This is the final letter—note, rather—that my father, James E. Welch, sent to my mother in Idaho from Saigon before leaving for Phu Quoc Island.
April 21
Dearest Nancy
I am departing today for Phu Quoc Island with my whole staff. I have just paid off Hoa [our cook] and gave her money for a plane ticket if she wants to join me.
Am taking Phuoc and Mai with me as well as Mai Lan so we may have new responsibilities when I get them evacuated.
Phu Quoc (southern tip) is about the most secure area in SVN now.
Must go love – rec’d your letters but have destroyed them, so I have no answers now.
More later. Love, Jim
These “Stories of Vietnam” have offered a historical and personal glimpse into the Vietnam Era, a history worth preserving and sharing. If you agree, please support my efforts by liking, commenting, or sharing.
I am the author of the nonfiction book, For the Love of Vietnam: a war, a family, a CIA official, and the best evacuation story ever heard, which combines the history of the Vietnam War with tales from my family’s lives including how we resided in Saigon in 1974-75 as the North Vietnamese Army was making its way toward the city, and how, at the eleventh hour, my father, a CIA official, coordinated the rescue of over 1,000 South Vietnamese—the staff and families of “House Seven.”
I continue to publish current and retrospective “Stories of Vietnam” here on Substack, adding layers to my own stories and featuring other voices, including those of Vietnam veterans and Vietnam refugees. I reside in the Capital District of New York.
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