NORTH VIETNAMESE ARMY CAPTURED HUE 40 YEARS AGO TODAY
Hue, South Vietnam (JFK+50) Forty years ago today, March 26 1975*, the city of Hue**, located in the northernmost part of South Vietnam, fell to the North Vietnamese Army.
The city was captured without resistance after a three day siege. Troops of the South Vietnamese Army "broke and ran" from other threatened areas. Chu Lai was also evacuated.
NVA forces captured Da Nang, the second largest city in South Vietnam, on March 30 along with 100,000 South Vietnamese soldiers after they had been abandoned by their commanding officers.
By April 1, 1975, the NVA launched its final push toward the South Vietnamese capital, Saigon, which fell by the end of the month.
*This and additional dates listed are based on United States time zones.
**Hue, Vietnam was the Imperial Capital City of the Nguyen Dynasty 1802-1945. With a population of 340,000, it is located in the central part of the country on the banks of the Perfume River and a few miles from the South China Sea.
Buddhism is prominent in the city and it was in 1963 that Buddhist monk, Thich Quong Duc traveled to Saigon to protest the anti-Buddhist policies of the South Vietnamese government by setting himself on fire.
Hue, South Vietnam (JFK+50) Forty years ago today, March 26 1975*, the city of Hue**, located in the northernmost part of South Vietnam, fell to the North Vietnamese Army.
The city was captured without resistance after a three day siege. Troops of the South Vietnamese Army "broke and ran" from other threatened areas. Chu Lai was also evacuated.
NVA forces captured Da Nang, the second largest city in South Vietnam, on March 30 along with 100,000 South Vietnamese soldiers after they had been abandoned by their commanding officers.
By April 1, 1975, the NVA launched its final push toward the South Vietnamese capital, Saigon, which fell by the end of the month.
*This and additional dates listed are based on United States time zones.
**Hue, Vietnam was the Imperial Capital City of the Nguyen Dynasty 1802-1945. With a population of 340,000, it is located in the central part of the country on the banks of the Perfume River and a few miles from the South China Sea.
Buddhism is prominent in the city and it was in 1963 that Buddhist monk, Thich Quong Duc traveled to Saigon to protest the anti-Buddhist policies of the South Vietnamese government by setting himself on fire.
Railway Station in Hue
April 15, 2014
Photo by Tlonorbis
F. SCOTT FITZGERALD PUBLISHES FIRST NOVEL
New York City (JFK+50) F. Scott Fitzgerald published his first novel, This Side of Paradise, ninety-five years ago today, March 26, 1920.
The novel examines the lives and morality of youth of the post-World War I era.
Fitzgerald was born in St. Paul, Minnesota and was named after his famous ancestor, Francis Scott Key, the author of the Star Spangled Banner.
The book's publisher was Charles Scribner and Sons. Critic, H.L. Mencken called the work... the "best American novel I have seen of late".
*Fitzgerald would marry Zelda Sayre a week later and they would begin a life of glamorous parties and luxurious living. By 1925, they were living in Europe where Fitzgerald wrote his most famous work, "The Great Gatsby". Zelda Fitzgerald died in a sanitarium and her husband died of a heart attack at the age of 44.
