In reality, some Americans who had relationships with Vietnamese women saw to the formalities of marriage and registration of the marriage with U.S.

authorities, and then to the paperwork necessary to bring Vietnamese wives and children to the U.S. However, tens of thousands of military men and civilian workers simply abandoned their relationships of convenience when they left Vietnam. Those who returned home and who persisted in applying for their Vietnamese dependents to immigrate to the United States saw varying results. In the flood of refugees following the fall of Saigon in April 1975, some Vietnamese wives were able to flee to refugee camps with their Amerasian children and to regain contact with their American husbands. Many others were frustrated by the decades of diplomatic tangles while the U.S. government refused to establish diplomatic relations with the Hanoi government.

While an Orderly Departure Program...