On April 30, 1975, the Communist North Vietnamese troops occupied Saigon, the capital of the United States’ capital, the capital of Vietnam, which marked the end of the Vietnam War.
The war took place between two halves of the former French colony since 1955. Nearly three million Americans, mainly young conscripts, were supported by North Vietnam, supported by Russia and China, and the communist guerrillas in the south. The United States spent billions (and 58,220 of its own soldiers’ lives) to prevent the emergence of another communist regime in Asia.
Vietnam suffered a lot more losses: during the conflict, there were about 2 million civilians on both sides, and perhaps 1.3 million soldiers were killed. But the departure of the last helicopter from the roof of the U.S. Embassy in Saigon has historically declined, a symbol of American arrogance and failure.
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How does war achieve this?
The direct military participation of the United States ended in 1973 and signed the Paris Peace Agreement. Washington knows that peace will not take place and that the North may win war, but in the words of National Security Adviser Henry Kissinger, it is a “good interval” between the United States’ departure and the failure of the South. Therefore, the United States continues to provide financial and military assistance.
But by then, Vietnam’s participation was extremely unpopular in the United States, and President Nixon’s political career would soon be over by the Watergate scandal. By the end of the summer of 1974, Nixon had resigned and Congress reduced military and economic aid to southern Vietnam by 30%.
The South Vietnamese government, led by President Nguyen van Thieu, is corrupt and inefficient. It is struggling with out-of-control inflation, rising unemployment and escape rates from the military, and the heroin addiction epidemic. The North appropriately exerted its advantages.
How did the North Vietnamese army use it?
In March 1975, it launched a two-year offensive that was expected to conquer southern Vietnam. If this happens, the South Vietnamese army will soon collapse. After capturing the central highlands, the Northern Vietnamese took out the tones in half of Saigon and the northern capital Hanoi, and then the second largest city in the south, Dan Nan, triggered the exodus of refugees. Its troops were pushed toward Saigon, a city that Saigon had largely not touched in this war.
Realizing the imminent danger, President Tiu resigned on April 21 to deliver an angry TV speech, accusing Washington of “selling its allies to the Communists. He fled to Taiwan, took 15 tons of luggage, and later lived in Surrey for a while.
What is the reaction of the United States?
President Ford, who succeeded Nixon, had begged Congress to release additional military aid, but to no avail. On April 23, Ford delivered a speech in New Orleans, announcing that the United States’ participation in Vietnam has now been “completed”. Four days later, Saigon was surrounded by 100,000 North Vietnamese troops and the Vietnamese Communist Party.
Until now, the United States has evacuated some of its citizens from Saigon. But there are about 6,000 people, and a large number of South Vietnam that are closely related to the United States, which Ford says is attributed to “a deep moral obligation.”
On the morning of April 29, 1975, the US military launched a “frequent wind” to extract them. The code for the operation was launched was a statement issued on the US Armed Forces radio station, saying that “the temperature in Saigon is 105 degrees, rises” and then the song “White Christmas”.
How does this operation work?
On April 28, North Vietnamese artillery closed the Tan Son Nhut Air Base, which had evacuated 50,493 people. Therefore, the only available option is a flight of about 30 minutes in the South China Sea, 26 ships transported from the Saigon Embassy to U.S. Navy ships.
About 10,000 Vietnamese gathered outside the embassy and were in desperate need of flight. There are about 2,500 possible evacuators in the embassy compound. Marines guard the embassy, ​​lifting American citizens and lucky Vietnamese up the walls. When the flight starts to take off, the scene is chaotic. American war journalist Keyes Beech described being captured by a “boiling crowd” outside the embassy, ​​”fighting for our lives, scratching, grabbing, pushing it against the wall.”
Why is it so chaotic?
The military collapse was fast. By the morning of April 29, North Vietnamese tanks were passing through Saigon. U.S. Ambassador to Vietnam Graham Martin deceivingly believed that South Vietnam would reach an agreement with Hanoi, and therefore ignored the suggestion of speeding up evacuation.
In view of this, frequent popularity is an amazing feat: in less than 24 hours, the United States evacuated more than 7,000 people, including more than 5,500 South Vietnam. Some pilots flew for 19 hours in a row. South Vietnamese helicopters carrying refugees joined the U.S. Naval Airways aircraft; about 45 military helicopters were reportedly pushed onto the ship to clear the space of newcomers. Before 8 a.m. on April 30, the last helicopter in Saigon evacuated the Marines.
What happened to those who are left?
The embassy will leave thousands of South Vietnam – intelligence personnel, special police, at the embassy. Although surprisingly few were executed, more than 200,000 labor and re-education camps in South Vietnam took three to 18 years. More people fled the country.
By April 30, Saigon was soon renamed Ho Chi Minh City. By the end of 1975, Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos were all under communist rule – Vietnam continued to this day.
Vietnam’s “Crew”
In the 20 years after the fall of Saigon, about 800,000 Vietnamese refugees safely fled the Communist regime, the largest large-scale Exodus in modern history. It is very difficult to escape from land: Vietnam has only Cambodia (Khmer controls Cambodia), China and Laos (Vietnam’s allies). Therefore, most refugees fled the small boats in the South China Sea – known as “the crew”.
Many people travel to Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Hong Kong. Some people arrived in Japan, and even Australia. The journey was full of risks: the ships were often unceremonious, sunk, or used up food and water; many were attacked by pirates, mainly from Thailand, who raped and killed the women on board. It is estimated that between 200,000 and 400,000 Vietnamese die at sea.
In 1979, the United Nations declared a “serious crisis” and urged countries to take over refugees. Eventually around 402,000 people settled in the United States; Australia and Canada also welcomed large numbers. About 19,000 came to the UK. Although American public opinion initially opposed accepting refugees from Vietnam, by 2023, 2.3 million people in the United States live in the United States.
