THE FALL OF SAIGON

The Geneva Conference of 1954 officially ended the War in Southeast Asia and by 1956 world attention was focused on the Mekong River Basin. The Mekong River Project drew countless countries to Southeast Asia including the United States and between 1956 and 1960 the U. S. began funneling money into a pro American South Vietnamese government. In 1963 President Kennedy aware of a coup sanctioned the overthrow of a belligerent noncompliant regime resulting in the murder of South Vietnamese President Diem and his staff. 

April 30, 1975 ended U.S. involvement in Southeast Asia. Including the Fall Of Saigon the United States had been involved in Vietnamese affairs in one way or another for more than twenty years following the end of the Korean War on July 27, 1953. The transition was less than cordial and in many cases an outright bloodbath leaving Indochina in worse condition than the French. 

It had been 30 years since Ho Chi Minh began his fight to see his beloved Vietnam reunited under one flag and in April 1975 his dream would be realized. It was called the Ho Chi Minh Campaign and it gave the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV) the decisive victory it needed and fought so long and hard for. Hanoi decided after the collapse of the Army of Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) or South Vietnamese Army in several key war zones that Saigon should be taken before the rainy season. Setting their sites on a victory by May 19th, their dead leaders birthday, the Ho Chi Minh Campaign went into full swing. 

In early April regiments of North Vietnam's Army blocked roads in and around Saigon while crippling Bien Hoa airfield with artillery. Cadres of sappers infiltrated the city dismantling transportation and blocking river traffic. Thirty-five miles north of Saigon in Xuan Loc fighting was fierce as North Vietnam's pilots attacked the presidential palace. 

Using the genocide in Cambodia to their advantage North Vietnam was confident of no interference as the  U.S. was kept busy evacuating refugees from the Khamer Rouge regime under Pol Pot. Even at the eleventh hour many of Saigon's elite could not believe the United States would abandoned them. Many officials and Washington visitors acted as if a settlement could be reached and went about their daily routines even with talk of an impending coup. 

On April 21st President Thieu resigned in favor of Vice-President Huong but did little to slow the onslaught as forces now blocked all major routes from Long Bien in north Saigon to the Delta in the south. By April 25th Saigon was isolated and Xuan Loc fell as artillery bombardments and ground assaults entered Saigon proper in the east. Artillery then crippled Tan Son Nhat Airport stopping a mass exodus by air and reassuring that no help would arrive. On April 28th President Nuong, only in office for a week, resigned in favor of President Minh as captured aircraft continued to attack airfields and major arteries sealing Saigon's fate. 

For Americans April 30,1975 was the day of reconning as the final pull out and evacuation of the masses tried to connect with helicopters, ships, and planes. The evacuation was untimely poorly executed and chaotic to say the least and only a third of Washington's at risk personnel and Vietnamese employees escaped. On April 30, 1975 President Minh ordered all South Vietnamese forces to cease fighting and lay down their arms. The Ho Chi Minh Campaign had achieved it's goal and the war in Southeast Asia was over.

I tried to look away and wipe the tears from my eyes and pretend it didn't matter. I was a man and conditioned to be hard and strong and I tried to remember all I was taught. My soldiering days were over and replaced with a pain that just wouldn't go away. Not a physical pain for the muscle and sinu pain was my realm and I welcomed it for it gave me life. No, this was a pain from within that I didn't have a grip on and so I tried to look away but was instantly fixated on those images now embedded in my mind. The ward was silent or so it was to me and the audio on the TV wasn't necessary, the images spoke for themselves. 

On April 30, 1975 I was in a psychiatric ward at the Veterans Hospital in Northport New York trying to get a handle on the images in my head when I was bombarded with images on TV of a society in ruins that I helped create. It was bizarre to say the least that I should be subject to more of this nonsense or was this my penance. Perhaps I should relive it over and over again until it changes or until I figure it out. In any event I had no choice but to watch the horror once again. How could this happen? Was it all in vane? What would happen to these people? 

The city I fought so hard to protect was gone, the city we bled and died for was gone and in its place was the apocalypse. In despare, I looked away and took my meds.

