Good morning, Whitewater.
Palm Sunday in town will bring rain, with the possibility of sleet in the morning, and a high of forty-four. Sunrise is 6:40 and sunset 7:17, for 12h 37m 03s of daytime. The moon is a waxing gibbous with 70.9% of its visible disk illuminated.
Scientist Patrick Moore contends – absurdly, really – that it would be safe to drink Roundup herbicide. He went on French television to say as much, and when an interviewer offered him a glass to test Moore’s conviction, he became…less confident:
(Moore’s been identified as Monsanto lobbyist, but Monsanto denies any business relationship to him.)
The interviewer’s question seems fair: in this case, why won’t Moore put his claims about others’ risks to his test?
On this day in 1973, the United States completes her withdrawal of combat troops from Vietnam:
U.S. Forces Out of Vietnam; Hanoi Frees the Last P.O.W.
By Joseph B. Treaster
Special to The New York Times
Saigon, South Vietnam, March 29 — The last American troops left South Vietnam today, leaving behind an unfinished war that has deeply scarred this country and the United States.
There was little emotion or joy as they brought to a close almost a decade of American military intervention.
Remaining after the final jet transport lifted off from Tan Son Nhut air base at 5:53 P.M. were about 800 Americans on the truce observation force who will leave tomorrow and Saturday. A contingent of 159 Marine guards and about 50 military attaches also stayed behind.
The fighting men were gone, but United States involvement in South Vietnam was far from ended.
When Gen. Frederick C. Weyand presided over the furling of the colors of the United States Military Assistance Command, Vietnam, this afternoon, he told a handful of American servicemen, “You can hold your heads up high for having been a part of this selfless effort.”
In a second address later on in the afternoon, delivered in halting Vietnamese, General Weyland declared: “Our mission has been accomplished. I depart with a strong feeling of pride in what we have achieved, and in what our achievement represents.”
As the last American commander in Vietnam said good-bye to the huge white tropical building that was sometimes called Pentagon East, a force of 7,200 American civilians employed by the Department of Defense was standing under the eaves.