50 years ago, Vinh Nguyen was a teen in during the fall of then-Saigon in Vietnam. Nguyen was smuggled out of the country in the early 1980s, and has made Des Moines his home for the last several decades. Nguyen is the president of the Vietnamese American Community in Iowa and he shares his memories surrounding the end of the Vietnam War.
Also this episode, political scientist Jim McCormick discusses how the war impacted the United States' foreign policy 50 years on. We hear from two Vietnam veterans from Iowa, Ron Langel and Roger Elliott.
Guests:
- Jim McCormick, professor emeritus of political science, Iowa State University
- Ron Langel, retired sergeant, U.S. Army
- Roger Elliott, retired master sergeant, Iowa Army National Guard
- Vinh Nguyen, president, Vietnamese American Community in Iowa
