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11 May 75
Dick,
…It isn’t very easy for me to even tell myself what the motivation was to come here. I went into this searching for something. I have it now. If I could, I would probably go home…
Adios, my friend
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Air Force 2Lt. Richard Van de Geer, from Lorain, Ohio, was a helicopter pilot assigned to the 21st Special Operations Squadron, based at Nahom Phnom, Thailand. He participated in the evacuations of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, and Saigon in 1975. When the S.S. Mayaguez was seized by Cambodian forces in May 1975, his unit was called to action. As his chopper, filled with Marines, flew to the island of Koh Tang, it was hit by enemy fire. All aboard were killed. There were no remains. Officially, Richard Van de Geer is the last American to die in the Vietnam War: his is the last name on the national Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C.
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