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Fall of Saigon

April 22, 2023

The fall of Saigon,[3][4] also known as the Liberation of Saigon[5] or Liberation of the South by the Vietnamese government,[6][7] and known as Black April by anti-communist overseas Vietnamese was the capture of Saigon, the capital of South Vietnam, by the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) and the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam (Viet Cong) on 30 April 1975. The event marked the end of the Vietnam War and non-communist South Vietnam as well as the start of a transition period from the formal reunification of Vietnam into the Socialist Republic of Vietnam under communist rule.[8]

Fall of Saigon
Part of the 1975 spring offensive of the Vietnam War

CIA officer helps evacuees up a ladder onto an Air America helicopter at 22 Gia Long Street on 29 April 1975.
Date30 April 1975; 47 years ago (1975-04-30)
Location
Saigon, South Vietnam
(present-day Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam)
10°49′23″N 106°37′47″E / 10.8231°N 106.6297°E / 10.8231; 106.6297 (Saigon, South Vietnam (present-day Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam))
Result

North Vietnamese and Viet Cong victory

Belligerents
 North Vietnam
Viet Cong
Supported by:
 China
 Soviet Union		  South Vietnam
Supported by:
 United States
Commanders and leaders
Lê Duẩn
Võ Nguyên Giáp
Văn Tiến Dũng
Trần Văn Trà
Lê Đức Anh
Nguyễn Hữu An
Lê Trọng Tấn		 Dương Văn Minh 
Vũ Văn Mẫu
Nguyễn Hữu Hạnh
Nguyễn Phước Vĩnh Lộc
Lê Nguyên Vỹ
Lâm Văn Phát
Lý Tòng Bá
Strength
270,000 regulars
180,000 irregulars and guerillas[1]		 31,000
Casualties and losses
  • At least 108 killed
  • At least 8 tanks and 1 armored vehicle destroyed or damaged[2]
  • Most soldiers killed, captured or deserted
  • Some evacuated with the American fleet.
  • Dozens of tanks, armored vehicles and aircraft were destroyed or captured
    1. ^ North and South were merged as the Socialist Republic of Vietnam in July 1976 and the PRG was dissolved.

    The PAVN, under the command of General Văn Tiến Dũng, began their final attack on Saigon on 29 April 1975, with the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) forces commanded by General Nguyễn Văn Toàn suffering a heavy artillery bombardment. By the afternoon of the next day, the PAVN and the Viet Cong had occupied the important points of the city and raised their flag over the South Vietnamese presidential palace.

    The capture of the city was preceded by Operation Frequent Wind, the evacuation of almost all American civilian and military personnel in Saigon, along with tens of thousands of South Vietnamese civilians who had been associated with the Republic of Vietnam regime. A few Americans chose not to be evacuated. United States ground combat units had left South Vietnam more than two years prior to the fall of Saigon and were not available to assist with either the defense of Saigon or the evacuation.[9] The evacuation was the largest helicopter evacuation in history.[10]: 202  In addition to the flight of refugees, the end of the war and the institution of new rules by the communist government contributed to a decline[11] in the city's population until 1979, after which the population increased again.[12]

    On 3 July 1976, the National Assembly of the unified Vietnam renamed Saigon in honor of Hồ Chí Minh, the late Chairman of the Workers' Party of Vietnam and founder of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam).[13]

    Names

    Various names have been applied to these events. The Vietnamese government officially calls it the "Day of liberating the South for national reunification" (Vietnamese: Giải phóng miền Nam, thống nhất đất nước) or "Liberation Day" (Ngày Giải Phóng), but the term "Fall of Saigon" is commonly used in Western accounts. It is called the "Ngày mất nước" (Day we Lost the Country), "Tháng Tư Đen" (Black April),[14][15][16][17][18][19] "National Day of Shame" (Ngày Quốc Nhục) or "National Day of Resentment" (Ngày Quốc Hận)[15][20][21][22][23] by many Overseas Vietnamese who were refugees from communism.

    In Vietnamese, it is also known by the neutral name "April 30, 1975 incident" (Sự kiện 30 tháng 4 năm 1975) or simply "April 30" (30 tháng 4).

    North Vietnamese advance

    See also: 1975 Spring Offensive
     
    Situation of South Vietnam before the capture of Saigon (lower right) on 30 April 1975

    The rapidity with which the South Vietnamese position collapsed in 1975 was surprising to most American and South Vietnamese observers, and probably to the North Vietnamese and their allies as well. For instance, a memo prepared by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and U.S. Army Intelligence, published on 5 March, indicated that South Vietnam could hold out through the current dry season—i.e., at least until 1976.[24] These predictions proved to be grievously in error. Even as that memo was being released, General Dũng was preparing a major offensive in the Central Highlands of Vietnam, which began on 10 March and led to the capture of Buôn Ma Thuột. The ARVN began a disorderly and costly retreat, hoping to redeploy its forces and hold the southern part of South Vietnam, south of the 13th parallel.[25]

    Supported by artillery and armor, the PAVN continued to march towards Saigon, capturing the major cities of northern South Vietnam at the end of March—Huế on the 25th and Đà Nẵng on the 28th. Along the way, disorderly South Vietnamese retreats and the flight of refugees—there were more than 300,000 in Đà Nẵng[26]—damaged South Vietnamese prospects for a turnaround. After the loss of Đà Nẵng, those prospects had already been dismissed as nonexistent by American CIA officers in Vietnam, who believed that nothing short of B-52 strikes against Hanoi could possibly stop the North Vietnamese.[27]

    By 8 April, the North Vietnamese Politburo, which in March had recommended caution to Dũng, cabled him to demand "unremitting vigor in the attack all the way to the heart of Saigon."[28] On 14 April, they renamed the campaign the "Hồ Chí Minh campaign", after revolutionary leader Hồ Chí Minh, in hopes of wrapping it up before his birthday on 19 May.[29] Meanwhile, South Vietnam failed to garner any significant increase in military aid from the United States, snuffing out President Nguyễn Văn Thiệu's hopes for renewed American support.

    On 9 April, PAVN forces reached Xuân Lộc, the last line of defense before Saigon, where the ARVN 18th Division made a last stand and held the city through fierce fighting for 11 days. The ARVN finally withdrew from Xuân Lộc on 20 April having inflicted heavy losses on the PAVN, and President Thiệu resigned on 21 April in a tearful televised announcement in which he denounced the United States for failing to come to the aid of the South.[30] The North Vietnamese front line was now just 26 miles (42 km) from downtown Saigon.[31] The victory at Xuân Lộc, which had drawn many South Vietnamese troops away from the Mekong Delta area,[31] opened the way for PAVN to encircle Saigon, and they soon did so, moving 100,000 troops in position around the city by 27 April. With the ARVN having few defenders, the fate of the city was effectively sealed.

    The ARVN III Corps commander, General Toàn, had organized five centers of resistance to defend the city. These fronts were so connected as to form an arc enveloping the entire area west, north, and east of the capital. The Cu Chi front, to the northwest, was defended by the 25th Division; the Binh Duong front, to the north, was the responsibility of the 5th Division; the Bien Hoa front, to the northeast, was defended by the 18th Division; the Vung Tau and 15 Route front, to the southeast, were held by the 1st Airborne Brigade and one battalion of the 3rd Division; and the Long An front, for which the Capital Military District Command was responsible, was defended by elements of the re-formed 22nd Division. South Vietnamese defensive forces around Saigon totalled approximately 60,000 troops.[32] However, as the exodus made it into Saigon, along with them were many ARVN soldiers, which swelled the "men under arms" in the city to over 250,000. These units were mostly battered and leaderless, which threw the city into further anarchy.[citation needed]

    Evacuation

    The rapid PAVN advances of March and early April led to increased concern in Saigon that the city, which had been fairly peaceful throughout the war and whose people had endured relatively little suffering, was soon to come under direct attack.[33] Many feared that once the communists took control of the city, a bloodbath of reprisals would take place. In 1968, PAVN and VC forces had occupied Huế for close to a month. After the communists were repelled, American and ARVN forces had found mass graves. A study indicated that the VC had targeted ARVN officers, Roman Catholics, intellectuals, businessmen, and other suspected counterrevolutionaries.[34] More recently, eight Americans captured in Buôn Ma Thuột had vanished and reports of beheadings and other executions were filtering through from Huế and Đà Nẵng, mostly spurred on by government propaganda.[35] Most Americans and citizens of other countries allied to the United States wanted to evacuate the city before it fell, and many South Vietnamese, especially those associated with the United States or South Vietnamese government, wanted to leave as well.

    As early as the end of March, some Americans were leaving the city.[36] Flights out of Saigon, lightly booked under ordinary circumstances, were full.[37] Throughout April the speed of the evacuation increased, as the Defense Attaché Office (DAO) began to fly out nonessential personnel. Many Americans attached to the DAO refused to leave without their Vietnamese friends and dependents, who included common-law wives and children. It was illegal for the DAO to move these people to American soil, and this initially slowed down the rate of departure, but eventually the DAO began illegally flying undocumented Vietnamese to Clark Air Base in the Philippines.[38]

    On 3 April, President Gerald Ford announced "Operation Babylift", which would evacuate about 2,000 orphans from the country. One of the Lockheed C-5 Galaxy planes involved in the operation crashed, killing 155 passengers and crew and seriously reducing the morale of the American staff.[10]: 157 [39] In addition to the over 2,500 orphans evacuated by Babylift, Operation New Life resulted in the evacuation of over 110,000 Vietnamese refugees. The final evacuation was Operation Frequent Wind which resulted in 7,000 people being evacuated from Saigon by helicopter.

