WE'D STAY, IF HAD CHOICE' VIETNAM EVACUEES SAY HERE

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP75-00001R000300590018-2
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: November 11, 2016
• Document Release Date: October 14, 1998
• Sequence Number: 18
• Publication Date: February 12, 1965
• Content Type: NSPR

Na,,/0L iLv .5 719 a: Quc 4# -7 ./ i'it f F.d3 `G _
rs. Tuye ;;;:adel, wife of an Embassy doctor . . .
Kent Gillmore,
4,
'et Stay, If Had Choice'
r' Ji v'd
Evacuees , ere
ITFLE'N vLTONN indicated they would have hasty, long trip,
oximatel', 170 evac- remained with their hus- But morale was high and
_nded on U.S. soil here bands if given a choice. not a tear was shed as they
from war-torn Viet- The women and children discussed the fearful events,
Dut most of the wive appeared worn out from the in Vietnam and the fathers
and friends left behind.
The Pan American char-
ter flight was scheduled to
arrive at 2 a.m., but didn't
get in until 51/2 hours later.
Another was to land at
? 2:15 p.m. with still a third
one at 10:15 a.m. tomorrow.
Five Lt3er-== evacuation
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Elizabeth Perkins 3 months; daughter of Mr. and
Mrs. William Perkins.
nolulu woman, s.
Watans 1. w s
passengers on the
morning plane. She
cen in Vietnam for
Dnths.
wfas met b her sis-
si Hiyann and her
-d' mother Mrs. Ki-
atanab_!.
grandmot::er happily
her grandson, Sho;
r arms. It was a joy-
anion on the baby':
birthday today
scene a`. thw ;.,,:uor
ae of Cu :fusio vith
f luggar ..nd boxes
sorted o, and assist-
bming irom a variety
litary a n d civilian
rs.
little boy was hur-
-f to the hospital with
of measles, but oth-
the evacuees ap-
_ in good he:'_tl. and
red.
site thei
_ess, the yeti
d about r ur_
at crates :it r be-
gs and vat' in? .,he
of people
of the ,,v-men ex-
d deep :r,?~et at leav-
etnam.
e said the tension
as bad as one might
two Vietnamese wom-
the group left little
a out the fear of their
Thomas Lee Kilby
31 Viet] `n_ nu :,ow an
lean e izen, said her
ymen were ''a li*,tle
She said, "They thought
the .-Americans would leave
Vietnam and Red China
would be there right away.
"We knew something was
going to happen and we
were waiting, .but we didn't
think it v buld happen so
soon."
Mrs. Tuyet Shadel, whose
husband is a doctor with the
American Embassy in Viet-
nam, said her people "are
very afraid."
She added that she is
frightened for her family
there but, "I'm very lucky
to leave."
She said the Vietnamese
are "very happy to have
the Americans help them."
Mrs Lois Scanlon, whose
husband is with the,Xili-
tary Advisory Group in Sai-
gon, said she had only been
there two weeks but the ten-
sion was not bad in the city.
"I guess they (the mdli-
tary) didn't talk much
"I think we all knew we
would have to be out of there
so they can;-do what they.
have to do."
Mrs, Clyde 0. Johnson,
whose husband is a master,
sergeant, was ushering her
three children into the crowd-
ed Customs line.
She said her youngsters,
age 6 to 11, "hated to leave
Saigon and hated to leave
daddy. And we all hate this
move very much." '
Mrs. Johnson taught at
the American School in Sai-
gon and said, "The children
were all crying. They didn't
want to go because they had
.made many friends there.
"I, for one, enjoyed it very
much."
Nevertheless, she said her.
family was in the Khindo
Cara, 3'h, and Dena, 9 months, daughter of Ca
tain and Mrs. H. A. Shockley . . .
Kazuo Watanabe
jag.""
She said "the situal on h
been nerve-wrackinV but
took us awhile to rep4ize th
it"
i
~
s was .
th
.
Robert Reardon, 13, w
years and speaks good Vi
namese, said he had ma
many friends among the
tive children.
"I didn't want to leave
"I'm sorry to leave
friends."
His mother, Mrs. Eug
Reardon, said the fam
borhood and the chil
Irnew what was going on.
it was impossible to conduct
a normal class."
then on every little thing "I really want to go back.
frightened us. Everyone wanted to stay,"
"Every little boom made said Mrs John O'Reilly,-
us afraid, but we soon got whose husband is a civilian
h
Miss Beverly Elson also
taught in the school and said
she noticed that the tension
since Christmas. had sifted
through to the -youngsters'
studies.
A new gymnasium had
opened and functioned only
two days before the school
tary.
attached to the ml
Lit t 1 e Jennisse Jonas, 7,
clutched an enormous doll
and watched the activity with
wide eyes.
Does she miss her dads ?
"A little bit," she reph ,,
adding that she plans ~o
write him letters when she
reaches California with her
could sense the trouble;
"They seemed to hav
sense of security with
she saia "They displa
fear with the families le
ing. The departure was
sad event for them."
As for herself, sho, add
"I would have lp tf to h
remained with my
band."
was closed Monday. s' e said. mother and three brothers.
"I understand it is now re- Mrs. Jonas w =d her hus-
ivF RteIft3triAAZi p TOP~I 1D
hospital." amn (c a lain ha e a
She said the children hs- ed away from home quite of-
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