Anniversary of American military’s departure from Vietnam

March 29, 2013 marks the 40th anniversary of the last U.S. combat troops leaving Vietnam.

While the fall of Saigon two years later, with its indelible images of frantic helicopter evacuations, is remembered as the final day of the Vietnam War, March 29 in many ways marks an anniversary that holds greater meaning for many who fought, protested or otherwise lived it.

In this March 29, 1973, photo, Camp Alpha, Uncle Sam’s out-processing center, was chaos in Saigon. Lines of bored soldiers snaked through customs and briefing rooms.

Americans troops leave Vietnam

Surrounded by luggage of other departing GIs, a U.S. Air Force airman reads a paperback novel as he waits to begin processing at Camp Alpha on Saigon’s Tan Son Nhut airbase in Saigon, March 27, 1973.

Americans troops leave Vietnam

Adm. John S. McCain Jr., left, and his son, Lt. Cmdr. John S. McCain III, meet for the first time after the younger McCain’s release from a Vietnamese prisoner-of-war camp in Jacksonville, Florida, March 31, 1973.

Americans troops leave Vietnam

An American GI takes a nap atop his luggage March 27, 1973, as he and other troops wait to begin out-processing at Camp Alpha in Saigon as withdrawal of U.S. troops resume after a 10-day dispute over prisoners of war.

Americans troops leave Vietnam

Jan Scruggs, founder and president of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, points out where grass is growing out over the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington Sept. 9, 2009.

Americans troops leave Vietnam

Vietnamese businessman Tony Lam poses for a photo at his Dong Phuong Tofu factory in Little Saigon in Westminster, Calif., March 28, 2013.

Lam was 36 on the day the last U.S. combat troops left Vietnam. He was a young husband and father, but most importantly, he was a businessman and U.S. contractor furnishing dehydrated rice to South Vietnamese troops. In 1992, Lam made history by becoming the first Vietnamese-American elected to public office in the U.S., and he went on to serve on the Westminster City Council for 10 years.

Americans troops leave Vietnam

The American flag is furled at a ceremony marking official deactivation of the Military Assistance Command-Vietnam in Saigon after more than 11 years in South Vietnam March 29, 1973.

Americans troops leave Vietnam

The last 55 troops to leave Vietnam debark their Air Force C-141 at Travis Air Force Base March 30, 1973.

Americans troops leave Vietnam

A foreign visitor looks at the remains of an American fighter jet in the grounds of the Vietnam Military History Museum in Hanoi March 29, 2013.

Americans troops leave Vietnam

Gen. Alexander M. Haig, center, is greeted by acting Ambassador Charles Whitehouse, left, and another embassy official following Haig’s arrival in Saigon, April 10, 1973, the last stop in his whirlwind tour of Indochina. The trip was made at the behest of President Richard Nixon.

Americans troops leave Vietnam

Vietnam war veteran Ho Van Minh talks about his experience as a North Vietnamese soldier during the war at the Vietnam Military History Museum in Hanoi March 28, 2013.

The 77-year-old lost his right leg to a land mine while advancing on Saigon, just a month before that city fell.

Americans troops leave Vietnam

A Viet Cong observer of the Four Party Joint Military Commission counts U.S. troops as they prepare to board jet aircraft at Saigon’s Tan Son Nhut airport March 28, 1973.

Americans troops leave Vietnam

One of the last remaining river patrol boats used by the U.S. Navy during the Vietnam War is lifted from the Naval Support Base display at the Patriots Point Naval and Maritime Museum in Mount Pleasant, S.C., March 26, 2013. The boat is going to a boatyard for a month for $30,000 in repairs.

Americans troops leave Vietnam

Camp Alpha, Uncle Sam’s out-processing center, was chaos in Saigon. Lines of bored soldiers snaked through customs and briefing rooms March 29, 1973.

Americans troops leave Vietnam

In a curious ending to a bizarre conflict, American troops board jets under the watchful eyes of North Vietnamese and Viet Cong observers in Saigon March 29, 1973.

Americans troops leave Vietnam

President Richard Nixon and South Vietnamese President Nguyen Van Thieu listen to national anthems during arrival ceremonies for Thieu at the Western White House in San Clemente, Calif., April 2, 1973.

Americans troops leave Vietnam

Vietnam war veteran Ho Van Minh talks about his experience as a North Vietnamese soldier during the war at the Vietnam Military History Museum in Hanoi March 28, 2013.

Americans troops leave Vietnam

Daniel Ellsberg, co-defendant in the Pentagon Papers trial, talks with reporters April 12, 1973, after he testified in Los Angeles. Next to him is his wife, Patricia. Ellsberg, who vividly described his journey to disillusionment in Vietnam, would climax that story by telling jurors how he risked his government career to copy the Pentagon Papers, hoping to end the war.

Americans troops leave Vietnam

A bird sits in a cage overlooking the engine of an American B-52 bomber in a lake in Hanoi, Vietnam, March 29, 2013. The plane was shot down during the Vietnam War, and the engine fell into the lake.

Americans troops leave Vietnam

Viet Cong and North Vietnamese members of the joint military commission, foreground, shoot photos of U.S. troops as they board an Air Force plane for the flight home from Saigon’s Tan Son Nhut Air Base March 27, 1973.

More photos: Fall of Saigon