The Foreign Service Journal devoted its April, 2015, issue to the fortieth anniversary of the fall of Saigon to the North Vietnamese.

Several future American leaders served apprenticeships as young diplomats in that country. Many, including Richard Holbrooke, point man in later diplomatic efforts in Serbia and Afghanistan, learned lessons they never forgot. Holbrooke wrote in an article for The New Republic (May 3, 1975): “But then finally it all seemed to come down to one simple, horrible truth: we didn’t belong there, we had no business doing what we were doing, even the good parts of it.”

More than three million Americans served in Vietnam, a country of 26 million, in one capacity or another. Yet we failed.

Many in the U.S. government in the last years and months of our efforts in Vietnam were in denial. They did not plan for the defeat that younger colleagues knew was coming.

It was left to lower level Foreign Service officers to plan evacuations. Two young officers risked disciplinary punishment to fly unauthorized into Saigon in the last days to aid evacuation efforts. Others worked their contacts in Washington. Not only were Americans in danger, but also their Vietnamese coworkers, who risked harsh measures if left behind. Finally, thousands of Vietnamese were evacuated with Americans and third country nationals.

A review of those last days before the fall of South Vietnam reminds us that we are not all powerful. We failed to defeat the Communists in Vietnam. Our later victory in the Cold War came from economic staying power and a strong military that we chose not to use in major conflicts. Better if we had not chosen to enter Vietnam.

Lessons for today?