‘Last Days in Vietnam’: Columbia premiere to be followed by panel discussion

In April 1975, as the Vietnam War is drawing to a close, the United States had only a small contingent of diplomats and military operatives still in the country.

As the North Vietnamese Army closed in on Saigon, South Vietnamese resistance crumbled. Communist victory became inevitable.

Approximately 5,000 Americans remained with roughly 24 hours to get out. Their South Vietnamese allies, co-workers and friends faced certain imprisonment and possible death if they remained behind, yet there was no official evacuation plan in place.

With time running out, some Americans took matters into their own hands, to save as many South Vietnamese lives as possible.

That is the subject of the Academy Award-nominated documentary “Last Days of Vietnam,” directed by Rory Kennedy, the youngest daughter of former U.S. Sen. Robert Kennedy.

To mark the 40th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War, Richland Library, ETV and The State Media Co. are presenting a preview of this narrative of the Vietnam War’s chaotic end. It is told through what NPR reviewer Kenneth Turan calls “compelling first-person stories both heroic and heartbreaking.”

“ETV is proud to partner with the Richland Library and The State paper to provide a public screening and conversation to focus on the issues raised in this extraordinary documentary,” said Linda O’Bryon, ETV president and CEO. “Forty years after the fall of Saigon the impact of the Vietnam War is still being felt. We encourage the public to join us.”

American Experience “Last Days in Vietnam” airs April 28 at 9 p.m. on ETV

The panel discussion and preview will be held Sunday March 22 at 3 p.m. at the library’s Bostic Auditorium. Speakers include O’Bryon, Maj. Gen. Robert Livingston, who is the state’s Adjutant General, and South Caroliniana Library historian Fritz Hamer. ETV’s Tut Underwood will moderate.

Panelists are:

▪  Luther J. Battiste, III. In 1983 he became one of the first two African-Americans selected to Columbia City Council. He served for 15 years including two terms as mayor pro tempore.

A graduate of the University of South Carolina and Emory University Law School, Battiste was active in the civil rights movement. Today he is managing shareholder of Johnson, Toal and Battiste and is a noted trail lawyer.

▪  Khue Nguyen. The youngest of four children, Nguyen was 12 years old when the Republic of South Vietnam collapsed in 1975. His mother was a well-known news anchor in South Vietnam. His father escaped Vietnam in 1979.

After seven years of separation, the family was reunited in Columbia in 1986. Nguyen was 23. He is currently the real property manager for the S.C. Army National Guard.

▪  Julea Phan Ingold. When Ingold was 11, she and her family were on one of the last helicopter flights out of Saigon, where her father worked for the U.S. embassy. Upon arrival in the U.S., the family was sponsored by Lutheran Redeemer Church in Newberry.

Ingold completed her public education in Newberry. She has been in business for over 25 years and currently is president of Prestige Systems Carpet and Furniture Cleaning Co.

▪  Angelo Perri. Perri, a retired US Army Colonel who served in Vietnam in 1968 and 1969 as a senior adviser at a large South Vietnamese Training Center near Hue, then as deputy commander of the 3rd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division (Air mobile).

Perri then was stationed at Fort Jackson, and returned to Vietnam in 1972, where he oversaw all Army advisers at 23 South Vietnamese training centers. He was in Vietnam when the armistice was signed in February 1973.

▪  Eric Seymore. Retired Chief Warrant Officer Five Seymore flew the UH-1H (Huey) helicopter for the 114 Assault Helicopter Company in Vinh Long, Vietnam and logged more than 900 combat hours. After completing his combat tour, he joined the S.C. Army National Guard in 1972. He has accumulated an estimated 5,300 flight hours and has flown 16 models of seven different airframes.

In December, he became the last member of the S.C. National Guard from the Vietnam era to retire.

This story was originally published March 21, 2015 at 6:52 PM with the headline "‘Last Days in Vietnam’: Columbia premiere to be followed by panel discussion."