troops openly into Laos and Cambodia.
Finally a peace agreement was made in 1973, , but clearly America had lost this war and failed its mission of stopping the domino theory as another country fall into the hands of communism. The peace treaty was more of a symbolic gesture of America not being humiliated on the world stage, and before the ink was even dry the communists in North Vietnam raged into the south. On April 30 1975 the last US troops departed, and Saigon fell to the north.
These days Hanoi is the name of the capital of Vietnam. Is economy is officially defined as a Marxist-Leninist socialist although throughout the years it’s become more capitalist in nature, and is currently the 47th largest economy in the world.
1945-Patton takes Frankfurt.
This is one of the times when Old Blood and Guts put the Bad in Badass. Prior to this point, in December 1944 during the Battle of theBulge, General George S. Patton broke through the German lines of the besieged Belgian city of Bastogne, relieving its valiant defenders. Patton then pushed the Germans east. His goal was to cross the Rhine River. The last German enemy to cross that river by the way was Napolean in 1805. And as much as a badass Napolean was, he had a complex. Patton didn’t.
On March 22, 1945, he found that the only bridge that hadn’t been destroyed, the Ludendorff Bridge, located in the little town of Remagen. Old Blood and Guts proudly made his crossing, and his 3rd Army headed east and captured Frankfurt on the 29th. From there he crossed through southern Germany and into Czechoslovakia, only to encounter an order not to take the capital Prague, since it was reserved for the Soviets. He did not take the news well.
And speaking of tremendous victories…
1982 – University of North Carolina Tar Heels win the NCAA men’s basketball championship with a 63-62 defeat of the Georgetown University Howyas. It was the first of many titles to come the way of Coach Dean Smith, who would become the most successful coach in NCAA Division I men’s basketball history with 879 career wins, and would maintain that record until2006 when Bobby Knight beat it.
What a game! Up until now, Smith went 21 seasons without winning a title. He used a four-corner offense, in which the team spread the floor and passed the ball around without attacking the basket, in hopes of protecting a lead. The Georgetown Hoyas were a powerhouse and had the weapon of Patrick Ewing who played center, but the Tar Heels were able to keep up thanks to forward james Worthy, forward sleep Sam Perkins, and guard Michael Jordan. The Hoyas were up by on with 15 seconds left on the clock, when His Airness Michael Jordan hit a 16-foot jumper from the left baseline to give the Tar Heels the lead 63-62.The Hoyas brought the ball up the court and set their offense, but sophomore point guard Fred Brown threw the ball to Carolina’s James Worthy, mnistaking him for Gerorgetown teammate Eric Smith. Worthy dribbled out the clock.
Game, set, match. Good stuff.
1974 – The Mariner visits Mercury, sending back close-up images of the second smallest planet in the solar system.
1776-Gen. Geo. Washington appointed Major General Israel Putnam commander of the troops in New York.
He was ordered to defend New York City and its waterways. Prior to this, Putnam had a good reputation as lieutenant in the Connecticut mlitia during the French and Indian War, survived capture by the Indians, led regiments in victories at Ticonderoga and Montreal, was elected to Connecticut’s General Assembly, and among the founders of the Sons of Liberty in Connecticut.
He also served admirable at the Battle of Bunker Hill in June 1775, and things went south for him and Gen. Washington began to regret his decision. In Autust 1776, British troops forced his retreat at the Battle of Long Island, then again for Fort Montgomery and Fort Clinton in 1777.
Although he appeared to lose his effectiveness in being a military leader, he served in the continental Army until suffering a stroke in December 1779. Interesting sidenote: Putnam’s ancestors in Salem village executed 20 of their neighbors after accusing them of witchcraft in the famous trials of 1692.
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