Graham Anderson Martin succeeded Ellsworth Bunker

Ellsworth Bunker

Ellsworth F. Bunker was an American businessman and diplomat...

 as United States Ambassador to South Vietnam

United States Ambassador to South Vietnam

After World War II, France attempted to regain control of Vietnam, which they had lost to Japan in 1940. Following the First Indochina War, the country was split into two parts, the north and the south. The southern part was named The State of Vietnam under the leadership of Bảo Đại...

 in 1973. He would be the last person to hold that position. Martin previously served as ambassador to Thailand

Thailand

Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...

 and as U.S. representative to SEATO.

Early life

Martin was born and raised in the small town of Mars Hill, North Carolina

Mars Hill, North Carolina

Mars Hill is a town in Madison County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 1,764 at the 2000 census. It is the home of Mars Hill College, which is named after the town. The town is located approximately one mile west of Interstate 26, and due north of Asheville, western North...

, in the state's western mountains. His father was an ordained Baptist minister. He graduated from Wake Forest College in 1932. During World War II, he was a U.S. Army Intelligence Officer, and even managed to be aboard the USS Missouri to watch the Japanese Surrender in 1945.

Diplomatic career

Martin first worked in the diplomatic field at the U.S. Embassy in Paris, France, from 1947 to 1955. His abilities as an administrative counselor and deputy Chief of Mission gained him attention from the State Department, which rapidly advanced his career. President Eisenhower

Dwight D. Eisenhower

Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower was the 34th President of the United States, from 1953 until 1961. He was a five-star general in the United States Army...

 appointed Martin as the Representative of the United States to the European Office of the United Nations

Representative of the United States to the European Office of the United Nations

The Representative of the United States to the European Office of the United Nations is the chief of mission of the United States Mission to the European Office of the United Nations and Other International Organizations at the United Nations Office at Geneva...

 in Geneva, and he served in that office 1960–62.

Ambassador to Thailand

Martin was appointed on 10 September 1963 and left this post on 9 September 1967.

While serving as ambassador to Thailand, Martin came to the attention of Richard Nixon

Richard Nixon

Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...

 during a state banquet for the Thai King. Nixon was with Vice-President Hubert Humphrey

Hubert Humphrey

Hubert Horatio Humphrey, Jr. , served under President Lyndon B. Johnson as the 38th Vice President of the United States. Humphrey twice served as a United States Senator from Minnesota, and served as Democratic Majority Whip. He was a founder of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party and...

. When the King toasted President Johnson, Humphrey tried to return the toast with a toast to the King. Martin interceded and gave the toast himself, explaining later to both Humphrey and Nixon that as the Ambassador, he was the President's personal representative, and thus, outranked the Vice President. He finished his explanation by saying "If you become President yourself someday, Mr. Vice President, you can be sure that I will guard your interests as closely as I did President Johnson's tonight".

Ambassador to Italy

Martin was appointed on 30 October 1969 and left this post on 10 February 1973.

Vietnam

While serving as Ambassador to Thailand, Martin's foster son, Marine 1LT Glenn Dill Mann, was killed near Chu Lai

Chu Lai

Chu Lai is a sea port, urban and industrial area in Dung Quat Bay, Núi Thành district, Quang Nam province of Vietnam. The city is served by Chu Lai Airport.-Vietnam War:...

, South Vietnam

South Vietnam

South Vietnam was a state which governed southern Vietnam until 1975. It received international recognition in 1950 as the "State of Vietnam" and later as the "Republic of Vietnam" . Its capital was Saigon...

, in November 1965 while attacking enemy positions at Thach Tru with his UH-1 helicopter gunship. 1LT Mann is buried at Arlington National Cemetery

Arlington National Cemetery

Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington County, Virginia, is a military cemetery in the United States of America, established during the American Civil War on the grounds of Arlington House, formerly the estate of the family of Confederate general Robert E. Lee's wife Mary Anna Lee, a great...

.

Martin was appointed as Ambassador to South Vietnam on 21 June 1973.

Martin was a committed anti-Communist, but he seriously underestimated the severity of the South Vietnamese situation, to the point that in the spring of 1975, when most American officials were convinced that South Vietnam was doomed to collapse, he continued to believe that Saigon and the Mekong Delta area could be held because of the tenacity of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) in the Battle of Xuan Loc

Battle of Xuan Loc

The Battle of Xuan Loc was the last major battle of the Vietnam War. The battle was fought between April 9–21, 1975, and ended when the town of Xuan Loc was overrun by the North Vietnamese 4th Army Corps....

 under the command of General Le Minh Dao.

In fact, in the NSA history The Secret Sentry, the author says:

"In Saigon, Ambassador Graham Martin refused to believe the SIGINT (signals intelligence) reporting that detailed the massive North Vietnamese military buildup taking place all around (Saigon) ... and repeatedly refused to allow NSA's station chief, Tom Glenn, to evacuate his forty-three man staff and their twenty-two dependents from Saigon."

Because of Martin's refusal to believe the SIGINT, and his refusal to allow the evacuation of the intelligence staff from the embassy, "(t)he North Vietnamese captured the entire twenty-seven-hundred-man (South Vietnamese SIGINT) organization as well as their equipment." (ibid)

Martin was evacuated by helicopter from the US Embassy, Saigon on the morning of 30 April 1975 as Communist forces overran the city

Fall of Saigon

The Fall of Saigon was the capture of Saigon, the capital of South Vietnam, by the People's Army of Vietnam and the National Liberation Front on April 30, 1975...

. The helicopter used was a USMC

United States Marine Corps

The United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...

 CH-46 Sea Knight

CH-46 Sea Knight

The Boeing Vertol CH-46 Sea Knight is a medium-lift tandem rotor transport helicopter, used by the United States Marine Corps to provide all-weather, day-or-night assault transport of combat troops, supplies and equipment. Assault Support is its primary function, and the movement of supplies and...

 call sign 'Lady Ace 09' of HMM-165

HMM-165

Marine Medium Tilt Rotor Squadron 165 is a United States Marine Corps Tilt-rotor squadron consisting of MV-22B Osprey transport aircraft...

 serial number 154803. It is now on display at the Flying Leatherneck Aviation Museum

Flying Leatherneck Aviation Museum

The Flying Leatherneck Aviation Museum is located at Building T, 4203 Anderson Avenue, Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, San Diego, California. The museum contains exhibits and artifacts relating to the history and legacy of United States Marine Corps Aviation...

 in San Diego, California.

Martin died in 1990 and is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

Sources

• Encyclopedia of the Vietnam War, ed. Spencer Tucker, s.v. Graham A. Martin.
• Aid, Matthew M. The Secret Sentry, ISBN 978-1596915152, Bloomsbury Press, 2009; pages 125-7.