April 1975 – The South Falls…

Saigon Falls To NVA Forces

NVA Tank rolls into Saigon

Tan Son Nhut AB under Attack

Chaos at the US Embassy

…Evacuation…By air and

by sea

Operation Frequent Wind

Guam

Midway

PendletonChaffee

Eglin

IndiantownGap

…Exodus…

US Department of State

P AArmy National Guard

Forces Command

April 1975 – TF New Arrivals… US

Department of Defense

MILITARY TASK FORCE ELEMENTS

Dept of the Army

Fort Indiantown Gap 1975

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,

“…Give me your tired, your poor,

Fort Indiantown Gap 1975

I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.

From “The New Colossus”By Emma Lazarus, 1883

Photo: Jay Fine, Caters

…meanwhile…in the US…

At Camp Pendleton, California

At Eglin AFB, Florida

At Fort Chaffee, Arkansas

The US Departments of State and Defense gear up to prepare,operate and maintain four

Reception Centers to process and resettle more than 130,000 Vietnamese and

Cambodian war refugees

And at

Fort Indiantown Gap

An interagency task force • Department of Defense• Department of State• Pennsylvania National Guard• Non-Governmental Organizations

Begins to prepare post facilities to receive at least 10,000 refugees

Fort Indiantown Gap Gets Ready

Temporary Civilian &Military medical Services and Facilities set up

Aid agencies get organized

The Vietnamese Arrive…

Planeloads of refugeesbegan to arrive at HarrisburgInternational from all acrossthe Pacific, around the clock

…process through Customs…

Something quick to eat, then…

…on to FIG…First glimpses of a new home…

…and no doubt sad memories of home left behind.

…moving in…Billets assignments

Family areas assigned

Linens issue

…moving in…

A place to sleep, not much, but for the youngsters, it’s an adventure…

Once Army mess halls, now Dining Facilities, they’re ready to serve

…first day in camp…Getting ID cards

…first day in camp…Medical Exams

…where to resettle?The mission of TF New Arrivals?

Find sponsors and new homes all overAmerica for over 23,000 refugees

Volunteer Agencies do the hardwork of finding sponsors and newhomes for 23,000 refugees

Camp life English Classes for all,

Young and old!

Camp Life

House CleaningHome cooking it isn’t, but it’ll do!

A haircut in the shade

Camp lifeLearning American baseball…

Teaching Americans ping pong…

Camp lifeReligious life in the camp

Camp Life – Fourth of July 1975

Clothing IssueMeasure once, twice, more?

Clothing Issue

It gets cold in Pennsylvania!

And life in the camp goes on…

Marriages and births at Fort Indiantown Gap - 1975

..while the support work goes on…

Chris Crowley, USAID, Area 6Civilian Coordinatorat work in the camp

Charlie Oellig displaysThe Daily Camp

newspaper,DAT LAN Published in English,

Vietnamese and Cambodian.

Major Ed O’Brien CA Spt Bn Exec coordinating all the details of Camp support.

1LT Brian Buckoski, Bn Assistant S4, making

sure the Red Crosshas everything it needs

Capt George Padar, Area 6 Mil Coordinator, behind the scenes, making things happen.

1LT Schuback getting Medevac flights off the ground

..and on…

Major Claude Raffin,Bn S3, meetingrefugees flights.

CPT Frank Estigo, Bn S4, keeping

everyone warm .

LTC Lundquist, wife Bertha and son Carl relaxing after a long Day’s work in the camp.

1LT John Williams assigns families to quarters

CPT Glenn Siegal Mil Area Coordinator at

The Gap

CPT Falconer getting theheating to work in thoseold barracks.

..and a new American familyIs ready to join the refugee experiment we call America

US Army ReservistsCivil Affairs Reservists made it happen!

The Civil Affairs Support Bn

LTC Carl W. LundquistCivil Affairs Support BnCommanding Officer

Civil Affairs Support Battalion

(Composite/Provisional)`1LT

Williams

1LT Eure

CPT Falconer

LTC Lundquist MAJ O’Brien

CPT Smith

1LT BuckoskiSP4 Bell1LT Shuback

MAJ Calain

1LT Carr

LTC Tillman

CPT Roessler CPT O’Brien

1LT Carlson

MAJ Raffin

MSG Williams

SGT Mendzef

SSG James

CPT Dallas

`1LTMiller

Missing:SSG HindsCPT EstigoCW2 RodgersCPT SiegalCPT Padar

CPT Fredericks

US Army Reservists, then…

…and now…

COL Carl W. Lundquist and his wife Bertha celebrating 60 years of marriage (2011). Also shown are son Carl, his wife Vicki, and daughter Linnea, & every person in this photo is a veteran of the US Army. COL Lundquist retired after 37 years of service, from the Pacific in WWII, to Germany during the Korean Conflict, to Indiatown Gap to resettle refugees, and to the Middle East as a peacekeeper. He is also a retired school teacher. He currently lives in Boston where he very much enjoys being a man about town!

Vicki Carl M. Bertha Carl W. Linnea

…and now…

LTC Brian Buckoski retired from the US Army and is now a DA civilian at Aberdeen Proving Grounds, MD.

Glenn Siegal, with George Padar at a reunion at Indiantown Gap. Glenn served in a Civil Affairs Co. in VN. He continued his service with USAR Civil Affairs Units before and after serving at Indiantown Gap. He recently retired from the GSA and is happily substitute teaching in an Elementary School.

…and now…COL George Z. Padar retired from the US Army Reserve in 1994 and from Public School teaching in 2003. These days he’s busy working to preserve the history of Army Civil Affairs in the past half century.

George and Brian Buckoskireminiscing about the days at Indiantown Gap

George meeting with the PA NG Military Museum Director Charlie Oellig at Indiantown Gap. MG (ret) Smoker founded the Museum

MG Smoker adopted a young refugee at Indiantown Gap in 1975. His son David attended the USAF Military Academy. COL Smoker is a Commander in the PA Air National Guard.MG Smoker passed on in 2010.

A Refugee Thank YouWe’ll leave this beautiful camp with too much sadness and sorrowness that have never faced before. We shall dispose behind us all souvenirs, such an unbreakable and impossible to clear up from our best memories forever. They’ll bear in our good mind up the last breath of our lives even thought the warm welcome and much helpful from our new friends in the lovely country. Of course, the majority of American’s people were refugee since the previous days, not different from our case that we are the latest refugee came from Cambodia. Only the refugee knows better how difficulties, miserables, and suffering and sorrow in life that the refugee have faced. That’s why we found no proper words enough to express our true heart to the American who is kind enough and try their best to help too too much. We are grateful to you and pray a lot for Lord Jesus Christ help you to succeed everything in life. We still have a strongly expect to see you again. Good bye. America not too big.

Thiem Tech Kong and Friends(Found written on the ouside wall of barracks 5-18 at Fort Indiantown Gap, the 11th of December 1975, by 1Lt Gary D. Carlson)