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Last Days in Vietnam

In the chaotic final days of the Vietnam War, a skeleton crew of U.S. military operatives was all that stood between the vindictive Viet Cong and South Vietnamese allies who had aided American forces. With the clock ticking, a number of heroic Americans took matters into their own hands. They saved as many South Vietnamese lives as they possibly could. It’s a little-known story of honor and tragedy chronicled in filmmaker Rory Kennedy’s latest documentary. She joins us Wednesday to talk about it.

On Friday, April 17, the Utah Film Center -- in partnership with KUED, American Experience, and WGBH -- is screening the documentary film Last Days in Vietnam. That’s at 7 p.m. at the Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center. The screening will be followed by a discussion, moderated by KUER News Director Terry Gildea, with director Rory Kennedy; Stuart Herrington, Col, U.S. Army (Ret.); and artist Binh Pho, who escaped from Vietnam in 1978. DETAILS

Last Days of Vietnam premieres on PBS' American Experience on April 28. It will air at 8:00 p.m. on KUED Channel 7. Click herefor more information.

GUESTS

Rory Kennedy is an Emmy Award-winning documentary filmmaker. Her films include Ethel, Ghosts of Abu Ghraib and Thank You, Mr. President: Helen Thomas at the White House. Last Days in Vietnam premiered at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.

Keven McAlester is a producer and writer of Last Days in Vietnam.

Doug Fabrizio has been reporting for KUER News since 1987, and became News Director in 1993. In 2001, he became host and executive producer of KUER's RadioWest, a one hour conversation/call-in show on KUER 90.1 in Salt Lake City. He has gained a reputation for his thoughtful style. He has interviewed everyone from Isabel Allende to the Dalai Lama, and from Madeleine Albright to Desmond Tutu. His interview skills landed him a spot as a guest host of the national NPR program, "Talk of the Nation." He has won numerous awards for his reporting and for his work with RadioWest and KUED's Utah NOW from such organizations as the Society of Professional Journalists, the Utah Broadcasters Association, the Public Radio News Directors Association and the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.