Saigon

WASHINGTON - Newly released White House tapes from the Vietnam War era portray President John F. Kennedy wrestling over the fate of South Vietnam’s strongman in a situation that appears to mirror President Obama’s quandary today in dealing with Afghanistan’s shaky government. Obama is beset by questions about President Hamid Karzai’s popularity, honesty, and management of the war against Taliban, while Kennedy dealt in 1963 with President Ngo Dinh Diem and his inability to turn the tide against Viet Cong insurgents.

NEW YORK - George Esper, the tenacious Associated Press correspondent who refused to leave his post in the last days of the Vietnam War, remaining behind to cover the fall of Saigon, has died. He was 79. Mr. Esper, who later worked for the AP as a special correspondent based in Boston, died in his sleep Thursday night, his son, Thomas, said yesterday. Mr. Esper logged 10 years in Vietnam, the last two as AP's bureau chief. He regularly wrote AP's daily war roundup, a comprehensive report that was a fixture in many American and foreign newspapers.

HO CHI MINH CITY -- Vietnam celebrated the communist victory over a US-backed government today, parading its troops down the same boulevard along which tanks rolled to smash into the Presidential Palace of South Vietnam 30 years ago. Watched by the country's top leaders and legendary figures such as General Vo Nguyen Giap, soldiers, government workers, and performers marched with red flags waving toward the palace gates. Hundreds of aging veterans, their chests covered with medals, watched from the sidelines.

MALDEN — The war had been over for nearly two years, or so he thought, when his superiors told him his next mission would be to serve as a security guard at the US Embassy in Saigon. So it came as something of a shock to John Ghilain, a beefy 19-year-old corporal from Medford, when he and some fellow Marines were brought into a bug-proof inner chamber of the embassy for a CIA briefing. It was late February 1975, and the North Vietnamese Army was massing on the outskirts of the capital of South Vietnam.

HONG KONG - Hugh Van Es, a Dutch photojournalist who covered the Vietnam War and recorded the most famous image of the fall of Saigon in 1975 - a group of people scaling a ladder to a CIA helicopter on a rooftop - died yesterday in Hong Kong, his wife said. He was 67. Mr. Van Es died in Queen Mary Hospital. He suffered a brain hemorrhage last week and never regained consciousness, his wife, Annie, said. Hospital officials declined to comment. Slender, tough-talking, and always ready with a quip, Mr. Van Es was considered by colleagues to be fearless and resourceful.

MALDEN — The war had been over for nearly two years, or so he thought, when his superiors told him his next mission would be to serve as a security guard at the US Embassy in Saigon. So it came as something of a shock to John Ghilain, a beefy 19-year-old corporal from Medford, when he and some fellow Marines were brought into a bug-proof inner chamber of the embassy for a CIA briefing. It was late February 1975, and the North Vietnamese Army was massing on the outskirts of the capital of South Vietnam.

NEW YORK - George Esper, the tenacious Associated Press correspondent who refused to leave his post in the last days of the Vietnam War, remaining behind to cover the fall of Saigon, has died. He was 79. Mr. Esper, who later worked for the AP as a special correspondent based in Boston, died in his sleep Thursday night, his son, Thomas, said yesterday. Mr. Esper logged 10 years in Vietnam, the last two as AP's bureau chief. He regularly wrote AP's daily war roundup, a comprehensive report that was a fixture in many American and foreign...

HANOI -- Pham Xuan An, who led a remarkable and perilous double life as a communist spy and a respected reporter for Western news organizations during the Vietnam War, died Wednesday at age 79. Mr. An, who suffered from emphysema, died at a military hospital in Ho Chi Minh City, said his son, Pham Xuan Hoang An. Mr. An had been in and out of consciousness since being hospitalized in July and fell into a coma days before he died, a doctor at...

LONDON -- David Mason, who reported for the Associated Press on the Suez crisis, Charles de Gaulle's rise to power, and the Vietnam War in a 37-year career, has died following a long illness, his son said yesterday. He was 85. Mr. Mason, who had been in declining health, died at the Manor Care Home in Taunton, southwestern England, on Sunday, said David Mason Jr. "Dave Mason was the quiet professional who always demonstrated high standards and earned the trust of diplomatic and other sources," said Myron Belkind, who succeeded Mason as chief of bureau in London.

HO CHI MINH CITY -- Communist Vietnam marked the 30th anniversary of the war's end yesterday with a colorful parade of floats, some emblazoned with American business logos, down the same boulevard where North Vietnamese tanks in 1975 had rolled to victory against a US-backed government. Hundreds of aging veterans, their chests decked with medals, watched from the sidelines as the soldiers headed toward the Presidential Palace. General Vo Nguyen Giap was among them, standing alongside the president.

