"After smoking a cigarette, Tran Viet Ca, a 24-year-old private, told the Americans he had served seven years in the North Vietnamese Army, " he wrote.

BBC: George Esper: Fall of Saigon reporter dies at 79

When they were interviewed by Dr. O'Grady and journalist Sidney Schanberg, moreover, these eyewitnesses claimed -- contrary to Vietnamese government statements and the official U.S. report -- that Major O'Grady was taken prisoner alive and handed over to North Vietnamese army personnel.

CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: Center For Security Policy