Operation Frequent Wind was the emergency evacuation of South Vietnam in the final days of the Vietnam War in March, 1975. Famous among images of the time were those showing the dumping of American helicopters off of aircraft carriers in the Gulf of Tonkin. One can imagine that waste like this is exactly what Jack Lovett profits from.

Didion mentions the similar evacuation that occurred in Cambodia from April 11-13, 1975 on page 73. It was called Operation Eagle Pull.

And, as Didion wryly continues: "The amount of cash burned in the courtyard of the DAO in Saigon before the last helicopter left was three-and-a-half million dollars American and eighty-five million piastres. The code name for this operation was MONEY BURN" (73-4).

Given these mentions and the historical details associated with each, what images of the U.S.' wars in Vietnam and Cambodia does Didion project in Democracy? How might these images influence what we take to be the meaning of her title?