Fifty Years. I Wonder If Things Will Ever Change.

Fifty Years. I wonder if things will ever change.

29 April 1975 – Operation Frequent Wind, the largest helicopter evacuation on record, begins removing the last Americans from Saigon. The North Vietnamese had launched their final offensive in March 1975 and the South Vietnamese forces had fallen back before their rapid advance, losing Quang Tri, Hue, Da Nang, Qui Nhon, Tuy Hoa, Nha Trang, and Xuan Loc in quick succession.

With the North Vietnamese attacking the outskirts of Saigon, U.S. Ambassador Graham Martin ordered the commencement of Operation Frequent Wind, the term used for the final evacuation. The coded message went out over Armed Forces Radio to any US civilians or contractors working in Saigon who had been instructed to listen for : The temperature in Saigon is 105 degrees and rising.” Then the wistful strains of White Christmas played on the radio. This was repeated regularly and was the evacuation warning.

In 19 hours, 81 helicopters carried more than 1,000 Americans and almost 6,000 Vietnamese to aircraft carriers offshore. At 7:53 a.m. on April 30, the last helicopter lifted off the roof of the US embassy and headed out to sea. Later that morning, North Vietnamese tanks crashed through the gates of the Presidential Palace. North Vietnamese Col. Bui Tin accepted the surrender from Gen. Duong Van Minh, who had taken over from Tran Van Huong (who only spent one day in power after President Nguyen Van Thieu fled).

The Vietnam War was over.