European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - April 9, 1989, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Louesba. Letendre head of Usa eur Library system was Al Vietnam As the conflict ground to an end. More than a witness to history by Ron Jensen staff writer Louise a Litendre could hear Iho sounds of combat As she clambered aboard a piano leaving Saigon on april 24,1975 1 five Days later he cily would fall to the  essentially ending America s longest and perhaps most bitter conflict since he civil War i knew before i won to Vietnam. I was going to witness one of the major events of the 201h Century says Letendre but those same a Venus swept Letendre into a role she could not have imagined when she arrived in Vietnam in february .1972 and now,14 years after the War s end. She seems in idly insulted Al the suggestion she was merely a . I did t witness it she Saya leaning Forward for emphasis. I helped make  thai seems a Toady claim Lor a librarian  who recently became the head o the. Usa eur Library system fils no one s stereotype Lor a  her Turco years in Vietnam Leven do. Learned to discern incoming from outgoing rounds she. Became a Friend of generals from several nations she. Earned me Sou in Viola Muse army s highest civilian Honor. Before she went to Vietnam Letendre devised a. Groundbreaking Library system Lor Illnois prisons More recently Iho Aimy honoured har Lor her Rola in building the military Library in West Beilin. Her  Homo been a vindication of. Sorts. When she entered Iho Library held in Iho mid .1960s, it was one of Iho few professions in which women had a record for advancement there weren i a lot .61 jobs open lot women.". Reared in Peck skill , Letendre became a Library technician at the nearby . Military Academy at West Point in 1964, during a trip to Europe she was hired As a Library assistant at the we diary Library in Frankfurt. West Germany a  says thai changed my life. In 1969, she returned to Tho states to earn a Mallei s degree in Library science Al Indiana Unicoi Siviy. With degree in hand her career teak an unusual turn. How  especially women in 1970 Gallo go behind bars and be locked up Wilh murderers rapists vital Havo you. To determine their Reading need she says Letendre had been hired Lodovisi. A Library system within the Illinois department of corrections. It became a pioneering plan involving  and a Library linked Lofb s stale s by Slom 1 from , Letendre moved directly to the controlled boundaries of a us. Army base in Vietnam 1 v.v-. She became librarian at Long Binh a huge base North of Saigon. Ache Lime the United states was trying to extricate itself Iron the War gradually withdrawing ils sold Hofsas peace talks began in pans. In october 1972, Long inti was turned Over to the army of thei  vre Nam. Litendre was. Assigned to the . Military assistance corny Vietnam Headquarters Al Tan son Nhut air base outside Saigon. I was probably the last woman on Post i Rem Mhor standing in the mud Lor 20 minutes wailing or a truck to Lake me up to  that was a Short term assignment however the Paris peace accords were signed in january 1973, limiting american military presence to 50 people and dissolving military ass Slanco command the Tutte was very indefinite As Noel Coward would say Letendre recalls "1 was asked to Transfer to the new Agency thai took Over that new Agency was the Delonso attache a tace established to assist he ambassador and  military assistance to South Vietnam in March it oversaw the final withdrawal i american troops i watched the last troops go out of Camp Alpha i put paperback books Lor them on the plane As the american troops Iclet vietnamese civilians began to loot Tho base i rescued my books act my Book trucks she says sunday april 9, 19b9 that s when i saw whal i will never forget As Long As i live. I saw four vietnamese in Security uniforms marching in a very solemn cadence. I thought in t that interesting i wonder Why they re doing that i drove around the building and saw what they were doing. They were taking Down the american lag. It struck me that there were Only a few of us americans left. I slapped the car and i cried. Ii was the Only Lime that 1  Letendre look charge of the recreational and social needs of department of defense civilians still at Tan son Nhut she established Bridge clubs luncheons and Toura of the area into the picture came the International commission of control and supervision established under the Paris accords to oversee Iho implementation of the peace plan. 11 included Canada. Later replaced by Iran Poland Hungary and Indonesia Letendre received numerous inquiries Iron the commission. There were questions regarding such things As vietnamese burial customs. Biographies of import land personnel and Legal matters. The Library was the Legal and cultural Center of the Community Letendre says you be never seen a happier  the generals irom the commission stopped by frequently sometimes to research questions and sometimes just to talk. I was their  told me How they left they told to about their  Letendre sensed their feelings of frustration Al being part of an organization Hal was nearly powerless in the face of North vietnamese refusal to abide by the peace accords v also with the departure of american troops a source of support for local orphanages was lost. Letendre was asked to pick up the Slack. She developed a plan Tor the care and education of orphans and widows of South vietnamese soldiers called three h help us help them help themselves for her Effort the army mho Republic of Vio Inam awarded her Tho modal of Honor first class the. Highest award it gave civilians. All the while the lighting Between the armies of. North Vic Nam and South Vietnam continued. So did the evacuation of american of items. On april 4. 1975, a plane loaded Wilh orphans and american civilian escorts was to leave die air base. Forty Lour women on Board were iriendsot1 Letendre a and she found  .Iho.libiary. Basement for them to take on Iho Long flight. I have movies of these women my colleagues my friends picking Icse magazines Oil the Lable to take on the bus taking them to the plane. Two hours Laler Hay wore All  the crash 61 the c-5a Galaxy killed 135 of Tho 327 on . If the general had t taken my name Olf the list to. Have been on it. I did t  my name had been on the  a Gan. Home  Smith a comr Tande of the defense attache Ollices had decided that Letendre and her Many planned activities were Good for morale arid wanted to keep Lier around the Library became a message Center where evacuees Leal news of their departure for islands in Saigon. Letendre and her Slaff helped Cut through Rod tape to expedite marriages Between vietnamese and americana making it possible for couples to Icove Iho embattled country together As the North vietnamese closed on . Letendre too was lord to leave the country she braided a plane on april 24 with her vietnamese Hairdresser and the Hairdresser s Young Niece. There were co Low americans Lell in the country that she was the Only one Ori that Ili Ghl. Four Day s later Trie mor a vietnamese bombed Tan son. Nhut. That was followed one Day later by intensive rocket and artillery fire that closed the base to traffic two Marine Security guards were killed by shrapnel the last american casualties of Tho Long  Days have resumed to Letendre s thoughts from time to time especially lately. "1 wonder she says with a smote. In there is a librarian attached Loa defense attache office in.  the stars and stripes Page 13