After issuing the order to "go," the president walked over to the White House Situation Room where Henry Kissinger briefed him on the pullout. "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. The portly Quang was allowed to squeeze in through the gate while his two Samsonite suitcases were passed over the fence. Soon we were high over the dark Saigon River. While several pilots did indeed ease their copters into the steel-gray ocean, a few of the cocky Vietnamese chose to make more spectacular exits. Finally its door opened, and crying women clutching their children scrambled out.After sweat-stained sailors shoved the disabled craft over the edge, the other helicopters came in one by one and discharged their refugees.

Once inside, he carefully dusted off his navy-blue suit before being led to the staging area by the embassy swimming pool.Some Americans weren't so lucky. Valdez wrote of the last letter he mailed from Vietnam. As the crew of the Blue Ridge dived for cover, the Vietnamese chopper teetered precariously. As the buses pulled up to the U.S. Defence Attache's Office, a 122-mm.

U.S. Navy personnel aboard the U.S.S. Nearing 1975 the war in Vietnam was supposed to be finished through the signing of the Paris Peace Accords. Once more, the president tried to go to sleep. By the end of the week, the Seventh Fleet armada was steaming toward Subic Bay and Guam to deposit its evacuees.

In-country R & R locations were at Vung Tau, Cam Rahn Bay or China Beach. The president returned to his quarters shortly after midnight. 518 On the last full day of his country’s existence, South Vietnamese air force Maj. Buang-Ly stole a tiny two-seat airplane. "To Martin, cutting down the tree represented the final acceptance that the jig was up—and he was constitutionally unable to do that," one embassy official told me. Open doors revealed offices stripped of everything important. It is recognized as the largest helicopter airlift in history. His chauffeur's efforts to get out through the gate failed when the Marine guards were nearly overrun. . None smiled. So for the past several days, embassy staffers had been sneaking out with axes and chipping away at parts of the tree trunk not visible to Martin.Behind the parking lot in the swimming-pool area, several thousand Vietnamese waited with piles of suitcases and bundles of clothing. 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.The Americans and the refugees they flew out were generally allowed to leave without intervention from either the North or South Vietnamese. Various names have been applied to these events.

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.Opinions were divided on whether any government headed by Thiệu could effect such a political solution.President Thiệu resigned on April 21. Operation Frequent Wind was generally assessed as an impressive achievement – 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. For instance, a memo prepared by the 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—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.As early as the end of March, some Americans were leaving the city.By this time the Ford administration had also begun planning a complete evacuation of the American presence. "Repression in the Socialist Republic of Vietnam: Executions and Population Relocation", from Associated Press, "Minh Surrenders, Vietcong In Saigon". Gen. Dang Van Quang, a former corps commander who was once fired for corruption, also showed up at the side gate. Most of the refugees set sail without taking on supplies, and radio messages picked up by the American task force painted a picture of despair. The hour came and went, however, and still the embassy evacuation continued. Approaching and leaving a "hot" landing zone under fire, they might hover a few feet above the ground as soldiers leaped off into action. Some carried grenade launchers, several toted antiquated submachine guns and a few even had bone-handled hunting knives stuck in their belts. The war in region known as Vietnam stretched nearly thirty years – and in the Last Days in Vietnam, filmmakers show the chaotic and desperate final weeks before and after the fall of Saigon. "It was the biggest helicopter lift of its kind in history—an 18-hour operation that carried 1,373 Americans and 5,595 Vietnamese to safety. It turned out to be the CIA detonating an explosive device on communications equipment.By midevening, the embassy was almost deserted of U.S. civilians. So Martin left by a back way and walked the three blocks to his house. "By midmorning of the next day—still hours before the start of the U.S. evacuation—the entire horizon was dotted with helicopters heading for the American fleet. Sailors and marines racing toward the stern of the Blue Ridge saw a South Vietnamese Air Force CH-47 Chinook settling down on the small helipad on the aft deck.