    American administration plans for final evacuation

    By this time the Ford administration had also begun planning a complete evacuation of the American presence. The planning was complicated by practical, legal, and strategic concerns. The administration was divided on how swift the evacuations should be. The Pentagon sought to evacuate as fast as possible, to avoid the risk of casualties or other accidents. The U.S. Ambassador to South Vietnam, Graham Martin, was technically the field commander for any evacuation since evacuations are part of the purview of the State Department. Martin drew the ire of many in the Pentagon by wishing to keep the evacuation process as quiet and orderly as possible. His desire for this was to prevent total chaos and to deflect the real possibility of South Vietnamese turning against Americans and to keep all-out bloodshed from occurring.[citation needed]

    Ford approved a plan between the extremes in which all but 1,250 Americans—few enough to be removed in a single day's helicopter airlift—would be evacuated quickly; the remaining 1,250 would leave only when the airport was threatened. In between, as many Vietnamese refugees as possible would be flown out.[40]

    American evacuation planning was set against other administration policies. Ford still hoped to gain additional military aid for South Vietnam. Throughout April, he attempted to get Congress behind a proposed appropriation of $722 million, which might allow for the reconstitution of some of the South Vietnamese forces that had been destroyed. National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger was opposed to a full-scale evacuation as long as the aid option remained on the table because the removal of American forces would signal a loss of faith in Thiệu and severely weaken him.[41]

    There was also a concern in the administration over whether the use of military forces to support and carry out the evacuation was permitted under the newly passed War Powers Act. Eventually White House lawyers determined that the use of American forces to rescue citizens in an emergency was unlikely to run afoul of the law, but the legality of using military assets to withdraw refugees was unknown.[42]

    Refugees

    While American citizens were generally assured of a simple way to leave the country just by showing up to an evacuation point, South Vietnamese who wanted to leave Saigon before it fell often resorted to independent arrangements. The under-the-table payments required to gain a passport and exit visa jumped sixfold, and the price of seagoing vessels tripled.[43] Those who owned property in the city were often forced to sell it at a substantial loss or abandon it altogether; the asking price of one particularly impressive house was cut 75 percent within a two-week period.[44] American visas were of enormous value, and Vietnamese seeking American sponsors posted advertisements in newspapers. One such ad read: "Seeking adoptive parents. Poor diligent students" followed by names, birthdates, and identity card numbers.[45] A disproportionate fraction of Vietnamese in the 1975 wave of emigration who later achieved refugee status in the United States were former members of the South Vietnamese government and military. Though most expected to find political and personal freedom in the United States on account of their anti-Communist bonafides, many were placed in U.S. military detention centers for weeks to months.[46]

    Political movements and attempts at a negotiated solution

    As the North Vietnamese chipped away more and more at South Vietnam, internal opposition to President Thiệu continued to accumulate. For instance, in early April, the Senate unanimously voted through a call for new leadership, and some top military commanders were pressing for a coup. In response to this pressure, Thiệu made some changes to his cabinet, and Prime Minister Trần Thiện Khiêm resigned.[47] This did little to reduce the opposition to Thiệu. On 8 April, a South Vietnamese pilot and communist, Nguyễn Thành Trung, bombed the Independence Palace and then flew to a PAVN-controlled airstrip; Thiệu was not hurt.[48]

    Many in the American mission—Martin in particular—along with some key figures in Washington, believed that negotiations with the communists were still possible, especially if Saigon could stabilize the military situation. Ambassador Martin's hope was that North Vietnam's leaders would be willing to allow a "phased withdrawal" whereby a gradual departure might be achieved in order to allow helpful locals and all Americans to leave (along with full military withdrawal) over a period of months.[citation needed]

    Opinions were divided on whether any government headed by Thiệu could effect such a political solution.[49] The foreign minister of the Provisional Revolutionary Government (PRG) had indicated, on 2 April, that the PRG might negotiate with a Saigon government that did not include Thiệu. Thus, even among Thiệu's supporters, pressure was growing for his ouster.[50]

    President Thiệu resigned on 21 April. His remarks were particularly hard on the Americans, first for forcing South Vietnam to accede to the Paris Peace Accords, second for failing to support South Vietnam afterwards, and all the while asking South Vietnam "to do an impossible thing, like filling up the oceans with stones."[51] The presidency was turned over to Vice President Trần Văn Hương. The view of the North Vietnamese government, broadcast by Radio Hanoi, was that the new regime was merely "another puppet regime."[52]

    Last days

    All times given are Saigon time.

    PAVN encirclement

     
    Map showing PAVN encirclement of Saigon

    On 27 April, Saigon was hit by PAVN rockets—the first in more than 40 months.[31]

    With his overtures to the North rebuffed out of hand, Tran resigned on 28 April and was succeeded by General Duong Van Minh. Minh took over a regime that was by this time in a state of utter collapse. He had longstanding ties with the Communists, and it was hoped he could negotiate a ceasefire; however, Hanoi was in no mood to negotiate. On 28 April, PAVN forces fought their way into the outskirts of the city. At the Newport Bridge (Cầu Tân Cảng), about five kilometres (three miles) from the city centre, the VC seized the Thảo Điền area at the eastern end of the bridge and attempted to seize the bridge but were repulsed by the ARVN 12th Airborne Battalion.[53][54] As Bien Hoa was falling, General Toan fled to Saigon, informing the government that most of the top ARVN leadership had virtually resigned themselves to defeat.[55]

    At 18:06 on 28 April, as President Minh finished his acceptance speech three A-37 Dragonflies piloted by former Republic of Vietnam Air Force (RVNAF) pilots, who had defected to the Vietnamese People's Air Force at the fall of Da Nang, dropped six Mk81 250 lb bombs on Tan Son Nhut Air Base damaging aircraft. RVNAF F-5s took off in pursuit, but they were unable to intercept the A-37s.[56]: 70  C-130s leaving Tan Son Nhut reported receiving PAVN .51 cal and 37 mm anti-aircraft (AAA) fire while sporadic PAVN rocket and artillery attacks also started to hit the airport and air base.[56]: 71–72  C-130 flights were stopped temporarily after the air attack but resumed at 20:00 on 28 April.[56]: 72 

    At 03:58 on 29 April, C-130E, #72-1297, flown by a crew from the 776th Tactical Airlift Squadron, was destroyed by a 122 mm rocket while taxiing to pick up refugees after offloading a BLU-82 at the base. The crew evacuated the burning aircraft on the taxiway and departed the airfield on another C-130 that had previously landed.[10]: 182  This was the last USAF fixed-wing aircraft to leave Tan Son Nhat.[56]: 79 

    At dawn on 29 April the RVNAF began to haphazardly depart Tan Son Nhut Air Base as A-37s, F-5s, C-7s, C-119s and C-130s departed for Thailand while UH-1s took off in search of the ships of Task Force 76.[56]: 81  Some RVNAF aircraft stayed to continue to fight the advancing PAVN. One AC-119 gunship had spent the night of 28/29 April dropping flares and firing on the approaching PAVN. At dawn on 29 April, two A-1 Skyraiders began patrolling the perimeter of Tan Son Nhut at 2,500 feet (760 m) until one was shot down, presumably by an SA-7 missile. At 07:00 the AC-119 was firing on PAVN to the east of Tan Son Nhut when it too was hit by an SA-7 and fell in flames to the ground.[56]: 82 

    At 06:00 on 29 April, General Dũng was ordered by the Politburo to "strike with the greatest determination straight into the enemy's final lair."[57] After one day of bombardment and general offensive, the PAVN were ready to make their final push into the city.

    At 08:00 on 29 April Lieutenant General Trần Văn Minh, commander of the RVNAF and 30 of his staff arrived at the DAO Compound demanding evacuation, signifying the complete loss of RVNAF command and control.[56]: 85–87 

    Operation Frequent Wind

    Main article: Operation Frequent Wind
     
    A U.S. Marine provides security as American helicopters land at the DAO compound
     
    South Vietnamese refugees arrive on a U.S. Navy vessel during Operation Frequent Wind

    The continuing rocket fire and debris on the runways at Tan Son Nhut caused General Homer D. Smith, the U.S. defense attaché in Saigon, to advise Ambassador Martin that the runways were unfit for use and that the emergency evacuation of Saigon would need to be completed by helicopter.[58] Originally, Ambassador Martin had intended to effect the evacuation by use of fixed-wing aircraft from the base. This plan was altered at a critical time when a South Vietnamese pilot decided to defect, and jettisoned his ordnance along the only runways still in use (which had not yet been destroyed by shelling).

    Under pressure from Kissinger, Martin forced Marine guards to take him to Tan Son Nhat in the midst of continued shelling, so he might personally assess the situation. After seeing that fixed-wing departures were not an option (a decision Martin did not want to make without firsthand knowledge of the situation on the ground, in case the helicopter lift failed), Martin gave the green light for the helicopter evacuation to begin in earnest.[citation needed]

    Reports came in from the outskirts of the city that the PAVN were closing in.[59] At 10:48, Martin relayed to Kissinger his desire to activate Operation Frequent Wind, the helicopter evacuation of U.S. personnel and at-risk Vietnamese. At 10:51 on 29 April, the order was given by CINCPAC to commence Operation Frequent Wind.[10]: 183  The American radio station began regular play of Irving Berlin's "White Christmas", the signal for American personnel to move immediately to the evacuation points.[60][61]

    Under this plan, CH-53 and CH-46 helicopters were used to evacuate Americans and friendly Vietnamese to ships, including the Seventh Fleet, in the South China Sea. The main evacuation point was the DAO Compound at Tan Son Nhat; buses moved through the city picking up passengers and driving them out to the airport, with the first buses arriving at Tan Son Nhat shortly after noon. The first CH-53 landed at the DAO compound in the afternoon, and by the evening, 395 Americans and more than 4,000 Vietnamese had been evacuated. By 23:00 the U.S. Marines who were providing security were withdrawing and arranging the demolition of the DAO office, American equipment, files, and cash. Air America UH-1s also participated in the evacuation.[62]

    The original evacuation plans had not called for a large-scale helicopter operation at the United States Embassy, Saigon. Helicopters and buses were to shuttle people from the embassy to the DAO Compound. However, in the course of the evacuation it turned out that a few thousand people were stranded at the embassy, including many Vietnamese. Additional Vietnamese civilians gathered outside the embassy and scaled the walls, hoping to claim refugee status. Thunderstorms increased the difficulty of helicopter operations. Nevertheless, the evacuation from the embassy continued more or less unbroken throughout the evening and night.

    At 03:45 on the morning of 30 April, Kissinger and Ford ordered Martin to evacuate only Americans from that point forward. Reluctantly, Martin announced that only Americans were to be flown out, due to worries that the North Vietnamese would soon take the city and the Ford administration's desire to announce the completion of the American evacuation.[63] Ambassador Martin was ordered by President Ford to board the evacuation helicopter. The call sign of that helicopter was "Lady Ace 09", and the pilot carried direct orders from President Ford for Ambassador Martin to be on board. The pilot, Gerry Berry, had the orders written in grease-pencil on his kneepads. Ambassador Martin's wife, Dorothy, had already been evacuated by previous flights, and left behind her suitcase so a South Vietnamese woman might be able to squeeze on board with her.

