Gerald R. Ford, Douglas Brinkley (Tulane University professor, not the reporter guy), Times Books, 2007, pages 95-96:
https://books.google.com/books?id=6...States had a moral and humanitarian "&f=false
' . . . [April 17, 1975] Kissinger cabled Ambassador Martin [South Vietnam]: " . . . The sentiment of our military, DOD and CIA colleagues was to get out fast and now." But the declassified record also shows that the commander in chief insisted that the United States had a moral and humanitarian obligation to airlift out as many South Vietnamese as possible and bring them to America. At Fords' behest, Kissinger cabled Martin on April 24. "We are amazed at the small number of Vietnamese being evacuated, considering the substantial amount of aircraft available," he wrote. "I know you feel, as we do, a heavy moral obligation to evacuate as many deserving Vietnamese as possible, and I urge you to redouble your efforts in that regard. The President expects these instructions to be carried out fully and within the time schedule he has set out. For his part, he plans to call the NSC together this afternoon to lay down the law." . . . '