The man shifted nervously on the cot, wondering if he would live to see the gold. "Never make threats," his visitor said patiently.
T-55 Tank at Former Presidential Palace
That's how the story begins.
South Vietnamese President Nguyen Van Thieu fled the country on April 21, 1975, apparently forgetting that he had pledged to personally fight to the death.
In the final hours of the war, did he and other corrupt leaders leave behind some of their ill-gotten wealth? Robert Anderson is about to find out. And before it's all over, he'll wish he never did.
A bit of history: The North Vietnamese Army tank made famous by photographs that showed it crashing through the gate at the former Presidential Palace on April 30, 1975 was a Soviet-design T-55. It is distinguishable from its predecessor T-54 model by the twin fuel drums mounted on the rear deck.
General Duong Van Minh, president for barely two days, formally surrendered the country at the palace steps. The man who accepted it was Colonel Bui Tin, a newspaper editor by training. Mr. Tin appears in the WGBH-Boston video production, Vietnam: An American History.