    "Lady Ace 09" from HMM-165 and piloted by Berry, took off at 04:58—had Martin refused to leave, the Marines had a reserve order to arrest him and carry him away to ensure his safety.[64] The embassy evacuation had flown out 978 Americans and about 1,100 Vietnamese. The Marines who had been securing the embassy followed at dawn, with the last aircraft leaving at 07:53. 420 Vietnamese and South Koreans were left behind in the embassy compound, with an additional crowd gathered outside the walls.

    The Americans and the refugees they flew out were generally allowed to leave without intervention from either the North or South Vietnamese. Pilots of helicopters heading to Tan Son Nhat were aware that PAVN anti-aircraft guns were tracking them, but they refrained from firing. The Hanoi leadership, reckoning that completion of the evacuation would lessen the risk of American intervention, had instructed Dũng not to target the airlift itself.[65] Meanwhile, members of the police in Saigon had been promised evacuation in exchange for protecting the American evacuation buses and control of the crowds in the city during the evacuation.[66]

    Although this was the end of the American military operation, Vietnamese continued to leave the country by boat and, where possible, by aircraft. RVNAF pilots who had access to helicopters flew them offshore to the American fleet, where they were able to land. Many RVNAF helicopters were dumped into the ocean to make room on the decks for more aircraft.[66] RVNAF fighters and other planes also sought refuge in Thailand while two O-1s landed on USS Midway.[67]

    Ambassador Martin was flown out to the USS Blue Ridge, where he pleaded for helicopters to return to the embassy compound to pick up the few hundred remaining hopefuls waiting to be evacuated. Although his pleas were overruled by President Ford, Martin was able to convince the Seventh Fleet to remain on station for several days so any locals who could make their way to sea via boat or aircraft might be rescued by the waiting Americans.[citation needed]

    Many Vietnamese nationals who were evacuated were allowed to enter the United States under the Indochina Migration and Refugee Assistance Act.

    Decades later, when the U.S. government reestablished diplomatic relations with Vietnam, the former embassy building was returned to the United States. The historic staircase that led to the rooftop helicopter pad in the nearby apartment building used by the CIA and other U.S. government employees was salvaged and is on permanent display at the Gerald R. Ford Museum in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

    Final assault

    In the early hours of 30 April, Dũng received orders from the Politburo to attack. He then ordered his field commanders to advance directly to key facilities and strategic points in the city.[68] The first PAVN unit to enter the city was the 324th Division.[69] By now, the government had not made any sort of appeals to the people for donations of blood, food, etc.[70][71]

    On the morning of 30 April, PAVN sappers attempted to seize the Newport Bridge but were repulsed by the ARVN Airborne. At 09:00 the PAVN tank column approached the bridge and came under fire from ARVN tanks which destroyed the lead T-54, killing the PAVN Battalion commander.

    The ARVN 3rd Task Force, 81st Ranger Group commanded by Major Pham Chau Tai defended Tan Son Nhut and they were joined by the remnants of the Loi Ho unit. At 07:15 on 30 April, the PAVN 24th Regiment approached the Bay Hien intersection (10°47′35″N 106°39′11″E / 10.793°N 106.653°E / 10.793; 106.653) 1.5 km from the main gate of Tan Son Nhat Air Base. The lead T-54 was hit by M67 recoilless rifle and then the next T-54 was hit by a shell from an M48 tank. The PAVN infantry moved forward and engaged the ARVN in house to house fighting forcing them to withdraw to the base by 08:45. The PAVN then sent three tanks and an infantry battalion to assault the main gate and they were met by intensive anti-tank and machine gun fire knocking out the three tanks and killing at least twenty PAVN soldiers. The PAVN tried to bring forward an 85mm antiaircraft gun but the ARVN knocked it out before it could start firing. The PAVN 10th Division ordered eight more tanks and another infantry battalion to join the attack, but as they approached the Bay Hien intersection they were hit by an airstrike from RVNAF jets operating from Binh Thuy Air Base which destroyed two T-54s. The six surviving tanks arrived at the main gate at 10:00 and began their attack, with two being knocked out by antitank fire in front of the gate and another destroyed as it attempted a flanking manoeuvre.[72]

    At 10:24, Minh announced an unconditional surrender. He ordered all ARVN troops "to cease hostilities in calm and to stay where they are", while inviting the Provisional Revolutionary Government to engage in "a ceremony of orderly transfer of power so as to avoid any unnecessary bloodshed in the population."[73][74]

    At approximately 10:30 Major Pham at Tan Son Nhut Air Base heard of the surrender broadcast of President Minh and went to the ARVN Joint General Staff Compound to seek instructions. He called General Minh who told him to prepare to surrender. Pham reportedly told Minh, "If Viet Cong tanks are entering Independence Palace we will come down there to rescue you, sir." Minh refused Pham's suggestion and Pham then told his men to withdraw from the base gates. At 11:30 the PAVN entered the base.[72]: 490–91 

    At Newport Bridge the ARVN and PAVN continued to exchange tank and artillery fire until the ARVN commander received President Minh's capitulation order over the radio. While the bridge was rigged with approximately 4000lbs of demolition charges, the ARVN stood down and at 10:30 the PAVN column crossed the bridge.[72]: 492 

    Capitulation and final surrender announcement

     
    The photo of Françoise Demulder showed the two tanks at the gates while Tank 390 technically entered first and Lieutenant Bui Quang Than was running with the VC flag in his hand

    PAVN 203rd Tank Brigade (from 2nd Corps of Major general Nguyễn Hữu An[75]) under the command of Commander Nguyễn Tất Tài and Political Commissar Bùi Văn Tùng[76] was the first unit to burst through the gates of the Independence Palace around noon. Tank 843 (a Soviet T-54 tank) was the first to directly hit and struck the side gate of the Palace. This historic moment was recorded by the Australian cameraman Neil Davis.[77] Tank 390 (a Chinese T-59 tank) then crashed through the main gate in the middle to enter the front yard. For many years, the official record of Vietnamese government and international historical sources maintained that Tank 843 was the first one to enter the Presidential Palace.[78][79] However, in 1995, French war photographer Françoise Demulder published her photo showed that Tank 360 entered the main gate while Tank 843 was still behind the steel columns of the smaller gate on the right hand side (view from inside) and Tank 843's commander Bui Quang Than was running with the NLF flag on his hand.[78] Both tanks were declared national treasures in 2012 and each was displayed in a different museum in Hanoi.[79][80] Lieutenant Bui Quang Than pulled down the Republic of Vietnam's flag on top of the Palace and raised the Viet Cong flag at 11:30 AM on 30 April 1975.[81][82]

    The Tank Brigade 203 soldiers entered the Palace and found Minh and all members of his cabinet sitting and waiting for them. The political commissar Lieutenant colonel Bui Van Tung arrived at the Palace 10 minutes after the first tanks.[75]: 95  Minh realised this was the highest ranking officer around then said: "We are waiting to hand over the cabinet", Tung replied immediately: "You have nothing to hand over but your unconditional surrender to us".[83][84] Tung then wrote a speech announcing the surrender and dissolution of what remained of the South Vietnamese government. He then escorted Minh to the Radio Saigon to read it in order to avoid further needless bloodshed. The surrender announcement was recorded by German journalist Börries Gallasch's tape recorder.[84][85]

    Colonel Bùi Tín, a military journalist was at the Palace around noon to witnessed the events. In his memoir, he confirmed that Lt.-Col Bui Van Tung was the one accepted the surrender and wrote the statement for Minh.[84] However, in an interview with WGBH Educational Foundation in 1981, he falsely claimed that he was the first high officer met Minh and accepted the surrender (with Tung's words).[86] This claim was repeated after his defection from Vietnam and sometimes cited mistakenly by foreign correspondents and historians.[74][87][88]

    At 2:30 Minh announced the formal surrender of South Vietnam:

    I, General Duong Van Minh, president of the Saigon administration, appeal to the armed forces of the Republic of Vietnam to laydown their arms and surrender unconditionally to the forces of the Liberation Army of South Vietnam. Furthermore, I declare that the Saigon government is completely dissolved at all levels. From the Central government to the local governments must be handed over to the Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Republic of South Vietnam.

    — Duong Van Minh on the transcript written by Bui Van Tung[74][89][75]: 96 

    Lieutenant colonel Bui Van Tung then took the microphone and announced, "We, the representatives for the forces of the Liberation Army of South Vietnam, solemnly declare that the City of Saigon was completely liberated. We accepted the unconditional surrender of General Dương Văn Minh, the president of the Saigon administration".[89] This announcement marked the end of the Vietnam War.

    Aftermath

    Turnover of Saigon

    The communists renamed the city after Ho Chi Minh, former President of North Vietnam, although the name "Saigon" continued to be used by many residents and others.[90] Order was slowly restored, although the by-then-deserted U.S. Embassy was looted, along with many other businesses. Communications between the outside world and Saigon were cut. The Viet Cong machinery in South Vietnam was weakened, owing in part to the Phoenix Program, so the PAVN was responsible for maintaining order and General Trần Văn Trà, Dũng's administrative deputy, was placed in charge of the city.[69] The new authorities held a victory rally on 7 May.[91]

    One objective of the Communist Party of Vietnam was to reduce the population of Saigon, which had become swollen with an influx of people during the war and was now overcrowded with high unemployment. "Re-education classes" for former soldiers in the ARVN indicated that in order to regain full standing in society they would need to move from the city and take up farming. Handouts of rice to the poor, while forthcoming, were tied to pledges to leave Saigon for the countryside. According to the Vietnamese government, within two years of the capture of the city one million people had left Saigon, and the state had a target of 500,000 further departures.[90]

    Following the end of the war, according to official and non-official estimates, between 200,000 and 300,000 South Vietnamese were sent to re-education camps, where many endured torture, starvation, and disease while they were being forced to do hard labor.[92][93][94]

    The evacuation

    Whether the evacuation had been successful or not has been questioned following the end of the war. Operation Frequent Wind was generally assessed as an impressive achievement—Văn Tiến Dũng stated this in his memoirs and The New York Times described it as being carried out with "efficiency and bravery".[95] On the other hand, the airlift was also criticized for being too slow and hesitant, and it was inadequate in removing Vietnamese civilians and soldiers who were connected with the American presence.[citation needed]

    The U.S. State Department estimated that the Vietnamese employees of the U.S. Embassy in South Vietnam, past and present, and their families totaled 90,000 people. In his testimony to Congress, Ambassador Martin asserted that 22,294 such people were evacuated by the end of April.[96] In 1977, National Review alleged that some 30,000 South Vietnamese had been systematically killed using a list of CIA informants left behind by the U.S. embassy.[97]

