The Vietnam War 50 years on: Two authors explore the conflict’s lasting effects

• May 1, 2023

Fifty years ago, the last American combat troops left Vietnam, although there’d be an American presence there until the fall of Saigon two years later. A half-century on, the war there may no longer be the defining catastrophe of American foreign policy in the wake of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, but the saga still intrigues and infuriates.

Two very different new books – “The Long Reckoning: A Story of War, Peace and Redemption in Vietnam” and “Getting Out of Saigon: How a 27-Year-Old American Banker Saved 113 Vietnamese Civilians” – look back to that era, offering insights into the mistakes that were made and the lessons that could be learned if we, as a nation, were inclined to study the past.

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“I’m not terribly optimistic,” says George Black, author of “The Long Reckoning.” “It’s hard to get Americans interested in history and in foreign countries in the best of times.”

Still, his book digs deep into the way the war was conducted, not just by the Americans but also by the North Vietnamese, as well as the efforts over the last 30 years to deal with the lingering aftereffects of America’s unexploded ordnances and Agent Orange. 

While Black’s book is heavily researched with a broad scope covering decades, “Getting Out of Saigon,” is a more intimate tale that reads like a thriller set in the fateful and chaotic two weeks in April 1975 when the last Americans finally fled. Ralph White was sent to Saigon by Chase to keep their branch open till the last possible moment. He focused instead on how to get the bank’s Vietnamese employees out of the country and to safety despite an utter lack of official help from the U.S. government – armed with a gun, bribe money and a pilot’s license, White recounts what it took to make his own airlift a success. 

Black and White had never met, but during a recent video interview, they discovered common ground: White’s brother-in-law, Ted Osius, was the U.S. ambassador to Vietnam during the Obama years and Black became friends with him during his research and writing. (“He was very important and pushed difficult issues,” Black says, persuading John McCain to get the Pentagon to help pay some of the costs dealing with the aftermath of Agent Orange.)

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Q. George’s book notes that there have been about 30,000 books on the French and American misadventures in Vietnam. What can your books add to the conversation?

White: When I started writing, a young woman asked me what I was writing about and I said the fall of Saigon and she said, “Oh, what’s that?” I decided I wanted to write a book that explained, “What’s that.”

We wouldn’t have the phrase “the fall of Saigon” in our vocabulary if it wasn’t for the insanity of the U.S. ambassador Graham Martin. He refused to admit that the war had been irretrievably lost well before 1975. Afterward, I would try to explain about the ambassador and people would roll their eyes and I thought I would set it out in print that he was detached from reality. 

Black: My book is rooted in a new approach to the war that challenges people to rethink what they know about it. 

For instance, I wrote about why so many of the worst impacts of the war are concentrated in a very, very small area about the size of Connecticut. There’s recent scholarship by academics who have gotten into the Vietnamese archives that recast the idea that most Americans have that this war was run by the great military genius, General [Võ Nguyên] Giáp and commanded by Ho Chi Minh.

That’s not true. The destruction of this area has to do with the two men who supplanted their influence, Le Duan, who was a Stalinist, and Nguyen Chi Thanh. They were very hard-line; Giáp and Ho Chi Minh thought their ideas about massive attacks were crazy and wouldn’t work and they didn’t. It caused incredible destruction. 

But the United States didn’t necessarily know that Le Duan was in charge or who we were fighting; General [William] Westmoreland’s memoir does not have one reference to him.

Q. How important was it for you to include the names of the people who were doing good, often by using unconventional means, into the history books? 

Black: That ability to think outside the box was important with everyone I wrote about. My main cluster of characters are not known to readers, and it was especially important to get in not just the Americans but the Vietnamese people – not just as names, but as people. The doctors and scientists, like Dr. [Ton‐That] Tung and those who took his work through the next generation of research about Agent Orange, were major, serious scientists who are brilliant and had first-hand experience in the valley where the spraying happened. Their work was written off as propaganda for 25 years and I think their reputation is important. 

White: It was one of the compelling reasons for writing the book. My primary success factor was luck, but second, were the foreign officers who were like saints and were running clandestine operations, especially Ken Moorefield and Shep Lowman, as well as others like Bob Lanigan, who commandeered barges and took thousands of Vietnamese down the Saigon River.

