GUNLINE Vietnam 1972 - Page 5 
GUNLINE Vietnam 1972 - Page 5 
  | Troops Leave Vietnam For Thailand BasesStrength “Lowered”July 3, 1972 |
| Saigon (UPI) – The U.S. Command beat by one day President Nixon’s deadline of lowering U.S. troop strength to below 49,000 men in South Vietnam by June 30, spokesmen said Monday.
The command last week withdrew 6,000 men from its Vietnam-based U.S. force to beat the Friday deadline by a single day, spokesmen said. Military sources said about 1,300 of the U.S. servicemen were simply transferred to neighboring Thailand, where they were assigned to aid in air war over Indochina. Spokesmen said that as last Thursday, therer were 48,000 Americans based in South Vietnam. Nixon had ordered U.S. troop strength to below 49,000 by Friday. In addition to the Vietnam-based Americans, approximately 55,000 airmen are based in Thailand and Guam, and another 42,000 men are serving offshore with U.S. 7th fleet aircraft carriers, cruisers, destroyers and other warships. U.S. officers said Air Force strength in Vietnam dropped last week by 1,400 men to a total of 13,100. They said about 1,000 of the airmen ‘withdrawn’ simply switched to Thai bases. Another 300 Marine airmen also were pulled out of Vietnam, reducing the number of leathernecks to 2,200. All of those who left South Vietnam went to Thailand, the officers said. The U.S. Army in Vietnam lost 4,000 men from its rolls last week, spokesmen said, and now has 31,200. Navy strength dropped 300 to 2,200. The strength of the U.S. Coast Guard remained steady at 100. The United States flies regularly out of more airbases in Thailand than it does in South Vietnam. Seven bases handle U.S. military traffic in the Kingdom, while in Vietnam U.S. warplanes fly only to three. Military spokesmen said that the strength of U.S. forces in Vietnam last week was the lowest since April 1965, when there were 36,000 U.S. servicemen based there. |
