From the S&S archives:
Soldiers welcome Wallace on Viet fact-finding trip

SAIGON — George Wallace came to Vietnam Saturday on a fact-finding tour.

The former governor told newsmen he plans to meet with Gen. Creighton Abrams, U.S. commander in Vietnam, and U.S. Embassy and South Vietnamese government officials.

As he walked from his jetliner at Tan Son Nhut civil air terminal, Wallace was recognized by several soldiers.

"Alabama!" someone shouted from the crowd.

A Green Beret sergeant ran up and shook his hand as newsmen crowded around.

"Sock it to `em, baby," said the sergeant.

Two more sergeants ran up and enthusiastically shook his hand. Wallace chatted briefly with the men, then went to a VIP lounge for. a quick news conference.

"This is my first trip to South Vietnam," he said, "and I don't come to give advice but to find the facts and come to my own conclusions."

He said his visit here, part of a wide-ranging tour of Asian capitals, was not a part of his presidential campaign. "That's still a long way in the future," he said.

Wallace said he was pleased with President Nixon's timetable for withdrawing American troops from Vietnam and hoped that the war could be concluded "in several months."

"I'm not interested in any political advantage," he said. "I would like to give Mr. Nixon the credit for ending the war."

A reporter asked Wallace for an opinion on the South Vietnamese. "The South Vietnamese government is fighting the Communists and that suits me," he replied.