Q. Ralph, you were willing to break rules yourself to save your employees – you even considered stealing a plane to fly them out.

White: The more that the ambassador told me over and over that I couldn’t get them out and the deputy chief of mission told me they would prevent me from doing it, the more I just became absolutely resolved to get around them. It was not necessarily just about doing the right thing, it was about not being stopped by them. 

I had a pilot’s license. I could helm a vessel. I carried a gun. I had bribe money. But those out-of-the-box ideas did not come to fruition. What worked was sleuthing and stealth and willfulness. 

Q. What similarities and differences do you see between the Vietnam War and the ones in Iraq and Afghanistan?

White: We didn’t do a very good job in either case. But there are a lot of differences. Congress issued 130,000 visas for people to enter our country during the fall of Saigon but nothing like that happened during the fall of Kabul. We had large processing centers and massive city-sized refugee camps – I was in a few myself as a refugee – and they were well-organized. We did nothing like that for Afghanistan. 

Q. What do you think we owe the people and government of Vietnam at this point?

White: The war has been over for 50 years. We should treat them, individually and as a country, with respect and dignity. Our state department should treat them the way we treat every other country so they can succeed or fail on their own, not because of what we did to harm them. 

Black: That happened very much under Ted Osius’ ambassadorship. There was a blip in the Trump years but Biden’s attitude is very much what you’re talking about too and I’ve been told, he is planning to go to Vietnam in May, which I think is great.

The most important sentence in my book is when these American veterans show up in a village in Vietnam in the 1990s and say, “What do you need and how can we help?” Every person in my book took their lead from the Vietnamese, instead of saying, “Here’s the solution to your problem.” 

These days, the answer may not be what you’d expect. They want more trade and economic development and a close partnership because we have a common interest in keeping China out of the South China Sea and they worry about China dominating their culture. 

But they’d also love to get more help with more provinces affected by Agent Orange. The money involved in helping families who need it is a pittance. It’s what they call “decimal dust’ in Washington. A lot of families have aging parents with kids who were affected by Agent Orange from birth and have horrific 24-hour-a-day needs. The Vietnamese point out that this should not be a partisan issue anymore, and they’re right.

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​ Orange County Register 

Man who killed father on Laguna Niguel trail committed to mental-health hospital

• May 1, 2023

A 22-year-old man was committed indefinitely on Monday, May 1, to a state mental-health facility after he was found to have been insane when he killed his father on a Laguna Niguel trail the day after Thanksgiving in 2018.

Maximilian Gregory Ludwig was convicted March 21 of murder with a special-circumstances allegation of lying in wait before Orange County Superior Court Judge Patrick Donahue, who also found the defendant was insane when he killed Christopher Ludwig, 59.

Ludwig could have faced life in prison without the possibility of parole, but because he was found to have been insane he will be committed indefinitely and can petition for release when his sanity has been restored.

As has been the case throughout the legal proceedings, many relatives and friends attended the hearing to support Ludwig.

Four out of five psychiatric experts who analyzed the defendant found that he was insane at the time. Some of the experts said Ludwig was a paranoid schizophrenic who believed he had to kill his father because the victim was killing others, including relatives.

Ludwig’s delusions led him to believe his father was “evil” and that when he called authorities they would understand what he did was OK, some of the experts said.

After Ludwig had some treatment for schizophrenia, he was “quite disturbed” about what he did, psychologist Richard Lettieri said.

Another expert, psychologist Roberto Flores Deapodaca, was the lone dissenter who said Ludwig was sane at the time.

Ludwig killed his father on a trail near Highlands Avenue.

Senior Deputy District Attorney Jennifer Walker said Ludwig took his father out for a hike on the same trail the day before. Donahue noted that the defendant knocked the victim down and then attacked him with rocks until he was dead.

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​ Orange County Register 

La Palma gathers for Festival of Nations

• May 1, 2023

La Palma celebrated its community with a hometown parade on Saturday that was followed up with a celebration of global diversity.

The annual Festival of Nations drew crowds to line Walker Street for the parade, cheering as local school marching bands and organizations walked the route.