The last helicopter to leave the U.S. Embassy roof tries to evacuate as many as possible. Only a handful would make the journey on the infamous "Flight To Freedom".

Dozen fleeing for their lives hang on to the helicopter rudders but to no avail and fall to their death.

The U.S. embassy gates are torn down by historical mobs as the Communists storm the city. Within hours Saigon would fall.

April 30, 2000 I sat on a folding chair in the second row. The first row was reserved for New York City's elite and so I knew my place. In front of me was Mayor Giuliani, Donald Trump, General Steele, and a host of equally important people well known in areas of government, finance, and the military. Celebrating the 25 Year Anniversary of the Fall Of Saigon and rededicating the New York City Vietnam Veterans Memorial we all gathered on Water Street in what was known as Vietnam Veterans Plaza. 

One by one they spoke of bravery by our veterans and the meaning of sacrifice as they introduced Medal Of Honor recipients. They all spoke of similar issues while telling their story of men that rose to heroic levels and of a brotherhood that they were privy to. On and on the day went until the last speaker approached the podium. Sitting on the edge of my seat I leaned forward obnoxiously intrusive of the special guests in front of me. The pompousness of the previous speakers soon dissipated as all went quiet. This is what I came for.

She was frail and in her mid thirties with two small children by her side. Her voice was almost a whisper and hard to hear but her words were strong and full of life with a spirit unmatched in my lifetime. She was direct and to the point about a life of agony, pain, and triumph. 

She was one of two children that grew up in Saigon during the war with other American children and had the benefit of the best that Vietnam had to offer. Towards the end of the war her father tried without success to get the family out. As total chaos ruled the streets of Saigon in mid April tens of thousands of Vietnamese tried to get transportation by any means possible. The final days were winding down and mass hysteria ruled the psyche of every South Vietnamese family.

On April 30, 1975 her father took her and her younger brother to the gates of the U.S. Embassy and joined tens of thousands of people crying for help. The gates were locked and those that could get close began to climb. For a split second the mob listed to one side and an opening appeared. Without hesitation her father selflessly pusher them through the medal picked bars of the gate. There was no time for goodbyes only the struggle for life in a sea of trauma and pain. She held her brothers hand as tightly as she could and slipped through the desperate mob until it was impossible to pass. She pushed and slithered trying to find passage and lost her grip. Her brother was missing in the crowd and she was now being forced to move with the ebb and flow of the masses. Without resistance the strength of so many controlled her movement as she found her way to the top of the embassy roof. She was on the last helicopter to leave Saigon, only eleven years old and alone she was on "The Flight To Freedom". 

I stood in awe of both her and the human spirit as I shrunk in comparison to the life of this woman half my age. She towered over me in a deity sort of way when I approached her and we talked. I was shaking when I shook her hand and felt her spirit as she thanked me for my service looking down at her two children. Through them her family lives on I thought and like all of us she moves forward carrying the past. 

OPERATION BABYLIFT 

History has the unmistakable quality of being reviewed time and again with different outcomes and different stories and different heroes. The Fall Of Saigon was no different as civilian mothers thousands of miles from home take to the air and invade Saigon. 

It was called Operation Babylift by the Ford Administration on April 2, 1975 and lasted to the last days of the war. Civilians, nurses, volunteers, and Air Force personnel would fly into Saigon's Tan Son Nhut Air Base under enemy fire with cargo and civilian aircraft and evacuate as many orphans as possible during the Fall Of Saigon. One aircraft crashed or was shot down killing 138, mostly Vietnamese children, but the remainder went off without incident. Over 3,000 orphans were rescued and 2,600 were adopted by families all over the world. Critics of the war accused the Ford Administration of political manipulation but to no avail. The heroes that stepped forward in those waning hours risked their lives and held the critics at bay by the overall success of the operation. 

The numbers evacuated only reflect a fraction of the problem left by the war. Amerasian children, fathered by American servicemen to Vietnamese women, are said to number in the tens of thousands. Known as "the children of dust" they were shunned by Vietnamese society and lived a harsh life.

Boxes of babies are strapped down in cargo planes waiting evacuation.

A surreal site of a commercial jetliner full of babies in boxes.