    An iconic photograph of evacuees entering a CIA Air America helicopter on the roof of the apartment building at 22 Gia Long Street is frequently mischaracterized as showing an evacuation from the "U.S. Embassy" via a "military" helicopter.[98]

    Commemoration

    30 April is celebrated as a public holiday in Vietnam as Reunification Day (though the official reunification of the nation actually occurred on 2 July 1976) or Liberation Day (Ngày Giải Phóng). Along with International Workers' Day on 1 May, most people take the day off work and there are public celebrations.[citation needed]

    Among overseas Vietnamese the week of 30 April is referred to as "Black April" and it is also commemorated as a time of lamentation for the fall of Saigon and the fall of South Vietnam as a whole.[99]

    In popular culture

    See also

    References

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    3. ^ Lam, Andrew (29 April 2015). "Op-Ed: Is it Liberation Day or Defeat Day in Saigon?". Los Angeles Times. from the original on 16 February 2016. Retrieved 13 February 2016.
    4. ^ Austin, Lewis C. (1 October 1976). "Giai Phong! The Fall and Liberation of Saigon, by Tiziano Terzani". Foreign Affairs. from the original on 16 February 2016. Retrieved 13 February 2016.
    5. ^ Long, Ngo Vinh (1993). "Post-Paris Agreement Struggles and the Fall of Saigon". In Werner, Jayne Susan; Huynh, Luu Doan (eds.). The Vietnam War: Vietnamese and American Perspectives. M.E. Sharpe. p. 204. ISBN 9780765638632.; Thap, Nguyen Thi (2012). "Returning to my Home Village". In Dutton, George; Werner, Jayne; Whitmore, John K. (eds.). Sources of Vietnamese Tradition. Columbia University Press. pp. 547–53. ISBN 9780231511100.
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      • John J. Valdez. "The Last to Leave". fallofsaigon.org. from the original on 9 October 2015. Retrieved 12 October 2015. I think we got all the Americans out who wanted to leave. Some of them elected to stay there, mostly reporters. (originally published in the May 1975 issue of Leatherneck Magazine)
      • Krich, Claudia (3 May 2015). . The Davis Enterprise. p. B5. Archived from the original on 28 September 2015. Retrieved 12 October 2015. (The article describes the experiences of three American women who stayed in Saigon)
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    Further reading

    • Adams, E. G. . Archived from the original on 20 July 2011.
    • Brown, Weldon A. (1976). The Last Chopper: The Dénouement of the American Role in Vietnam, 1963–1975. Kennikat Press. ISBN 0-8046-9121-5.
    • Butler, David (1985). The Fall of Saigon. New York: Simon and Schuster. ISBN 0-671-46675-5.
    • Dawson, Alan (1977). 55 Days: The Fall of South Vietnam. Prentice-Hall. ISBN 0-13-314476-3.
    • Dunham, George R.; Quinlan, David A. (1990). U.S. Marines in Vietnam: The Bitter End, 1973–1975 (PDF). Washington DC: History and Museums Division, Headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps. ISBN 978-0-16-026455-9.
    • Engelmann, Larry (1990). Tears before the Rain: An Oral History of the Fall of South Vietnam. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-505386-9.
    • Isaacs, Arnold (1983). Without Honor: Defeat in Vietnam and Cambodia. The Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 0-8018-6107-1.
    • Kissinger, Henry (2003). Ending the Vietnam War: A History of America's Involvement in and Extrication from the Vietnam War. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-7432-1532-X.
    • Pike, Douglas (1970). (PDF). vietnam.ttu.edu. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 July 2011. Retrieved 18 January 2007.
    • Smith, Homer D. (22 May 1975). (PDF). vietnam.ttu.edu. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 July 2011. Retrieved 16 January 2007.
    • Snepp, Frank (1977). Decent Interval: An Insider's Account of Saigon's Indecent End Told by the CIA's Chief Strategy Analyst in Vietnam. Random House. ISBN 0-394-40743-1.
    • Tanner, Stephen (2000). Epic Retreats: From 1776 to the Evacuation of Saigon. Sarpedon. ISBN 1-885119-57-7. (See especially p. 273 and on.)
    • Todd, Olivier (1990). Cruel April: The Fall of Saigon. W W Norton & Company. ISBN 0-393-02787-2. (originally published in 1987 in French)
    • Tucker, Spencer C., ed. (1998). Encyclopedia of the Vietnam War: A Political, Social, and Military History. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-874-36983-5.
    • Văn Tiến Dũng (1977). Our Great Spring Victory: An Account of the Liberation of South Vietnam. Monthly Review Press. ISBN 0-85345-409-4.
    • Willbanks, James H. (2004). Abandoning Vietnam: How America Left and South Vietnam Lost Its War. University Press of Kansas. ISBN 978-0-7006-1331-1.
    • "The Americans Depart". The New York Times. 30 April 1975. p. 37.
    • Moise, Edwin E. (1988). "Nationalism and Communism in Vietnam". Journal of Third World Studies. University Press of Florida. 5 (2): 6–22. JSTOR 45193059.