WASHINGTON - Newly released White House tapes from the Vietnam War era portray President John F. Kennedy wrestling over the fate of South Vietnam’s strongman in a situation that appears to mirror President Obama’s quandary today in dealing with Afghanistan’s shaky government. Obama is beset by questions about President Hamid Karzai’s popularity, honesty, and management of the war against Taliban, while Kennedy dealt in 1963 with President Ngo Dinh Diem and his inability to turn the tide against Viet Cong insurgents.

HONG KONG - Hugh Van Es, a Dutch photojournalist who covered the Vietnam War and recorded the most famous image of the fall of Saigon in 1975 - a group of people scaling a ladder to a CIA helicopter on a rooftop - died yesterday in Hong Kong, his wife said. He was 67. Mr. Van Es died in Queen Mary Hospital. He suffered a brain hemorrhage last week and never regained consciousness, his wife, Annie, said. Hospital officials declined to comment. Slender, tough-talking, and always ready with a quip, Mr. Van Es was considered by colleagues to be fearless...

LONDON -- David Mason, who reported for the Associated Press on the Suez crisis, Charles de Gaulle's rise to power, and the Vietnam War in a 37-year career, has died following a long illness, his son said yesterday. He was 85. Mr. Mason, who had been in declining health, died at the Manor Care Home in Taunton, southwestern England, on Sunday, said David Mason Jr. "Dave Mason was the quiet professional who always demonstrated high standards and earned the trust of diplomatic and other sources," said Myron Belkind, who succeeded Mason...

HANOI -- Pham Xuan An, who led a remarkable and perilous double life as a communist spy and a respected reporter for Western news organizations during the Vietnam War, died Wednesday at age 79. Mr. An, who suffered from emphysema, died at a military hospital in Ho Chi Minh City, said his son, Pham Xuan Hoang An. Mr. An had been in and out of consciousness since being hospitalized in July and fell into a coma days before he died, a doctor at...

HANOI -- The day trip to Tam Coc (Three Caves) was our first excursion outside Hanoi since our arrival in Vietnam two days before. For 2 1/2 hours, our rowboats wound through whispering rice fields guarded by sentinel-like limestone outcrops. The air was humid and temperate, the sky overcast. Our captain, a gap-toothed grandmother, sat in the stern of the tiny vessel, the arch of each foot cupping the end of an oar, rowing with her feet. Her daughter helped steer with a small paddle at the boat's side.

HO CHI MINH CITY -- Communist Vietnam marked the 30th anniversary of the war's end yesterday with a colorful parade of floats, some emblazoned with American business logos, down the same boulevard where North Vietnamese tanks in 1975 had rolled to victory against a US-backed government. Hundreds of aging veterans, their chests decked with medals, watched from the sidelines as the soldiers headed toward the Presidential Palace. General Vo Nguyen Giap was among them, standing alongside the president.

HANOI -- The day trip to Tam Coc (Three Caves) was our first excursion outside Hanoi since our arrival in Vietnam two days before. For 2 1/2 hours, our rowboats wound through whispering rice fields guarded by sentinel-like limestone outcrops. The air was humid and temperate, the sky overcast. Our captain, a gap-toothed grandmother, sat in the stern of the tiny vessel, the arch of each foot cupping the end of an oar, rowing with her feet. Her daughter helped steer with a small paddle at the boat's side.

WORCESTER -- Who would have thought a musical acclaimed for spectacular stagecraft (a full-size helicopter replica) could translate to the intimate below-stairs audit-orium of Worcester's Foothills Theatre Company? Happily, the human dimension prevails in an enjoyable if occasionally overwrought production of "Miss Saigon. " Set in Vietnam during the final, desperate days of US-occupied Saigon, the story centers on unlikely lovers Kim, a bar girl, and Chris, a Marine. Their tragic fate, which recalls the story of "Madama Butterfly," spans two continents,...

HO CHI MINH CITY -- Vietnam celebrated the communist victory over a US-backed government today, parading its troops down the same boulevard along which tanks rolled to smash into the Presidential Palace of South Vietnam 30 years ago. Watched by the country's top leaders and legendary figures such as General Vo Nguyen Giap, soldiers, government workers, and performers marched with red flags waving toward the palace gates. Hundreds of aging veterans, their chests covered with medals, watched from the sidelines.

WORCESTER -- Who would have thought a musical acclaimed for spectacular stagecraft (a full-size helicopter replica) could translate to the intimate below-stairs audit-orium of Worcester's Foothills Theatre Company? Happily, the human dimension prevails in an enjoyable if occasionally overwrought production of "Miss Saigon. " Set in Vietnam during the final, desperate days of US-occupied Saigon, the story centers on unlikely lovers Kim, a bar girl, and Chris, a Marine. Their tragic fate, which recalls the story of "Madama Butterfly," spans two continents, the transformation...