Then community members filled Central Park enjoying food and performances representing cultures from around the world and playing carnival games and enjoying other activities.

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​ Orange County Register 

Wrexham AFC’s U.S. Tour heads to Dignity Health Sports Park for a meeting with Galaxy II

• May 1, 2023

Wrexham AFC, the lower division club in the English football league system that garnered publicity after actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney took over as owners in 2020, is coming to Dignity Health Sports Park.

Wrexham, who recently won promotion to the Premier League’s fourth-tier League Two, will face L.A. Galaxy II, the reserve team of the Galaxy, July 22 at 7:30 p.m. at Dignity Health Sports Park.

Tickets go on sale Thursday.

Galaxy II is in its first season in the MLS Next Pro and usually plays its home games in the DHSP Track and Field Stadium. The roster is mostly made up of young first team and players coming up from the academy system.

Wrexham AFC was founded in 1864. The Wales-based club earned its first promotion to League Two since 2007-08. The club finished with 111 points, winning 34 goals of a 46-game schedule and scoring 116 goals.

“We’re looking forward to our U.S. Tour as we gear up for our return to the EFL,” Wrexham coach Phil Parkinson said in a statement. “We’ve enjoyed meeting supporters who have traveled over from America to visit us this season, and it will be a fantastic occasion to play against American opposition in front of more of these new fans.”

The club was highlighted in a recent documentary series “Welcome to Wrexham” which aired on FX.

Wrexham’s U.S. Tour will also include stops in North Carolina for a meeting with Chelsea July 19 and Manchester United July 25 in San Diego.

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​ Orange County Register 

Politicians get into position for 2026 California elections

• May 1, 2023

This past week, Eleni Kounalakis announced she was running to succeed Gov. Gavin Newsom in 2026.

Now, I know what some of you are thinking: “Who?”

Eleni Kounalakis is the lieutenant governor of the state of California. She’s in her second term, actually, having just been re-elected last year.

As of right now, her campaign website (eleniforca.com) is pretty sparse, with a consultant-crafted, buzzword-filled biography of her the only substantive content on the page. You know, stuff like, “She has been a proud leader in California’s fight against climate change and has showcased California’s progress and leadership on a global level.”

It’s both heroic-ish and super vague, because lieutenant governors don’t actually have much power or influence. Kounalakis, in other words, doesn’t have much to tout because, well, there’s not much for her to do as lieutenant governor.

Fun Fact: “In 2019, Lt. Governor Eleni Kounalakis ‘behested’ $300,000 from labor unions to renovate her government office with new furniture and artwork.”

It’s like someone working as a grocery store cashier exaggerating on their resume that they have deep experience “directly interfacing with their organization’s clients, computing complex monetary transactions and ensuring the successful, efficient delivery of goods and services.”

That’s going to be Kounalakis’ whole campaign, basically, when talking about her governing record. Other than serving on some government boards back in the day, she has otherwise previously served as U.S. ambassador to Hungary under President Barack Obama. But ambassadorships, especially to a small country like Hungary,  basically consists of hanging out and hosting dinner parties. So her political record is basically free of contentious, meaningful decision-making.

To say something less critical, though, I have interviewed Kounalakis a couple of times over the years and I’ve found her to be actually smart, which I can’t say for most electeds in California.

Anyway, what made Kounalakis’ announcement interesting was that former California Controller Betty Yee immediately jumped out and said she, too, would be running for governor.

Since I’m now a professional campaign website analyst, Yee’s website (bettyyee.com) is pretty out-of-date, with a banner declaring her intention to run for vice chair of the California Democratic Party, from two years ago.

Betty Yee has been around in government for a while, but I can’t think of any reason why anyone would vote for her besides her family.

My strongest memory of her came toward the end of her time as controller, when transparency group Open the Books sued Yee to provide them with line-by-line spending by California’s government agencies so the public could see for themselves how their money was spent. She refused, stonewalled and fought the request in court, even though all other states made such data available.

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On top of that, under her watch, California was late in submitting state government’s comprehensive annual financial reports. Is that the sort of leadership we need in the governor’s office? Nope.

No to Betty Yee; her record is garbage.