    External links

    April 22, 2023
    fall, saigon, thefall, saigon, also, known, liberation, saigon, liberation, south, vietnamese, government, known, black, april, anti, communist, overseas, vietnamese, capture, saigon, capital, south, vietnam, people, army, vietnam, pavn, national, liberation, . Thefall of Saigon 3 4 also known as the Liberation of Saigon 5 or Liberation of the South by the Vietnamese government 6 7 and known as Black April by anti communist overseas Vietnamese was the capture of Saigon the capital of South Vietnam by the People s Army of Vietnam PAVN and the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam Viet Cong on 30 April 1975 The event marked the end of the Vietnam War and non communist South Vietnam as well as the start of a transition period from the formal reunification of Vietnam into the Socialist Republic of Vietnam under communist rule 8 Fall of SaigonPart of the 1975 spring offensive of the Vietnam WarCIA officer helps evacuees up a ladder onto an Air America helicopter at 22 Gia Long Street on 29 April 1975 Date30 April 1975 47 years ago 1975 04 30 LocationSaigon South Vietnam present day Ho Chi Minh City Vietnam 10 49 23 N 106 37 47 E 10 8231 N 106 6297 E 10 8231 106 6297 Saigon South Vietnam present day Ho Chi Minh City Vietnam ResultNorth Vietnamese and Viet Cong victory End of the Vietnam War Evacuation of all U S diplomatic military and civilian personnel The Viet Cong established and gains nominal authority in South Vietnam establishing the Republic of South Vietnam a Start of the boat people crisis and Indochina refugee crisis Saigon renamed Ho Chi Minh CityBelligerents North Vietnam Viet CongSupported by China Soviet Union South VietnamSupported by United StatesCommanders and leadersLe Duẩn Vo Nguyen Giap Văn Tiến Dũng Trần Văn Tra Le Đức Anh Nguyễn Hữu An Le Trọng TấnDương Văn Minh Vũ Văn Mẫu Nguyễn Hữu Hạnh Nguyễn Phước Vĩnh Lộc Le Nguyen Vỹ Lam Văn Phat Ly Tong BaStrength270 000 regulars180 000 irregulars and guerillas 1 31 000Casualties and lossesAt least 108 killed At least 8 tanks and 1 armored vehicle destroyed or damaged 2 Most soldiers killed captured or deserted Some evacuated with the American fleet Dozens of tanks armored vehicles and aircraft were destroyed or captured North and South were merged as the Socialist Republic of Vietnam in July 1976 and the PRG was dissolved The PAVN under the command of General Văn Tiến Dũng began their final attack on Saigon on 29 April 1975 with the Army of the Republic of Vietnam ARVN forces commanded by General Nguyễn Văn Toan suffering a heavy artillery bombardment By the afternoon of the next day the PAVN and the Viet Cong had occupied the important points of the city and raised their flag over the South Vietnamese presidential palace The capture of the city was preceded by Operation Frequent Wind the evacuation of almost all American civilian and military personnel in Saigon along with tens of thousands of South Vietnamese civilians who had been associated with the Republic of Vietnam regime A few Americans chose not to be evacuated United States ground combat units had left South Vietnam more than two years prior to the fall of Saigon and were not available to assist with either the defense of Saigon or the evacuation 9 The evacuation was the largest helicopter evacuation in history 10 202 In addition to the flight of refugees the end of the war and the institution of new rules by the communist government contributed to a decline 11 in the city s population until 1979 after which the population increased again 12 On 3 July 1976 the National Assembly of the unified Vietnam renamed Saigon in honor of Hồ Chi Minh the late Chairman of the Workers Party of Vietnam and founder of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam North Vietnam 13 Contents 1 Names 2 North Vietnamese advance 3 Evacuation 3 1 American administration plans for final evacuation 3 2 Refugees 4 Political movements and attempts at a negotiated solution 5 Last days 5 1 PAVN encirclement 5 2 Operation Frequent Wind 5 3 Final assault 5 4 Capitulation and final surrender announcement 6 Aftermath 6 1 Turnover of Saigon 6 2 The evacuation 7 Commemoration 8 In popular culture 9 See also 10 References 11 Further reading 12 External linksNames EditVarious names have been applied to these events The Vietnamese government officially calls it the Day of liberating the South for national reunification Vietnamese Giải phong miền Nam thống nhất đất nước or Liberation Day Ngay Giải Phong but the term Fall of Saigon is commonly used in Western accounts It is called the Ngay mất nước Day we Lost the Country Thang Tư Đen Black April 14 15 16 17 18 19 National Day of Shame Ngay Quốc Nhục or National Day of Resentment Ngay Quốc Hận 15 20 21 22 23 by many Overseas Vietnamese who were refugees from communism In Vietnamese it is also known by the neutral name April 30 1975 incident Sự kiện 30 thang 4 năm 1975 or simply April 30 30 thang 4 North Vietnamese advance EditSee also 1975 Spring Offensive Situation of South Vietnam before the capture of Saigon lower right on 30 April 1975 The rapidity with which the South Vietnamese position collapsed in 1975 was surprising to most American and South Vietnamese observers and probably to the North Vietnamese and their allies as well For instance a memo prepared by the Central Intelligence Agency CIA and U S Army Intelligence published on 5 March indicated that South Vietnam could hold out through the current dry season i e at least until 1976 24 These predictions proved to be grievously in error Even as that memo was being released General Dũng was preparing a major offensive in the Central Highlands of Vietnam which began on 10 March and led to the capture of Buon Ma Thuột The ARVN began a disorderly and costly retreat hoping to redeploy its forces and hold the southern part of South Vietnam south of the 13th parallel 25 Supported by artillery and armor the PAVN continued to march towards Saigon capturing the major cities of northern South Vietnam at the end of March Huế on the 25th and Đa Nẵng on the 28th Along the way disorderly South Vietnamese retreats and the flight of refugees there were more than 300 000 in Đa Nẵng 26 damaged South Vietnamese prospects for a turnaround After the loss of Đa Nẵng those prospects had already been dismissed as nonexistent by American CIA officers in Vietnam who believed that nothing short of B 52 strikes against Hanoi could possibly stop the North Vietnamese 27 By 8 April the North Vietnamese Politburo which in March had recommended caution to Dũng cabled him to demand unremitting vigor in the attack all the way to the heart of Saigon 28 On 14 April they renamed the campaign the Hồ Chi Minh campaign after revolutionary leader Hồ Chi Minh in hopes of wrapping it up before his birthday on 19 May 29 Meanwhile South Vietnam failed to garner any significant increase in military aid from the United States snuffing out President Nguyễn Văn Thiệu s hopes for renewed American support On 9 April PAVN forces reached Xuan Lộc the last line of defense before Saigon where the ARVN 18th Division made a last stand and held the city through fierce fighting for 11 days The ARVN finally withdrew from Xuan Lộc on 20 April having inflicted heavy losses on the PAVN and President Thiệu resigned on 21 April in a tearful televised announcement in which he denounced the United States for failing to come to the aid of the South 30 The North Vietnamese front line was now just 26 miles 42 km from downtown Saigon 31 The victory at Xuan Lộc which had drawn many South Vietnamese troops away from the Mekong Delta area 31 opened the way for PAVN to encircle Saigon and they soon did so moving 100 000 troops in position around the city by 27 April With the ARVN having few defenders the fate of the city was effectively sealed The ARVN III Corps commander General Toan had organized five centers of resistance to defend the city These fronts were so connected as to form an arc enveloping the entire area west north and east of the capital The Cu Chi front to the northwest was defended by the 25th Division the Binh Duong front to the north was the responsibility of the 5th Division the Bien Hoa front to the northeast was defended by the 18th Division the Vung Tau and 15 Route front to the southeast were held by the 1st Airborne Brigade and one battalion of the 3rd Division and the Long An front for which the Capital Military District Command was responsible was defended by elements of the re formed 22nd Division South Vietnamese defensive forces around Saigon totalled approximately 60 000 troops 32 However as the exodus made it into Saigon along with them were many ARVN soldiers which swelled the men under arms in the city to over 250 000 These units were mostly battered and leaderless which threw the city into further anarchy citation needed Evacuation EditThe rapid PAVN advances of March and early April led to increased concern in Saigon that the city which had been fairly peaceful throughout the war and whose people had endured relatively little suffering was soon to come under direct attack 33 Many feared that once the communists took control of the city a bloodbath of reprisals would take place In 1968 PAVN and VC forces had occupied Huế for close to a month After the communists were repelled American and ARVN forces had found mass graves A study indicated that the VC had targeted ARVN officers Roman Catholics intellectuals businessmen and other suspected counterrevolutionaries 34 More recently eight Americans captured in Buon Ma Thuột had vanished and reports of beheadings and other executions were filtering through from Huế and Đa Nẵng mostly spurred on by government propaganda 35 Most Americans and citizens of other countries allied to the United States wanted to evacuate the city before it fell and many South Vietnamese especially those associated with the United States or South Vietnamese government wanted to leave as well As early as the end of March some Americans were leaving the city 36 Flights out of Saigon lightly booked under ordinary circumstances were full 37 Throughout April the speed of the evacuation increased as the Defense Attache Office DAO began to fly out nonessential personnel Many Americans attached to the DAO refused to leave without their Vietnamese friends and dependents who included common law wives and children It was illegal for the DAO to move these people to American soil and this initially slowed down the rate of departure but eventually the DAO began illegally flying undocumented Vietnamese to Clark Air Base in the Philippines 38 On 3 April President Gerald Ford announced Operation Babylift which would evacuate about 2 000 orphans from the country One of the Lockheed C 5 Galaxy planes involved in the operation crashed killing 155 passengers and crew and seriously reducing the morale of the American staff 10 157 39 In addition to the over 2 500 orphans evacuated by Babylift Operation New Life resulted in the evacuation of over 110 000 Vietnamese refugees The final evacuation was Operation Frequent Wind which resulted in 7 000 people being evacuated from Saigon by helicopter American administration plans for final evacuation Edit By this time the Ford administration had also begun planning a complete evacuation of the American presence The planning was complicated by practical legal and strategic concerns The administration was divided on how swift the evacuations should be The Pentagon sought to evacuate as fast as possible to avoid the risk of casualties or other accidents The U S Ambassador to South Vietnam Graham Martin was technically the field commander for any evacuation since evacuations are part of the purview of the State Department Martin drew the ire of many in the Pentagon by wishing to keep the evacuation process as quiet and orderly as possible His desire for this was to prevent total chaos and to deflect the real possibility of South Vietnamese turning against Americans and to keep all out bloodshed from occurring citation needed Ford approved a plan between the extremes in which all but 1 250 Americans few enough to be removed in a single day s helicopter airlift would be evacuated quickly the remaining 1 250 would leave only when the airport was threatened In between as many Vietnamese refugees as possible would be flown out 40 American evacuation planning was set against other administration policies Ford still hoped to gain additional military aid for South Vietnam Throughout April he attempted to get Congress behind a proposed appropriation of 722 million which might allow for the reconstitution of some of the South Vietnamese forces that had been destroyed National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger was opposed to a full scale evacuation as long as the aid option remained on the table because the removal of American forces would signal a loss of faith in Thiệu and severely weaken him 41 There was also