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From: BiteMe@Bitch.org

ARMS LEFT BY U.S
March 29, 1975

SAIGON, South Vietnam, March 28—The South Vietnamese have lost more than $1‐billion in American military weapons and other equipment over the
last two weeks, according to qualified Vietnamese sources.

The abandonment of hundreds of artillery pieces, trucks, planes,
mortars, tanks, armored personnel carriers, rifles and
ammunition—coupled with the rapid retreat of army units—is viewed by Vietnamese and Western sources as a stunning and, quite possibly
irreversible military and psychological blow for South Vietnam.

Lack of Coordination

As the scale of the military retreat becomes apparent, Western military analysts and Vietnamese sources express dismay and alarm at the lack of armed‐forces coordination, “the failure of leadership up and down the line” in the chaos that has engulfed army units beset with mass
defections and the huge loss of equipment to the advancing North Vietnamese.

Beyond this, Western analysts view the civilian panic in such cities as
Da Nang as symptomatic of the virtual breakdown of law and order and the Government's failure to calm the frightened populace in the face of the deteriorating situation.

One intelligence source said: “There's been a complete loss of control
by most of the army, by civilians. Self preservation is everything,
there's total panic at Da Nang airport, the army has left an
extraordinary amount of equipment behind in the north and Central
Highlands. It's become a tragedy that I just can't grasp.”

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: www.darkrealms.ca (1:229/2)