The first part of Ken Burns' "The Vietnam War" was thorough. However, it gave Operation Passage to Freedom short shrift and was understated on its importance.

Operation Passage to Freedom in 1954-55 resulted in 310,000 North Vietnamese — mostly persecuted Catholics — being relocated to the South. Navy ships and Seabees transported them and built refuge camps near Tourane (Da Nang) and Vũng Tàu.

Passage to Freedom was a large commitment by the U.S. to the Vietnamese and was one of the beginning actions where our sense of responsibility and commitment to the South began. Moving so much of the North’s population to the South was with good intentions and forever locked our histories together.

The TV series correctly put the Vietnam War in context of the Cold War. Many movies and stories leave this important context out, as if Vietnam began in a vacuum.

Ken Bingham, Ventura

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