The State Department was concerned that some among the potential returnees were being coerced by their colleagues into saying they wished to return to Vietnam. State isolated the potential returnees and interviewed each of them individually. Those affirming they wished to return to Vietnam were escorted directly from the interview to the "Tuong Tin" for departure. Those declining to return, numbering 45, were escorted to the mostly-empty refugee camps for onward transportation to the U.S. The total number of Vietnamese crowded onto the "Thuong Tin" was 1,546, of whom most were men whose families were in Vietnam. The "Thuong Tin" departed Guam on 16 October 1975.