Fall of Saigon

1960s: Days of Rage

May 1

A CIA officer helps evacuees up a ladder onto an Air America Bell 204/205 helicopter at 22 Gia Long Street 29 April 1975.

"The fall of Saigon was the capture of Saigon, the capital of South Vietnam, by North Vietnam on 30 April 1975. The event marked the end of the Vietnam War and the collapse of the South Vietnamese state, leading to a transition periodand the formal reunification of Vietnam into the Socialist Republic of Vietnam under communist rule on 2 July 1976. The People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) and the Viet Cong, 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. The evacuation was the largest helicopter evacuation in history. ... 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). ... 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.^[26] 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. ... Along with International Workers' Day on 1 May, most people take the day off work and there are public celebrations. Among most 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 South Vietnam as a whole. ..."
W - Fall of Saigon
Guardian - Forty years on from the fall of Saigon: witnessing the end of the Vietnam war (2015)
W - Vietnamese boat people
YouTube: The 'Fall of Saigon' in 1975, how the news reported it, The Fall of Saigon: 40 years later, Reliving the fall of Saigon with Vietnam vets and journalists, The Fall of Saigon, April 30, 1975