a concern in the administration over whether the use of military forces to support and carry out the evacuation was permitted under the newly passed War Powers Act Eventually White House lawyers determined that the use of American forces to rescue citizens in an emergency was unlikely to run afoul of the law but the legality of using military assets to withdraw refugees was unknown 42 Refugees Edit While American citizens were generally assured of a simple way to leave the country just by showing up to an evacuation point South Vietnamese who wanted to leave Saigon before it fell often resorted to independent arrangements The under the table payments required to gain a passport and exit visa jumped sixfold and the price of seagoing vessels tripled 43 Those who owned property in the city were often forced to sell it at a substantial loss or abandon it altogether the asking price of one particularly impressive house was cut 75 percent within a two week period 44 American visas were of enormous value and Vietnamese seeking American sponsors posted advertisements in newspapers One such ad read Seeking adoptive parents Poor diligent students followed by names birthdates and identity card numbers 45 A disproportionate fraction of Vietnamese in the 1975 wave of emigration who later achieved refugee status in the United States were former members of the South Vietnamese government and military Though most expected to find political and personal freedom in the United States on account of their anti Communist bonafides many were placed in U S military detention centers for weeks to months 46 Political movements and attempts at a negotiated solution EditAs the North Vietnamese chipped away more and more at South Vietnam internal opposition to President Thiệu continued to accumulate For instance in early April the Senate unanimously voted through a call for new leadership and some top military commanders were pressing for a coup In response to this pressure Thiệu made some changes to his cabinet and Prime Minister Trần Thiện Khiem resigned 47 This did little to reduce the opposition to Thiệu On 8 April a South Vietnamese pilot and communist Nguyễn Thanh Trung bombed the Independence Palace and then flew to a PAVN controlled airstrip Thiệu was not hurt 48 Many in the American mission Martin in particular along with some key figures in Washington believed that negotiations with the communists were still possible especially if Saigon could stabilize the military situation Ambassador Martin s hope was that North Vietnam s leaders would be willing to allow a phased withdrawal whereby a gradual departure might be achieved in order to allow helpful locals and all Americans to leave along with full military withdrawal over a period of months citation needed Opinions were divided on whether any government headed by Thiệu could effect such a political solution 49 The foreign minister of the Provisional Revolutionary Government PRG had indicated on 2 April that the PRG might negotiate with a Saigon government that did not include Thiệu Thus even among Thiệu s supporters pressure was growing for his ouster 50 President Thiệu resigned on 21 April His remarks were particularly hard on the Americans first for forcing South Vietnam to accede to the Paris Peace Accords second for failing to support South Vietnam afterwards and all the while asking South Vietnam to do an impossible thing like filling up the oceans with stones 51 The presidency was turned over to Vice President Trần Văn Hương The view of the North Vietnamese government broadcast by Radio Hanoi was that the new regime was merely another puppet regime 52 Last days EditAll times given are Saigon time PAVN encirclement Edit Map showing PAVN encirclement of Saigon On 27 April Saigon was hit by PAVN rockets the first in more than 40 months 31 With his overtures to the North rebuffed out of hand Tran resigned on 28 April and was succeeded by General Duong Van Minh Minh took over a regime that was by this time in a state of utter collapse He had longstanding ties with the Communists and it was hoped he could negotiate a ceasefire however Hanoi was in no mood to negotiate On 28 April PAVN forces fought their way into the outskirts of the city At the Newport Bridge Cầu Tan Cảng about five kilometres three miles from the city centre the VC seized the Thảo Điền area at the eastern end of the bridge and attempted to seize the bridge but were repulsed by the ARVN 12th Airborne Battalion 53 54 As Bien Hoa was falling General Toan fled to Saigon informing the government that most of the top ARVN leadership had virtually resigned themselves to defeat 55 At 18 06 on 28 April as President Minh finished his acceptance speech three A 37 Dragonflies piloted by former Republic of Vietnam Air Force RVNAF pilots who had defected to the Vietnamese People s Air Force at the fall of Da Nang dropped six Mk81 250 lb bombs on Tan Son Nhut Air Base damaging aircraft RVNAF F 5s took off in pursuit but they were unable to intercept the A 37s 56 70 C 130s leaving Tan Son Nhut reported receiving PAVN 51 cal and 37 mm anti aircraft AAA fire while sporadic PAVN rocket and artillery attacks also started to hit the airport and air base 56 71 72 C 130 flights were stopped temporarily after the air attack but resumed at 20 00 on 28 April 56 72 At 03 58 on 29 April C 130E 72 1297 flown by a crew from the 776th Tactical Airlift Squadron was destroyed by a 122 mm rocket while taxiing to pick up refugees after offloading a BLU 82 at the base The crew evacuated the burning aircraft on the taxiway and departed the airfield on another C 130 that had previously landed 10 182 This was the last USAF fixed wing aircraft to leave Tan Son Nhat 56 79 At dawn on 29 April the RVNAF began to haphazardly depart Tan Son Nhut Air Base as A 37s F 5s C 7s C 119s and C 130s departed for Thailand while UH 1s took off in search of the ships of Task Force 76 56 81 Some RVNAF aircraft stayed to continue to fight the advancing PAVN One AC 119 gunship had spent the night of 28 29 April dropping flares and firing on the approaching PAVN At dawn on 29 April two A 1 Skyraiders began patrolling the perimeter of Tan Son Nhut at 2 500 feet 760 m until one was shot down presumably by an SA 7 missile At 07 00 the AC 119 was firing on PAVN to the east of Tan Son Nhut when it too was hit by an SA 7 and fell in flames to the ground 56 82 At 06 00 on 29 April General Dũng was ordered by the Politburo to strike with the greatest determination straight into the enemy s final lair 57 After one day of bombardment and general offensive the PAVN were ready to make their final push into the city At 08 00 on 29 April Lieutenant General Trần Văn Minh commander of the RVNAF and 30 of his staff arrived at the DAO Compound demanding evacuation signifying the complete loss of RVNAF command and control 56 85 87 Operation Frequent Wind Edit Main article Operation Frequent Wind A U S Marine provides security as American helicopters land at the DAO compound South Vietnamese refugees arrive on a U S Navy vessel during Operation Frequent Wind The continuing rocket fire and debris on the runways at Tan Son Nhut caused General Homer D Smith the U S defense attache in Saigon to advise Ambassador Martin that the runways were unfit for use and that the emergency evacuation of Saigon would need to be completed by helicopter 58 Originally Ambassador Martin had intended to effect the evacuation by use of fixed wing aircraft from the base This plan was altered at a critical time when a South Vietnamese pilot decided to defect and jettisoned his ordnance along the only runways still in use which had not yet been destroyed by shelling Under pressure from Kissinger Martin forced Marine guards to take him to Tan Son Nhat in the midst of continued shelling so he might personally assess the situation After seeing that fixed wing departures were not an option a decision Martin did not want to make without firsthand knowledge of the situation on the ground in case the helicopter lift failed Martin gave the green light for the helicopter evacuation to begin in earnest citation needed Reports came in from the outskirts of the city that the PAVN were closing in 59 At 10 48 Martin relayed to Kissinger his desire to activate Operation Frequent Wind the helicopter evacuation of U S personnel and at risk Vietnamese At 10 51 on 29 April the order was given by CINCPAC to commence Operation Frequent Wind 10 183 The American radio station began regular play of Irving Berlin s White Christmas the signal for American personnel to move immediately to the evacuation points 60 61 Under this plan CH 53 and CH 46 helicopters were used to evacuate Americans and friendly Vietnamese to ships including the Seventh Fleet in the South China Sea The main evacuation point was the DAO Compound at Tan Son Nhat buses moved through the city picking up passengers and driving them out to the airport with the first buses arriving at Tan Son Nhat shortly after noon The first CH 53 landed at the DAO compound in the afternoon and by the evening 395 Americans and more than 4 000 Vietnamese had been evacuated By 23 00 the U S Marines who were providing security were withdrawing and arranging the demolition of the DAO office American equipment files and cash Air America UH 1s also participated in the evacuation 62 The original evacuation plans had not called for a large scale helicopter operation at the United States Embassy Saigon Helicopters and buses were to shuttle people from the embassy to the DAO Compound However in the course of the evacuation it turned out that a few thousand people were stranded at the embassy including many Vietnamese Additional Vietnamese civilians gathered outside the embassy and scaled the walls hoping to claim refugee status Thunderstorms increased the difficulty of helicopter operations Nevertheless the evacuation from the embassy continued more or less unbroken throughout the evening and night At 03 45 on the morning of 30 April Kissinger and Ford ordered Martin to evacuate only Americans from that point forward Reluctantly Martin announced that only Americans were to be flown out due to worries that the North Vietnamese would soon take the city and the Ford administration s desire to announce the completion of the American evacuation 63 Ambassador Martin was ordered by President Ford to board the evacuation helicopter The call sign of that helicopter was Lady Ace 09 and the pilot carried direct orders from President Ford for Ambassador Martin to be on board The pilot Gerry Berry had the orders written in grease pencil on his kneepads Ambassador Martin s wife Dorothy had already been evacuated by previous flights and left behind her suitcase so a South Vietnamese woman might be able to squeeze on board with her Lady Ace 09 from HMM 165 and piloted by Berry took off at 04 58 had Martin refused to leave the Marines had a reserve order to arrest him and carry him away to ensure his safety 64 The embassy evacuation had flown out 978 Americans and about 1 100 Vietnamese The Marines who had been securing the embassy followed at dawn with the last aircraft leaving at 07 53 420 Vietnamese and South Koreans were left behind in the embassy compound with an additional crowd gathered outside the walls The Americans and the refugees they flew out were generally allowed to leave without intervention from either the North or South Vietnamese Pilots of helicopters heading to Tan Son Nhat were aware that PAVN anti aircraft guns were tracking them but they refrained from firing The Hanoi leadership reckoning that completion of the evacuation would lessen the risk of American intervention had instructed Dũng not to target the airlift itself 65 Meanwhile members of the police in Saigon had been promised evacuation in exchange for protecting the American evacuation buses and control of the crowds in the city during the evacuation 66 Although this was the end of the American military operation Vietnamese continued to leave the country by boat and where possible by aircraft RVNAF pilots who had access to helicopters flew them offshore to the American fleet where they were able to land Many RVNAF helicopters were dumped into the ocean to make room on the decks for more aircraft 66 RVNAF fighters and other planes also sought refuge in Thailand while two O 1s landed on USS Midway 67 Ambassador Martin was flown out to the USS Blue Ridge where he pleaded for helicopters to return to the embassy compound to pick up the few hundred remaining hopefuls waiting to be evacuated Although his pleas were overruled by President Ford Martin was able to convince the Seventh Fleet to remain on station for several days so any locals who could make their way to sea via boat or aircraft might be rescued by the waiting Americans citation needed Many Vietnamese nationals who were evacuated were allowed to enter the United States under the Indochina Migration and Refugee Assistance Act Decades later when