Word: retreat
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...Kontum, 68 aircraft, grounded because of a lack of spare parts, were destroyed to keep them from falling into enemy hands. As the ARVN forces moved southward, the South Vietnamese air force flew in and bombed every bridge after the ground troops crossed it. It was a last retreat. No one is planning to go back for a long time...
...economic and military value; they also contain vital facilities such as harbors and airstrips that offer the best opportunity for successful defense. Although most American military experts rejected the enclave strategy when Gavin first proposed it, many of them are now giving Thieu high marks for his strategy of retreat...
Gavin himself, now chairman of Arthur D. Little Corp., a Cambridge think tank, argues that Thieu's plan of retreat actually bears little resemblance to his own original enclave theory, which was designed as a first tactical step toward extricating U.S. forces from Viet Nam. Gavin is pessimistic about the chances for success of the South Vietnamese strategy. "The difficulties of trying to keep control are so obviously beyond Thieu," he told TIME last week, "and the penetration of Saigon by the North is so great that what I get is a very gloomy picture of Saigon...
Still, the arguments for abandoning the provinces make some military sense. All the surrendered provinces were heavily infested with Communist forces. In the Central Highlands, only the provincial capitals remained firmly in government hands; the surrounding areas had long since fallen into Communist hands. Thus the retreat should allow Saigon to mass its units better in concentrated areas. As it was, ARVN forces were strung out across the country, firing away at dubious targets from thin lines-with few reinforcements available to mount consistent offensives...
Despite these grim possibilities, there were those last week who held to an optimistic interpretation of Thieu's great retreat. Many analysts, especially in the Pentagon, felt that Saigon had realistically given up provinces it was bound to lose anyway, shortened its supply lines, consolidated its forces and prepared a more defensible perimeter. Beyond that, it could be argued that the Communists would have to divert considerable effort and energy to consolidate their hold on the surrendered provinces...