Meanwhile, state Treasurer Fiona Ma is planning to run for lieutenant governor. Ma is best known for championing the California high-speed rail project back when she was in the California Legislature long ago.

It would be one thing if the project Ma championed was actually up and running, as it should have been. But, well, you know. The high-speed rail project is still many years and an extra $100 billion away compared to when it was first proposed.

Ma couldn’t do much damage to California as lieutenant governor, but she’s done enough.

Sal Rodriguez can be reached at salrodriguez@scng.com

​ Orange County Register 

CIF Southern Section baseball playoff pairings for wild-card round, first round

• May 1, 2023

CIF-SS BASEBALL PLAYOFFS

All games start 3:15 p.m. unless noted

DIVISION 1

First round

Thursday, May 4

Hart at Notre Dame/SO

Bonita at Arcadia

El Dorado at San Dimas

Rancho Cucamonga at Corona

Mira Costa at Cypress

Sierra Canyon at Bishop Amat

Capistrano Valley at Etiwanda

JSerra at Yucaipa

Warren at Huntington Beach

Damien at Villa Park

Orange Lutheran at Arlington

Harvard-Westlake at Palos Verdes

Ayala at La Mirada

Pacifica at Torrance

Millikan at Maranatha

Foothill at Santa Margarita

DIVISION 2

Wild-card round

Wednesday, May 3

A: Dos Pueblos at Moorpark

B: Northview at Citrus Valley

C: Burroughs/B at Lakewood

D: Monrovia at Great Oak

First round

Friday, May 5

Winner A at Aquinas

Temecula Valley at Capistrano Valley Christian

Crescenta Valley at Ocean View

Winner B at Quartz Hill

Crespi at Grace Brethren

West Torrance at Simi Valley

Santiago/C at Kaiser

Oaks Christian at Mater Dei

Newport Harbor at Gahr

Fountain Valley at Fullerton

Norco at Calabasas

Royal at West Ranch

Paloma Valley at Tesoro

Charter Oak at Woodbridge

Winner D at South Hills

DIVISION 3

First round

Thursday, May 4

Long Beach Wilson at La Serna

Walnut at Buena

Newbury Park at Redondo

Corona Centennial at Yora Linda

Temescal Canyon at Edison

La Salle at Flintridge Prep

Beckman at Long Beach Poly

California at San Marcos

Serra at Tahquitz

Segerstrom at Palm Desert

Redlands East Valley at Summit

Sonora at Riverside Poly

South Torrance at Highland

San Clemente at Cerritos

Westlake at Valencia/V

DIVISION 4

First round

Friday, May 5

Crean Lutheran at Pasadena Poly

Los Altos at Nogales

Chino at El Rancho

Burbank at Elsinore

Arrowhead Christian at Orange

Laguna Hills at Sultana

Chaparral at Adelanto

Malibu at La Habra

St. Bonaventure at Northwood

Anaheim Canyon at Oak Hills

Valley View at Citrus Hill

Glendora at Barstow

Santa Barbara at South Pasadena

El Segundo at Brea Olinda

Ramona at Don Lugo

Hemet at Linfield Christian

DIVISION 5

First round

Thursday, May 4

Bishop Montgomery, bye

Oxnard at Santa Paula

La Palma Kennedy at Montebello

Anaheim at Marshall

Century at Windward

Calvary Chapel/SA at Katella

Pasadena at de Toledo

Victor Valley at Apple Valley

Peninsula at Milken

Whittier Christian at Hillcrest

Liberty at Colton

Salesian at Estancia

JW North at Savanna

Schurr at St. Anthony

Ontario at Village Christian

Carter at Shadow Hills

DIVISION 6

Wild-card round

Wednesday, May 3

A: Rialto at Western Christian

B: Paramount at Vasquez

C: Costa Mesa at Desert Mirage

D: Excelsior Charter at Castaic

E: Santiago/GG at Lancaster

F: Sierra Vista at Arroyo

G: Indio at AB Miller

H: Rancho Verde at Xavier Prep

I: St. Monica Prep at Providence/B

First round

Friday, May 5

Winner A at Bloomington

Winner B at Loara

Winner C at Trinity Classical Academy

Winner D at Oxford Academy

Winner E at Jurupa Valley

Garey at Notre Dame/R

Gabrielino at Mayfair

Winner F at Norwalk

Carpinteria at Desert Christian/L

Winner G at Lakeside

Temecula Parep at Hesperia Christian

Winner H at San Marino

Beverly Hills at Alhambra

Los Amigos at Dunn

Winner I at Campbell Hall

DIVISION 7

Wild-card round

Tuesday, May 2