From the dedication of The Cleveland Grey's Museum, Lincoln's first unit called to arms, to the Australian Embassy in Washington my work has afforded me the opportunity to speak at many different venues. On occasion I am paired up with another guest speaker performing workshops or historical exhibits in educational settings. It's not that I disagree or am disappointed with other guests but I feel that most times we're not on the same page and my message is lost, but not always.

We met at an emporium for administrators and teachers for all school districts in Nassau County Long Island NY and we talked for hours. This frail lady was fifteen years my senior but her energy level was equal to mine. Just an ordinary American housewife and mother she left her family and flew 9,000 miles into the face of enemy fire. Her volunteer organization teamed up with private airlines and crews to evacuate orphans during The Fall Of Saigon. Ordinary mothers with a love for the gift of life manned commercial aircraft to fulfill a destiny. One particular child with a special gleam in his eye went home with her as her own. 

I am in awe of most simple things in life but occasionally I am privileged to touch the human spirit itself and when I do I am jolted with a bolt of life giving energy. It usually carries me  just long enough to reach another and if not I search for it in vane. This energy sustains my life. That day was one of those life giving days and I thanked her with tears in my eyes. She knew exactly what I meant. I feed off of this energy to exist and embracing it gives me hope and I am appreciative. 

OPERATION FREQUENT WIND

60,000 strong in the eleventh hour of The Fall of Saigon made up of prominent politicians, military leaders, and anyone with U.S. or Saigon connections took to the South China Sea to escape the death throes of the Communists. It was calld Operation Frequent Wind and desparate Vietnamese fled on fishing boats, makeshift vessels, and unseaworthy craft to reach ships of the U.S. Seventh Fleet. Other than U.S. ships refugees made their way to first-asylum countries such as Malayaia, Indonesia, Singapore, the Phillipes, and Hong Kong. In the next two years almost 30,000 more Vietnamese would venture into the unknown and seek asylum despite official reports that an estimated one third of all fleeing Vietnamese would die at sea. 

Hords of frantic Vietnamese hug the coastline in anticipation of freedom.

Anything that floats was a possible ticket to freedom.

Ships of the U.S. Seventh Fleet await the boat people.

Mr. Pham Van Hai or "Skinny Hai" as he was known by his unit couldn't weight more than 90 pounds soaking wet had a great big smile and an even bigger outgoing personality. After the Fall Of Saigon Skinny Hai willfully turned himself in to the new government. In return for his candor and honesty he was separated from his family, sent north, and was put in a forced labor camp for three years.

Selfie in second growth jungle sprayed and killed by Agent Orange. After 50 years the area still hasn't recovered to its former self in the town of Cu Chi.

A burned out tank lies in the middle of the Cu Chi forest.

Hai was an officer in the ARVN Military (Army of Republic of Vietnam) with the U. S. 11th Armored Calvary and worked with my unit, among others, in the Xuan Loc and Black Horse areas north of Saigon. He also worked close with my unit in The Pineapple, an area in the Mekong Delta, for five years. He educated himself and spoke fluent English as an interpreter for the American Army and dealt with captured Vietcong.

During The Fall of Saigon many ARVN soldiers simply took off their uniforms and tried to blend in with the local population. Since The Vietnam War was a civil war it pitted brother against brother so rather than surrender and face the wrath of the Communists soldiers mant simply tried to blend in. Hai, being a high ranking officer, turned himself in to the new government and was imprisoned.

At eighteen years old and knowing I would never want to be captured I slept with a live hand grenade clutched in my hand. My mentality at the time was that I would use it on myself rather than be captured by the Vietcong. Hai fought and conspired with the American Army against the Communist Vietcong and in the end he turned himself in rather than try to hide. 

I tried to wrap my mind around this decision and the anguish he must have gone through to make it. We as Americans could go home after the war but win or loose the Vietnamese had to stay and work things out. That said, I can't imagine making that decision knowing that there was a strong possibility he would be killed. 

There are heroes on both sides of the fence and sometimes it's the unknown decions we are unaware of that make them so. Hai is a hero in my book, not for fighting in the war, but for facing his demons.

"Say hello to my little friend", Mr. Pham Van Hai.

Old soldiers get together in Cu Chi.

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