From Louis Boccardi
President
The Associated Press
New York, USA



I has been assigned to cover the war from Sa Huynh, Quang Ngai through the DMZ, Quang Tri.
After the fall of Ban Me Thuot in mid-March and of Hue on March 22, 1975, I was advised to evacuate from Danang to Saigon along with other western journalists.
I had different shoes to walk: my father and my 5 younger siblings were just arriving from Hue to Danang. I just cannot leave them in danger to jump into any aircraft. I decided to stay.
After the fall of Danang on March 29, I quickly became the enemy of new regime. They forced me to clear the minefields around Danang Airbase without map or military device—just the showel bought from market with our own expense. I experienced some 30 failures to "liberate" myself from my fatherland by boat, and paid several years in jail for this "crime".

Finally, The Associated Press submitted this petition to Vietnam Deputy Prime Minister, asking for my family to leave. My wife and my son followed me to depart from Vietnam on Oct 31, 1990, as the result of the efforts made by The Assoiciated Press in 8 consecutive years.