Vietnam is, without question, very far away from the United States - being situated on the other side of the world in the eastern hemisphere - about 9,000 miles from New York and a little over 8,000 miles from California. In 1969 it was a very exotic land by US standards. During France's 100+ years of colonization little had been invested in its infrastructure and the welfare of its people who are both bright and industrious. Sadly, France had ruled Vietnam as a land of have-nots with France reaping the benefits of Vietnamese labor and the bounty of Vietnam's soil. The free world's primary concern over South Vietnam's falling into Communist hands had been its wealth of food production that had earned it the undisputed international title of Rice Bowl of the Orient. South Vietnam could have feed our starving Communist enemies - and that made it strategic to world politics.