The Nation: Full Circle

The U.S. involvement in Southeast Asia came full circle last week. Air Force Master Sergeant George Leroy Davis, 40, of Cincinnati, packed his bags and, with his wife and two children, flew out of Bangkok. Though some 250 U.S. military advisers will remain in Thailand, U.S. authorities designated Davis as a symbol of the last regular American forces to leave the country—and, in fact, all of Southeast Asia.

There was a special irony— and a tragic reminder— in Davis' departure. Like the last American to leave, the first American to die in the Viet Nam War was named Davis—Army Specialist Four James...