Admiral and Mrs. James Linder had already departed for Hawaii when this article was written. It says that there were a few military officers who stayed until the end of April, the mandatory departure date ordered by President James Earl Carter.
I have often thought about what it was like for the final few American military people to depart Taiwan. Speaking at a conference twenty years later, Admiral Linder said that the people of Taiwan felt that we were going away and they were in deep trouble. He went on to say, "We sort of felt the same way."
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2 comments:
What's with April 30th?
South Vietnam was deserted when we left on April 30th 1975, then we left Taiwan in 1979.
Maybe it was me....I left Vietnam on April 28th...I had volunteered to go from Taipei to Saigon to support communications the last few weeks.
Then I left Taipei in Jan 1979....Upon further thought maybe the problem was me.
Bill
Bill,
The problem was not you, it was the foolish decisions of some our Presidents at that time -- especially the non-President Carter. His decision to pull out of Taiwan was one of hasty thoughts and the believing the false promises of the world's best liar, the Chinese Communists. Now we are paying for his foolish "unilateral" decision. There are very very few things the US can use as a negotiation tool with China. He turned his back on one of the US's best friends.
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