" The choppers evacuating Americans maneuvered in zigs and zags , the better to dodge heat - seeking missiles in their seventeen - minute flights to the ships massed in the South China Sea -- and to dodge American helicopters commandeered by enemy pilots trying to shoot Americans down . Other helicopters were commandeered by deserters . On the deck of the USS Blue Ridge one landed without permission , tangling in the rotor blades of an evacuation chopper . The mightiest nation in the world , unable to control access to its own warships ; American authorities finally decided to simply let the deserters board , to class them as refugees . Aboard the USS Blue Ridge , the surplus helicopters were simply pushed overboard , useless military hardware , buried at sea . "
" The penultimate segment of the previous evenings NBC's newscast had been an editorial from the network's stern house commentator , David Brinkley , broadcast , incongruously , from outdoors :
" The United States did not lose the war since it never really tried to win it , instead trying to help South Vietnam win the war , and finding it would not , or could not ; and though the United States did not lose the war , it DID lose a great deal . The money , we know about ; the inflation we still live with ; the social discords in this country are still to be seen . The other loss we also know about , though we do not talk about it much ---- "
The camera pulled back , zooming wide , revealing that he was standing in the middle of an endless sea of white tombstones . "
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