the U S government reestablished diplomatic relations with Vietnam the former embassy building was returned to the United States The historic staircase that led to the rooftop helicopter pad in the nearby apartment building used by the CIA and other U S government employees was salvaged and is on permanent display at the Gerald R Ford Museum in Grand Rapids Michigan Final assault Edit In the early hours of 30 April Dũng received orders from the Politburo to attack He then ordered his field commanders to advance directly to key facilities and strategic points in the city 68 The first PAVN unit to enter the city was the 324th Division 69 By now the government had not made any sort of appeals to the people for donations of blood food etc 70 71 On the morning of 30 April PAVN sappers attempted to seize the Newport Bridge but were repulsed by the ARVN Airborne At 09 00 the PAVN tank column approached the bridge and came under fire from ARVN tanks which destroyed the lead T 54 killing the PAVN Battalion commander The ARVN 3rd Task Force 81st Ranger Group commanded by Major Pham Chau Tai defended Tan Son Nhut and they were joined by the remnants of the Loi Ho unit At 07 15 on 30 April the PAVN 24th Regiment approached the Bay Hien intersection 10 47 35 N 106 39 11 E 10 793 N 106 653 E 10 793 106 653 1 5 km from the main gate of Tan Son Nhat Air Base The lead T 54 was hit by M67 recoilless rifle and then the next T 54 was hit by a shell from an M48 tank The PAVN infantry moved forward and engaged the ARVN in house to house fighting forcing them to withdraw to the base by 08 45 The PAVN then sent three tanks and an infantry battalion to assault the main gate and they were met by intensive anti tank and machine gun fire knocking out the three tanks and killing at least twenty PAVN soldiers The PAVN tried to bring forward an 85mm antiaircraft gun but the ARVN knocked it out before it could start firing The PAVN 10th Division ordered eight more tanks and another infantry battalion to join the attack but as they approached the Bay Hien intersection they were hit by an airstrike from RVNAF jets operating from Binh Thuy Air Base which destroyed two T 54s The six surviving tanks arrived at the main gate at 10 00 and began their attack with two being knocked out by antitank fire in front of the gate and another destroyed as it attempted a flanking manoeuvre 72 At 10 24 Minh announced an unconditional surrender He ordered all ARVN troops to cease hostilities in calm and to stay where they are while inviting the Provisional Revolutionary Government to engage in a ceremony of orderly transfer of power so as to avoid any unnecessary bloodshed in the population 73 74 At approximately 10 30 Major Pham at Tan Son Nhut Air Base heard of the surrender broadcast of President Minh and went to the ARVN Joint General Staff Compound to seek instructions He called General Minh who told him to prepare to surrender Pham reportedly told Minh If Viet Cong tanks are entering Independence Palace we will come down there to rescue you sir Minh refused Pham s suggestion and Pham then told his men to withdraw from the base gates At 11 30 the PAVN entered the base 72 490 91 At Newport Bridge the ARVN and PAVN continued to exchange tank and artillery fire until the ARVN commander received President Minh s capitulation order over the radio While the bridge was rigged with approximately 4000lbs of demolition charges the ARVN stood down and at 10 30 the PAVN column crossed the bridge 72 492 Capitulation and final surrender announcement Edit The photo of Francoise Demulder showed the two tanks at the gates while Tank 390 technically entered first and Lieutenant Bui Quang Than was running with the VC flag in his hand PAVN 203rd Tank Brigade from 2nd Corps of Major general Nguyễn Hữu An 75 under the command of Commander Nguyễn Tất Tai and Political Commissar Bui Văn Tung 76 was the first unit to burst through the gates of the Independence Palace around noon Tank 843 a Soviet T 54 tank was the first to directly hit and struck the side gate of the Palace This historic moment was recorded by the Australian cameraman Neil Davis 77 Tank 390 a Chinese T 59 tank then crashed through the main gate in the middle to enter the front yard For many years the official record of Vietnamese government and international historical sources maintained that Tank 843 was the first one to enter the Presidential Palace 78 79 However in 1995 French war photographer Francoise Demulder published her photo showed that Tank 360 entered the main gate while Tank 843 was still behind the steel columns of the smaller gate on the right hand side view from inside and Tank 843 s commander Bui Quang Than was running with the NLF flag on his hand 78 Both tanks were declared national treasures in 2012 and each was displayed in a different museum in Hanoi 79 80 Lieutenant Bui Quang Than pulled down the Republic of Vietnam s flag on top of the Palace and raised the Viet Cong flag at 11 30 AM on 30 April 1975 81 82 The Tank Brigade 203 soldiers entered the Palace and found Minh and all members of his cabinet sitting and waiting for them The political commissar Lieutenant colonel Bui Van Tung arrived at the Palace 10 minutes after the first tanks 75 95 Minh realised this was the highest ranking officer around then said We are waiting to hand over the cabinet Tung replied immediately You have nothing to hand over but your unconditional surrender to us 83 84 Tung then wrote a speech announcing the surrender and dissolution of what remained of the South Vietnamese government He then escorted Minh to the Radio Saigon to read it in order to avoid further needless bloodshed The surrender announcement was recorded by German journalist Borries Gallasch s tape recorder 84 85 Colonel Bui Tin a military journalist was at the Palace around noon to witnessed the events In his memoir he confirmed that Lt Col Bui Van Tung was the one accepted the surrender and wrote the statement for Minh 84 However in an interview with WGBH Educational Foundation in 1981 he falsely claimed that he was the first high officer met Minh and accepted the surrender with Tung s words 86 This claim was repeated after his defection from Vietnam and sometimes cited mistakenly by foreign correspondents and historians 74 87 88 At 2 30 Minh announced the formal surrender of South Vietnam I General Duong Van Minh president of the Saigon administration appeal to the armed forces of the Republic of Vietnam to laydown their arms and surrender unconditionally to the forces of the Liberation Army of South Vietnam Furthermore I declare that the Saigon government is completely dissolved at all levels From the Central government to the local governments must be handed over to the Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Republic of South Vietnam Duong Van Minh on the transcript written by Bui Van Tung 74 89 75 96 Lieutenant colonel Bui Van Tung then took the microphone and announced We the representatives for the forces of the Liberation Army of South Vietnam solemnly declare that the City of Saigon was completely liberated We accepted the unconditional surrender of General Dương Văn Minh the president of the Saigon administration 89 This announcement marked the end of the Vietnam War Aftermath EditTurnover of Saigon Edit The communists renamed the city after Ho Chi Minh former President of North Vietnam although the name Saigon continued to be used by many residents and others 90 Order was slowly restored although the by then deserted U S Embassy was looted along with many other businesses Communications between the outside world and Saigon were cut The Viet Cong machinery in South Vietnam was weakened owing in part to the Phoenix Program so the PAVN was responsible for maintaining order and General Trần Văn Tra Dũng s administrative deputy was placed in charge of the city 69 The new authorities held a victory rally on 7 May 91 One objective of the Communist Party of Vietnam was to reduce the population of Saigon which had become swollen with an influx of people during the war and was now overcrowded with high unemployment Re education classes for former soldiers in the ARVN indicated that in order to regain full standing in society they would need to move from the city and take up farming Handouts of rice to the poor while forthcoming were tied to pledges to leave Saigon for the countryside According to the Vietnamese government within two years of the capture of the city one million people had left Saigon and the state had a target of 500 000 further departures 90 Following the end of the war according to official and non official estimates between 200 000 and 300 000 South Vietnamese were sent to re education camps where many endured torture starvation and disease while they were being forced to do hard labor 92 93 94 The evacuation Edit Whether the evacuation had been successful or not has been questioned following the end of the war Operation Frequent Wind was generally assessed as an impressive achievement Văn Tiến Dũng stated this in his memoirs and The New York Times described it as being carried out with efficiency and bravery 95 On the other hand the airlift was also criticized for being too slow and hesitant and it was inadequate in removing Vietnamese civilians and soldiers who were connected with the American presence citation needed The U S State Department estimated that the Vietnamese employees of the U S Embassy in South Vietnam past and present and their families totaled 90 000 people In his testimony to Congress Ambassador Martin asserted that 22 294 such people were evacuated by the end of April 96 In 1977 National Review alleged that some 30 000 South Vietnamese had been systematically killed using a list of CIA informants left behind by the U S embassy 97 An iconic photograph of evacuees entering a CIA Air America helicopter on the roof of the apartment building at 22 Gia Long Street is frequently mischaracterized as showing an evacuation from the U S Embassy via a military helicopter 98 Commemoration Edit30 April is celebrated as a public holiday in Vietnam as Reunification Day though the official reunification of the nation actually occurred on 2 July 1976 or Liberation Day Ngay Giải Phong Along with International Workers Day on 1 May most people take the day off work and there are public celebrations citation needed Among overseas Vietnamese the week of 30 April is referred to as Black April and it is also commemorated as a time of lamentation for the fall of Saigon and the fall of South Vietnam as a whole 99 In popular culture EditMiss Saigon A Better Tomorrow III Love amp Death in Saigon and The Deer Hunter including the scenery of the Fall of Saigon Some video records during the Fall of Saigon was featured in the seventh season of the Canadian made internationally distributed documentary series Mayday in the episode Operation Babylift which covered the C 5 plane crash prior to this event Liberate Saigon vi Giải phong Sai Gon is a 2005 Vietnamese film dramatizing the battle for the capture of Saigon 100 See also Edit Vietnam portalIndochina refugee crisis Re education camp Vietnam John Riordan Fall of Kabul 2021 References Edit Ho Chi Minh Campaign 30 April 1975 Vietnamese Chiến dịch Hồ Chi Minh lịch sử 30 4 1975 Trận chiến bi hung của Bộ đội xe tăng Trung đoan 273 9 xe bị bắn chay ngay trước giờ toan thắng Lam Andrew 29 April 2015 Op Ed Is it Liberation Day or Defeat Day in Saigon Los Angeles Times Archived from the original on 16 February 2016 Retrieved 13 February 2016 Austin Lewis C 1 October 1976 Giai Phong The Fall and Liberation of Saigon by Tiziano Terzani Foreign Affairs Archived from the original on 16 February 2016 Retrieved 13 February 2016 Long Ngo Vinh 1993 Post Paris Agreement Struggles and the Fall of Saigon In Werner Jayne Susan Huynh Luu Doan eds The Vietnam War Vietnamese and American Perspectives M E Sharpe p 204 ISBN 9780765638632 Thap Nguyen Thi 2012 Returning to my Home Village In Dutton George Werner Jayne Whitmore John K eds Sources of Vietnamese Tradition Columbia University Press pp 547 53 ISBN 9780231511100 Yoshida Kenichi 23 April 2017 Was it fall or liberation of Saigon The Nation Thailand Retrieved 23 April 2022 Chao mừng kỷ niệm 47 năm Ngay Giải phong Miền Nam 30 4 1975 30 4 2022 Welcoming the 47th anniversary of the Liberation of the South 30 4 1975 30 4 2022 Online Newspaper of the Communist Party of Vietnam in Vietnamese Retrieved 23 April 2022 Walsh Kenneth T 30 April 2015 The U S and Vietnam 40 Years After the Fall of Saigon U S News amp World Report Archived from the original on 4 November 2018 Retrieved 3 November 2018 Multiple sources Last American Ground Combat Unit Is Deactivated in South Vietnam The New York Times 12 August 1972 John J Valdez The Last to Leave fallofsaigon org Archived from the original on 9 October 2015 Retrieved 12 October 2015 I think we got all the Americans out who wanted to leave Some of them elected to stay there