WASHINGTON -- MAR 25: (9:22-10:25 a.m.) President Gerald R. Ford talks to U.S. Ambassador to South Vietnam Graham Martin, Army Chief of Staff Gen. Frederick Weyand, and Secretary of State Henry Kissinger in the Oval Office the White House. March 25, 1975. President Ford dispatched Gen. Weyand on a mission to Vietnam to see if anything could be done to help the South Vietnamese government stem the tide of the advancing North Vietnamese Communists. Ambassador Martin, who was in the states for a medical problem, would return to Saigon with Weyand. (Photo by David Hume Kennerly/Getty Images). The president told Gen. Weyand, “Fred, you are going with the ambassador. This is one of the most significant missions you ever had. You are not going over there to lose, but to be tough and see what we can do.” The president continued, “We want your recommendation for the things which can be tough and shocking to the North. I regret I don’t have the authority to do some of the things President Nixon could do.” (These quotes from notes taken in the meeting that were highly classified at the time). Secretary Kissinger asked, “What is the real situation and why? What can be done?” Weyand said, “We will bring back a general appraisal and give them a shot in the arm.”