A: Webb at South El Monte

Q: St. Monica Academy at Fillmore

Wednesday, May 3

B: Winner at Don Bosco Tech

C: Coachella Valley at Desert Chapel

D: Lennox Academy at Valley Christian/SM

E: Acad. Career Exploration at Environmental Charter

F: Shalhevet at Thacher

G: Redlands Advent at Cal Lutheran

H: Littlerock at Acad. Academic Excellence

I: Coastal Christian at Brentwood

J: Santa Rosa Academy at Palm Valley

K: Edgewood at Bethel Christian/R

L: Cantwell Sacred Heart at Hawthorne

M: Oakwood at Calvary Chapel/D

N: Pacifica Christian/OC at Rolling Hills Prep

O: Desert Christian Academy at Artesia

P: Hamilton at Loma Linda Academy

R: Winner Q at Gladstone

First round

Thursday, May 4

Winner B at Ganesha

Winner C at Mesa Grande

Winner D at Newbury Park Adv.

Winner E at Fontana

Winner F at Leuzinger

Winner G at Cornerstone Chr.

Winner H at Nuview Bridge

Winner I at New Roads

Winner J at Banning

Winner K at San Bernardino

Winner L at Cobalt

Winner M at United Christian Acad.

Winner N at Coast Union

Winner O at Villanova Prep

Winner P at Animo Leadership

Winner R at St. Genevieve

.

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​ Orange County Register 

LA Mayor Karen Bass opens Milken Conference, which features John Legend, Ashton Kutcher, Reps. Pete Aguilar and Maxine Waters

• May 1, 2023

BEVERLY HILLS — Mayor Karen Bass, entertainer John Legend, actors Ashton Kutcher and Seth Rogan and Sen. Joe Manchin are among Monday’s scheduled participants at the Milken Institute Global Conference in Beverly Hills.

Bass will deliver introductory remarks before Legend participates on a panel on the path to reentry after incarceration. Legend founded FREEAMERICA, a campaign seeking to transform the nation’s criminal justice system.

Kutcher will participate in a discussion titled “Head in the Clouds: Embracing the Potential and Promise of Artificial Intelligence,” in his role as a co-founder of the venture capital firm Sound Ventures.

Rogan and alternative medicine advocate Deepak Chopra will participate in a discussion on “Lifestyle Medicine for the Brain.” Rogan and his wife, Lauren Miller-Rogen, founded Hilarity for Charity, a national nonprofit organization providing care for families coping with Alzheimer’s disease.

Manchin, D-West Virginia, the chairman of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, will be joined by ExxonMobil CEO Darren Woods in a discussion titled, “Fueling the Future,” moderated by David Faber, an anchor of the CNBC program, “Squawk on the Street,” broadcast live from the floor of the New York Stock Exchange at the start of each trading day.

Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Los Angeles, will be interviewed by Blair Smith, the senior director of the Milken Institute’s Center for Financial Markets on “inclusive capitalism.”

Rep. Pete Aguilar, D-Redlands, the chair of the House Democratic Caucus, the No. 3 position in the House Democratic leadership, will be interviewed by Dan Carol, the senior director of the Milken Institute’s Center for Financial Markets, about the topic, “Emerging Market America.”

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin will be interviewed by Wall Street Journal editor-at-large Gerard Baker on the topic “Governing America.”

All of the conference’s public panels will be streamed on the institute’s website, milkeninstitute.org. A complete schedule is available at milkeninstitute.org/events/global-conference-2023/program.

The conference’s theme is “Advancing a Thriving World.”

“As we move away from the pandemic and pivot forward, it’s clear that large portions of the global community do not feel they are thriving,” said Richard Ditizio, the CEO of the Santa Monica-based Milken Institute. “We are tasking our attending leaders from government, industry, medicine, and the philanthropic community to bring their best thinking toward fixing that — to see advancing as an action verb.

