Nancy Hartney

April 30, 1975: An Ending with Footnotes

With temperature 105 and rising,

America dreams of a white Christmas

over and over and over.

            Final departure from Vietnam April 30, 1975 of U.S. token forces.

Armed Services Radio Saigon triggered final evacuation

with code words “105-degrees and rising” followed by

“White Christmas” played in a loop.

Monsoon dawn stretches out while

Lady Ace squawks Tiger! Tiger! Tiger!

and places an unceremonious period

behind the empty enclosure.                                      

                                                                                    Lady Ace 09 Sea Knight helicopter broadcasts “Tiger! Tiger is out of his cage.”

                                                U.S. Ambassador Graham Martin leaves Vietnam.

The U. S. Embassy vacant at 4:58 a.m.

An imprecise defeat

a dubious accomplishment

over and over and over.

American military forces depart Vietnam after twenty years.

Generations continue to debate wins, losses, and prices paid,

Korea, Kuwait, Iraq, Afghanistan.

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Published by Nancy Hartney

Nancy Hartney's second novel, The Blue Bottle Tree, is in process. A Southern gothic tale of two women, written along color lines, concludes with a twist. She will blog about the novel over the next year preparatory to publication. Her debut novel arrived on bookshelves and online February 2021. 'If You Walk Long Enough' is a tale of a soldier's return from the Vietnam War to his South Carolina tobacco farm, a place that is no longer home, the people strangers. Her previous two short story collections set in the South—'Washed in the Water: Tales from the South' and 'If the Creek Don’t Rise: Tales from the South' continue to be available in bookstores and public libraries. In addition to fiction, Nancy writes poetry, historical pieces, and magazine articles. She often serves as writing contest judge, workshop leader, and presents author readings at libraries and book clubs. A member of Oklahoma Writers Federation, Ozarks Writers League (MO), Tallahassee Writers Association (FL), Ozark Creative Writers (AR), and two local prose critique groups and one poetry critique, her books are available in print, e-format, and audio. She is developing a pod cast for her blog posts.

2 comments

  1. Very moving and powerful. It brought back the images of US soldiers running toward and hastily boarding helicopters.
    We lost a generation.

    Reply

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