ABSTRACT

The dateline is not inappropriate. The name endures in more ways than one. The abbreviation SGN still denotes Tan Son Nhut airport on baggage labels, even those used by Vietnam Airlines with its fleet of decrepit Tupolevs and Antonovs. And Saigon is still proper usage for the sprawling downtown of the much larger metropolitan district named "Ho Chi Minh City" right after the communist forces roared to victory one April day 16 years ago.