“The willingness of our global constituents to engage so earnestly across a spectrum of issues fuels optimism about the future we can create.”

The Milken Institute bills itself a nonprofit, nonpartisan think tank focused on accelerating measurable progress on the path to a meaningful life, with a focus on financial, physical, mental and environmental health.

The conference continues through Wednesday.

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​ Orange County Register 

Do stagnant California credit scores suggest consumer struggles?

• May 1, 2023

”Survey says” looks at various rankings and scorecards judging geographic locations while noting these grades are best seen as a mix of artful interpretation and data.

Buzz: The average credit score was stable last year in California – as well as across the nation – after a string of previous improvements.

Source: My trusty spreadsheet looked at “FICO” credit scores by state as compiled by Experian, reviewing data for September 2022, September 2021, and 2019’s second quarter. These are estimates of bill-paying ability, scored on a scale from 300 to 850.

Topline

California’s 721 average credit score in 2022 ranked 25th among the states. The same score in 2021 ranked 24th best. The U.S. averaged 714 for both years.

Back in pre-pandemic 2019, California’s average score was 208 (No. 27). That 13-point improvement over three tumultuous years tied for eighth-best in the nation. In the same timeframe, the national score was up 11 points from 703.

Details

There’s a decided north-south split in this U.S. bill-paying metric.

Last year’s best credit scores were found in Minnesota, with a 742 average. Then came Vermont at 736, Washington and Wisconsin at 735, and New Hampshire and South Dakota at 734.

Lowest scores? Mississippi at 680, then Louisiana at 689, Alabama at 691, and Oklahoma and Texas at 693. By the way, Florida was No. 37 at 707.

The biggest three-year improvements were in some fast-growth states: Alaska, Arizona, Idaho and Nevada – all up 16 points. Texas and Florida both tied California at No. 8 with 13-point improvements.

The smallest gains were in North Dakota (up 6), South Dakota (up 7) and Connecticut and Nebraska (up 8).

But scores didn’t move much in the past year across the nation.

There were 25 states that had no change in 2022, including California. And 14 states had a mere 1-point gain – including Texas and Florida.

And six states had FICO score drops: Connecticut, off 3 points, and Washington, D.C., Michigan, Mississippi, New Jersey and New York off 1 point.

The biggest gains? Alaska, up 6, then South Carolina and Utah, up 3, and Arizona, Arizona, Colorado, and Idaho, up 2.

Caveat

Credit scores are by no means perfect indicators of a person’s financial capabilities. But look at 2022 state credit scores to get a taste of what this yardstick tells you about bill-paying potential.

The best was Minnesota’s 742. Experian’s website says 23% of borrowers nationwide with that same score have late payments on credit reports.

California’s 721 is within a group of borrowers having late payments on 29% of their credit reports.

Then there’s Mississippi’s 680, the national low. That cohort had late payments in 36% of their histories.

Another view

California shopper psyche, as measured by April’s Conference Board’s Consumer Confidence Indexes, is at a nine-month low and in a deeper funk than the nation.

The overall statewide confidence yardstick is down 8% in a year vs. just a 4% drop nationwide.

A key reason is that economic expectations are dreary, with the Conference Board’s financial outlook measurement down 12% in a year both in California and the U.S.

And the geographic confidence gap comes from views of the “present situation” – with the sentiment about current finances down 2% statewide since April 2022 but up 2% nationally in the same period.

Bottom line

Last year’s stagnant credit scores are hardly bad news, but they are another sign of a cooling economy.

The end of most of the government stimulus plans plus the pain of high inflation forced many consumers to borrow to maintain their aggressive shopping habits. More debt isn’t often good for credit scores.

In the short run, the ongoing spending spree is an economic boost. And the hot job market is a key catalyst to overall economic oomph and credit-score stability.

But flat credit scores are in line with sagging confidence, suggesting there’s a limit on how far shoppers can go.

Jonathan Lansner is the business columnist for the Southern California News Group. He can be reached at jlansner@scng.com

​ Orange County Register