40 Years Later: A Return To Vietnam

A series of stories on the 40th anniversary of the fall of Saigon, and Massachusetts’ unique connection to the war’s last days.

At a ceremony in Ho Chi Minh City Thursday, former Marine Security Guard John Ghilain, of Malden, holds a folded American flag in honor of one of the last two U.S. troops to die on Vietnamese soil, Cpl. Charlie McMahon, of Woburn. (Quinn Ryan Mattingly for WBUR)

40 Years Later: A Return To Vietnam

For some, it’s the fall of Saigon -- the day a country was lost. For others, it’s Reunification Day -- the day a country was reclaimed. WBUR presents a series...

Local Coverage

May 22, 2015

'A Return To Vietnam': Closing Thoughts

We close our special series from Vietnam with Bob Oakes' closing thoughts.

Local Coverage

May 1, 2015

Juan Valdez, of Oceanside, California, was the last Marine to board the last helicopter off the Saigon embassy roof in 1975. (Quinn Ryan Mattingly for WBUR)

'The Door Is Closer To Being Closed': Marines Reflect On Their Return To Vietnam

Images of those final chaotic days of the war are seared into the soldiers' memories, and they each see reflections of their experiences in America's military involvement today in Iraq...

Local Coverage

07:31May 1, 2015

Men in military leadership pose for a portrait during the Reunification Day parade Thursday in Ho Chi Minh City. (Quinn Ryan Mattingly for WBUR)

A Vietnamese Parade, And A Solemn U.S. Ceremony

It was a day of contrasts in Ho Chi Minh City -- the Reunification Day parade downtown, and a solemn ceremony honoring the last U.S. soldiers to die in the...

Local Coverage

06:36Apr 30, 2015

Women march representing the workers in the parade to celebrate 40 years since the Communist victory in Saigon. (Quinn Ryan Mattingly for WBUR)

Photos: Vietnam's Vibrant Reunification Day Parade

Vietnam marked Reunification Day with a colorful and heavily policed parade through Ho Chi Minh City.

Local Coverage

Apr 30, 2015

South Vietnamese flags fly over businesses down Boston's Dorchester Avenue ahead of the 40th anniversary of the fall of Saigon. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)

40 Years After Saigon's Fall, Dorchester's Vietnamese Community Recalls Loss, Opportunity

Many of the thousands of refugees fleeing South Vietnam ended up in Boston, and in the past few decades a vibrant Vietnamese-American community has sprung up in Dorchester.

Local Coverage

Apr 30, 2015

Parade marchers representing workers and farmers wait in formation for the Reunification Day parade to begin, Thursday in Ho Chi Minh City. (Quinn Ryan Mattingly for WBUR)

For Vietnamese, April 30 Is A Day Of Many Meanings

Reunification Day marks the day the last American troops left Vietnam. But what does April 30 mean to the Vietnamese? It very much depends on whom you ask.

Local Coverage

09:24Apr 30, 2015

Daily work and life goes on as preparations are made for a large parade to celebrate 40 years since the fall of Saigon. (Quinn Ryan Mattingly for WBUR)

Photos: Vietnam Readies For Reunification Day

In Vietnam, April 30 is Reunification Day, marking the day the last American troops left in 1975.

Local Coverage

Apr 29, 2015

Charlie McMahon spent much of his childhood at the Woburn Boys Club before joining the Marines. One of the last two U.S. service members to die in the Vietnam War, a memorial wall now hangs in the club in his honor (Jesse Costa/WBUR)

11 Days After Arriving, Woburn Marine Was Among Last To Die In The Vietnam War

Charlie McMahon’s life in Woburn revolved around the local Boys Club. He was just 21 when he was killed in a rocket attack by the North Vietnamese the day before...

Local Coverage

07:49Apr 29, 2015

After a year of negotiations, the remains of Cpl. Charles McMahon and Lance Cpl. Darwin Judge, the last two U.S. service members killed in the Vietnam War, were returned to the U.S. via a military terminal at Bangkok's Don Mueang Airport. (Courtesy Dale DeHaan)

How The Last 2 U.S. Service Members Killed On Vietnamese Soil Finally Made It Home

Nearly a year after they died, the remains of the last two U.S. service members killed in the Vietnam War were finally turned over, not to the White House or...

Local Coverage

07:26Apr 29, 2015

Former U.S. Marines John Ghilain, from Malden, left, and Bill Newell, from Hopkinton, speak to WBUR atop the Saigon Star Monday in Ho Chi Minh City. In 1975, the building was their barracks. This is their first trip back to Vietnam since they evacuated 40 years ago. (Quinn Ryan Mattingly for WBUR)

Back In Vietnam After 40 Years: 'We're Still Trying To Move On; They Already Have'

Two of the last U.S. Marines to leave Vietnam have returned for a ceremony honoring the last Marines to die. We get their thoughts on the changes.

Local Coverage

07:53Apr 28, 2015

Reporter's Notebook: Welcome To Vietnam

The first thing you notice in Ho Chi Minh City, the commercial center of Vietnam, is the traffic.

Local Coverage

Apr 27, 2015

In this April 29, 1975, file photo, mobs of Vietnamese people scale the wall of the U.S. Embassy in Saigon, trying to get to a helicopter pickup zone. (Neal Ulevich/AP)

Among The Last To Leave, Mass. Marines Recall The Vietnam War's Chaotic Final Hours

On the 40th anniversary of the fall of Saigon, four Massachusetts Marines detail the final evacuation of U.S. troops.

Local Coverage

08:57Apr 27, 2015

Biographies: The Mass. Marines Among The Last To Leave The Vietnam War

Meet the four Massachusetts Marines.

Local Coverage

Apr 27, 2015

'Saigon: The Final Hours' - A WBUR Documentary

On the 40th anniversary of the fall of Saigon, four Massachusetts Marines offer their account of the final evacuation of U.S. troops and South Vietnamese troops and civilians from the...

Local Coverage

Apr 27, 2015

The grave of Air Force TSgt. Richard Fitzgibbon Jr., who was killed in Vietnam on June 8, 1956 -- the war's first fatality. His name was finally added to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in 1999. (Courtesy of Sen. Ed Markey)

The Fight To Get The Vietnam War's 1st Casualty — A Mass. Vet — On The Memorial

The first person killed in the war was Air Force TSgt. Richard Fitzgibbon Jr., of Stoneham, who died in 1956. In order to get his name on the wall, the...

Local Coverage

06:38Apr 24, 2015

Series Introduction: 'A Return To Vietnam'

WBUR's Bob Oakes joins WBUR from Ho Chi Minh City to discuss the series -- and heightened security in Vietnam.

Local Coverage

02:32Apr 24, 2015