Lew Wallace High School - Quill and Blade Yearbook (Gary, IN)

Page 48 text:

a Homecom Persistent peace which had been ( end of the Henry Tho Paris negotiat were confirmed on ireement rumors ulating since the jssinger-Le Du ons January 13 anuary 23 wherf Nivor announced that Kissinger and Tho had initialled a cease-fire agreement which was to go into effect at 8 a.m., January 28 (Saigon time). President Nixon said in a televised broadcast that the agree¬ ment would “end the war and bnn, peace with honor” in Vietnam an Southeast Asia. He also explained that the agreement called for the release ofl all American POWs and the with- American force in South Vietnam within 60 days. Operation Homecoming went into motion February 12 with the release of the first 142 American prisoners of war. to Hanoi’s Gia Lam airport to pick ug the 116 men to be released in the north After a brief turnover ceremony, the were flown to Clark Air Force Base if I P Q P elmnifa debnef • ing and medical care. The scheduled release of 27 POWs in South Vietnam was delayed, for more than 12 hours due to a dispute between American and Viet Cong officers over whether the

Page 47 text:

1 Queen Holly Haller enjoys answering questions asked by Bob Guererro of WLTH radio minutes after her coronation. 2 Holly Haller reigns as the 1972-73 Basketball Homecoming Queen. 3 Dave Anton prepares to escort stunned Bev Bracich as she is recognized as the Junior Spirit Queen. 4 Sophomore and Freshman Spirit Queens are Diane Stringer, escorted by Jeff McAdams, and Sue Sosh, escorted by Pat Loftus. 5 The 1972-73 Basketball Homecoming Court: Arlene Silich, Mary Smith, Queen Holly Haller, Melinda Kelly, and Molly Shaffer. 6 Molly Shaffer congratulates Holly Haller as she is crowned by Student Council President Dave Chidester. X- • Student Life — 43

Page 49 text:

Americans could be freed before the Communists received their first plane¬ load of prisoners from the South Viet¬ namese. When all 142 prisoners had inrv 13. at Clark, thev Party Joint Military Commission and claimed Saigon had conducted 20,000 military operations since the beginning of the cease-fire. The Nixon Ac looked in better condition than had been expected and were pronounced to be in “reasonably good” health. The first POW to step on American terri¬ tory, Navy Captain Jeremiah A. Den- Paris accord by delaying the prisoner exchange. On February 28, after a day of intensive diplomatic activity in Paris, the White House announced that it had received assurance from Hanoi ■■■ are honored to have the opportunity t our country under difficult cir- tnat ;tances. We are profoundly grate- ) our Commander-in-Chief and America.” Beginning February 14, the first group of 20 POWs arrived on the U.S. mainland at Travis Air Force Base in California. After a subdued wel¬ come, in keeping with the lowkey tone : n Homecoming they dis- conference back into session if the cease-fire were to break down. It was also disclosed that the Communists had released a list of 106 Americans and 2 Thais to be released March 3. wof Munhe raeas or Ameri- can prisoners of war until the U.S. began to work to correctly implement the Paris accord. They accused the U.S. of “encouraging” the Saigon Govem- mumsts to 587. With the departure of the last troops only 8,500 American civilians remained, most of them tech¬ nicians helping the South Vietnamese armed forces.