He is known for writing the UPI headline , " Saigon government surrenders , " when the capital , Saigon , was occupied by Northern Vietnamese forces . He was known for taking part in UPI antics in Vietnam as he was accused of stealing a statue in a Saigon bar , having been referred to local Vietnamese civilian police for the offense . He was expelled from Vietnam by the new Communist rulers , and was later expelled from Thailand and declared persona non grata for writing articles detrimental to the Thai government , possibly violating Thai military secrecy , although this was denied by both UPI and Daniel . UPI protested against the expulsion of Daniel from Vietnam , noting that " Daniel 's accuracy and dedication to the journalistic profession is outstanding and we have every confidence in him as a representative of UPI . " In 1980 , after extensive press work in the U.S. , Vietnam , and the Dominican Republic , Daniel moved to Washington , D.C. , to become UPI 's national correspondent and later , the managing editor for international news . He retired in 1997 , but continued to write op-ed pieces , such as one about preemptive U.S. invasion of Iraq following the September 11 attacks
September 11 attacks
September 11 attacks
Leon Daniel