mostly reporters originally published in the May 1975 issue of Leatherneck Magazine Krich Claudia 3 May 2015 Eyewitness to the fall of Vietnam It was not a bloodbath The Davis Enterprise p B5 Archived from the original on 28 September 2015 Retrieved 12 October 2015 The article describes the experiences of three American women who stayed in Saigon Jim Laurie Vietnam 2015 40 years on Archived from the original on 17 November 2015 Article by an American journalist who chose not to be evacuated Americans who stayed on may be source of sightings New Straits Times 3 August 1991 Archived from the original on 17 November 2015 Retrieved 13 October 2015 Article asserting that about 70 Americans stayed behind and containing details of some individual cases The Last Days in Vietnam Movie review Archived from the original on 18 November 2015 Retrieved 13 October 2015 This is a story about a few brave good people who stayed behind in order to not leave anyone behind mentions NBC correspondents Jim Laurie and Neil Davis who stayed after the evacuation a b c d Dunham Maj George R Quinlan Col David A 1990 U S Marines in Vietnam The Bitter End 1973 1975 Marine Corps Vietnam Operational Histories Series PDF Washington DC History amp Museums Division Headquarters U S Marine Corps ISBN 978 0 16 026455 9 This article incorporates text from this source which is in the public domain Desbarats Jacqueline Repression in the Socialist Republic of Vietnam Executions and Population Relocation from The Vietnam Debate 1990 by John Morton Moore Bharath Deepa 29 April 2011 O C Black April events commemorate fall of Saigon Orange County Register Archived from the original on 12 December 2013 Retrieved 18 January 2014 Nguyen Hien How Saigon became Ho Chi Minh City VnExpress International Retrieved 23 April 2022 Black April Los Angeles Times Archived from the original on 21 December 2013 Retrieved 7 December 2013 a b Black April UNAVSA Knowledge Archived from the original on 10 December 2013 Retrieved 7 December 2013 April 30th 1975 betrayed and abandoned vnafmamn com Archived from the original on 10 November 2013 Retrieved 7 December 2013 Secretary of State Assembly Concurrent Resolution No 220 Chapter 74 Relative to Black April Memorial Week Legislative Counsel s Digest California Legislative Information Archived from the original on 12 December 2013 Retrieved 7 December 2013 Kurhi Eric 30 April 2013 Black April ceremony honors Vietnam War soldiers in San Jose San Jose Mercury News Archived from the original on 11 December 2013 Retrieved 7 December 2013 Bharath Deepa 29 April 2011 O C Black April events commemorate fall of Saigon Orange County Register Archived from the original on 12 December 2013 Retrieved 7 December 2013 Bharath Deepa 25 April 2008 Black April events commemorate fall of Saigon Orange County Register Archived from the original on 18 May 2009 Retrieved 28 May 2009 Audio Slideshow Black April Los Angeles Times Archived from the original on 4 May 2009 Retrieved 28 May 2009 Trần Mỹ Thuận 30 April 2009 Orange County s Vietnamese immigrants reflect on historic moment Los Angeles Times Archived from the original on 3 May 2009 Retrieved 28 May 2009 Dzũng Đỗ 30 April 2009 Tưởng niệm Thang Tư Đen ở Quận Cam Bao Người Việt Archived from the original on 2 May 2009 Retrieved 28 May 2009 Todd 1990 p 433 Tanner 2000 p 303 Dawson 1977 p xiii Snepp 1977 p 280 Todd 1990 p 248 Todd 1990 p 249 On This Day 21 April 1975 Vietnam s President Thieu resigns BBC Home 21 April 2008 Archived from the original on 22 November 2010 a b c Dawson 1977 p xv Willbanks 2004 p 257 Weinraub Bernard 1 April 1975 Attack on Saigon Feared Danang Refugee Sealift is Halted by Rocket Fire The New York Times p 1 Pike 1970 Tanner 2000 p 312 Dawson 1977 p xiv Butterfield Fox 2 April 1975 Many Americans Quit Vietnam U S Denies Evacuation Orders The New York Times p 1 Snepp 1977 p 312 Snepp 1977 p 304 Kissinger 2003 pp 540 41 Snepp 1977 p 330 Snepp 1977 p 303 Snepp 1977 p 352 Brown 1976 p 318 Todd 1990 p 311 Lipman Jana K 2014 A Refugee Camp in America Fort Chaffee and Vietnamese and Cuban Refugees 1975 1982 Journal of American Ethnic History 33 2 58 doi 10 5406 jamerethnhist 33 2 0057 JSTOR 10 5406 jamerethnhist 33 2 0057 Retrieved 23 January 2021 Anticipating political and presumably personal freedom within the United States numerous refugees found themselves unexpectedly waiting days and at times weeks and months in military compounds The 1975 Vietnamese refugees were disproportionately former active members of the South Viet namese military and government Snepp 1977 p 287 Snepp 1977 p 316 Snepp 1977 p 289 Snepp 1977 p 319 Todd 1990 p 296 Todd 1990 p 298 Saigon Hears the Fighting at Its Edge The New York Times 28 April 1975 Retrieved 25 September 2016 Vietnam Newport Bridge on YouTube Willbanks 2004 p 275 a b c d e f g Tobin Thomas 1978 USAF Southeast Asia Monograph Series Volume IV Monograph 6 Last Flight from Saigon U S Government Printing Office ISBN 9781410205711 This article incorporates text from this source which is in the public domain Todd 1990 p 347 Smith 1975 Tanner 2000 p 313 Todd 1990 p 353 Schudel Matt 31 March 2014 Thomas Polgar CIA official during the fall of Saigon dies The Washington Post Archived from the original on 9 March 2016 Retrieved 24 November 2016 Esper George Copters Ending Vietnam Era The Washington Star Washington D C Tuesday 29 April 1975 p A 1 Todd 1990 p 366 Todd 1990 p 367 Snepp 1977 p 478 a b Tanner 2000 p 314 Todd 1990 p 370 Snepp 1977 p 551 a b Snepp 1977 p 568 Isaacs 1983 p 393 Moise 1988 p 15 a b c Veith George 2012 Black April The Fall of South Vietnam 1973 75 Encounter Books pp 488 89 ISBN 9781594035722 Associated Press Minh Surrenders Vietcong In Saigon a b c Oliver Myrna 8 August 2001 Duong Van Minh Last President of S Vietnam Los Angeles Times Archived from the original on 4 October 2012 Retrieved 11 October 2009 a b c Terzani Tiziano 1976 Giai Phong The Fall and Liberation of Saigon Angus amp Robertson U K Ltd pp 92 96 ISBN 0207957126 Reunion of the Veterans organization of Tank Amour force in the South Vietnam Dinh Độc Lập official website 28 April 2020 Retrieved 14 January 2022 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint url status link Ryan Jane 8 September 2015 Revered war cameraman Neil Davis remembered ABC News Retrieved 14 January 2022 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint url status link a b Pride and obscurity the historic crew of Vietnam s Tank 390 Agence France Presse 24 April 2015 Retrieved 14 January 2022 a href Template Cite news html title Template Cite news cite news a CS1 maint url status link a b Nguyen Ha Minh Reuters 29 April 2015 Vietnam s war heroes get star treatment 40 years after fall of Saigon The Sydney Morning Herald reposted Retrieved 14 January 2022 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a author has generic name help CS1 maint url status link Prime Minister of Vietnam 1 October 2012 Decision No 1426 QD TTg on recognization of national precious objects luatminhkhue vn Hanoi retrieved 14 January 2022 Khanh Nguyen Doan Hiep 27 April 2010 Famous person with simple life People s Army Newspaper Hanoi retrieved 14 January 2022 Mai Huong 27 June 2012 2nd Corps headed to Sai Gon from Southeast direction Sai Gon Giai Phong Online in Vietnamese Ho Chi Minh City retrieved 14 January 2022 Leong Ernest 31 October 2009 Vietnam Tries to Create New Image 30 Years After End of War Voice of America retrieved 14 January 2022 a b c Bui Tin 1999 Following Ho Chi Minh The Memoirs of a North Vietnamese Colonel University of Hawaii Press pp 84 86 ISBN 9780824822330 Chứng nhan phương Tay duy nhất trong Dinh Độc Lập ngay 30 4 1975 Tuổi Trẻ in Vietnamese 28 April 2021 Retrieved 14 January 2022 Ellison Richard Series Producer 2 February 1981 Vietnam A Television History Interview with Bui Tin 2 1981 WGBH Educational Foundation Retrieved 14 January 2022 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint url status link Butterfield Fox 8 August 2001 Duong Van Minh 85 Saigon Plotter Dies The New York Times Archived from the original on 27 November 2012 Retrieved 29 November 2012 Ives Mike 13 August 2013 Bui Tin Colonel Who Accepted South Vietnam s Surrender Dies at 90 The New York Times Retrieved 15 January 2022 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint url status link a b People s Committee of Ca Mau Province 20 April 2015 The full transcript of Republic of Vietnam s President declaration of surrender and the acceptance statement from respresentatives of Liberation Army of South Vietnam Online portal of Ca Mau province in Vietnamese Ca Mau retrieved 14 January 2022 a b Dawson 1977 p 351 Dawson 1977 p xvi Porter Gareth Roberts James 1 January 1988 Desbarats Jacqueline Jackson Karl D eds Creating a Bloodbath by Statistical Manipulation Pacific Affairs 61 2 303 10 doi 10 2307 2759306 JSTOR 2759306 Metzner Edward P 2001 Reeducation in Postwar Vietnam Personal Postscripts to Peace Texas A amp M University Press p xiii ISBN 9781585441297 250 000 Sagan Ginetta Denney Stephen October November 1982 Re education in Unliberated Vietnam Loneliness Suffering and Death The Indochina Newsletter Archived from the original on 14 September 2016 Retrieved 1 September 2016 New York Times The Americans Depart Snepp 1977 p 565 Le Thi Anh The New Vietnam National Review 29 April 1977 According to Frank Snepp a CIA analyst who served in Saigon the American Embassy was not able to destroy its top secret files during the frantic evacuation and among the information that fell into Communist hands was a list of 30 000 Vietnamese who had worked in the Phoenix Program a U S sponsored operation responsible for the elimination of thousands of Communist agents A full report on the massacre of those 30 000 Phoenix cadres is said to have reached the desk of the French ambassador to Saigon by late 1975 he communicated it to Washington where nothing was done with it Bradley James 2015 The China mirage the hidden history of American disaster in Asia New York p 369 ISBN 978 0 316 19667 3 OCLC 870199580 Black April events commemorate fall of Saigon The Orange County Register Archived from the original on 18 May 2009 Retrieved 13 February 2016 Giai phong Sai Gon 2005 IMDb Retrieved 28 April 2021 Further reading EditAdams E G The Beginning of the End Archived from the original on 20 July 2011 Brown Weldon A 1976 The Last Chopper The Denouement of the American Role in Vietnam 1963 1975 Kennikat Press ISBN 0 8046 9121 5 Butler David 1985 The Fall of Saigon New York Simon and Schuster ISBN 0 671 46675 5 Dawson Alan 1977 55 Days The Fall of South Vietnam Prentice Hall ISBN 0 13 314476 3 Dunham George R Quinlan David A 1990 U S Marines in Vietnam The Bitter End 1973 1975 PDF Washington DC History and Museums Division Headquarters U S Marine Corps ISBN 978 0 16 026455 9 Engelmann Larry 1990 Tears before the Rain An Oral History of the Fall of South Vietnam Oxford University Press ISBN 978 0 19 505386 9 Isaacs Arnold 1983 Without Honor Defeat in Vietnam and Cambodia The Johns Hopkins University Press ISBN 0 8018 6107 1 Kissinger Henry 2003 Ending the Vietnam War A History of America s Involvement in and Extrication from the Vietnam War Simon amp Schuster ISBN 0 7432 1532 X Pike Douglas 1970 The Viet Cong Strategy of Terror PDF vietnam ttu edu Archived from the original PDF on 20 July 2011 Retrieved 18 January 2007 Smith Homer D 22 May 1975 The Final Forty Five Days in Vietnam PDF vietnam ttu edu Archived from the original PDF on 20 July 2011 Retrieved 16 January 2007 Snepp Frank 1977 Decent Interval An Insider s Account of Saigon s Indecent End Told by the CIA s Chief Strategy Analyst in Vietnam Random House ISBN 0 394 40743 1 Tanner Stephen 2000 Epic Retreats From 1776 to the Evacuation of Saigon Sarpedon ISBN 1 885119 57 7 See especially p 273 and on Todd Olivier 1990 Cruel April The Fall of Saigon W W Norton amp Company ISBN 0 393 02787 2 originally published in 1987 in French Tucker Spencer C ed 1998 Encyclopedia of the Vietnam War A Political Social and Military History Oxford University Press ISBN 0 874 36983 5 Văn Tiến Dũng 1977 Our Great Spring Victory An Account of the Liberation of South Vietnam Monthly Review Press ISBN 0 85345 409 4 Willbanks James H 2004 Abandoning Vietnam How America Left and South Vietnam Lost Its War University Press of Kansas ISBN 978 0 7006 1331 1 The Americans Depart The New York Times 30 April 1975 p 37 Moise Edwin E 1988 Nationalism and Communism in Vietnam Journal of Third World Studies University Press of Florida 5 2 6 22 JSTOR 45193059 External links Edit Saigon s Finale The New York Times 1975 Saigon surrenders BBC News The short film Fall of Saigon 1975 is available for free download at the Internet Archive Last Days in Vietnam on Youtube Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Fall of Saigon amp oldid 1148412423, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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