Fall of Saigon

Various names have been applied to these events. The Vietnamese government officially calls it the "Day of the Liberation of the South and National Reunification" ({{langx|vi|Ngày giải phóng miền Nam, thống nhất đất nước}}), "Liberation Day" ({{lang|vi|Ngày giải phóng}}), or "Victory Day" ({{Lang|vi|Ngày Chiến thắng}}), while the term "fall of Saigon" is commonly used in Western accounts. It is alternatively called the "Day the Country Was Lost" ({{lang|vi|Ngày vong quốc}}), "Black April" ({{lang|vi|Tháng tư đen}}),{{cite web |title=Black April |url=https://latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/asia/la-me-saigon_v2-f,0,781050.flash |work=Los Angeles Times |access-date=7 December 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131221002317/http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/asia/la-me-saigon_v2-f,0,781050.flash |archive-date=21 December 2013 |url-status=dead}}{{cite web |title=Black April |url=http://knowledge.unavsa.org/culture/black-april/ |work=UNAVSA Knowledge |access-date=7 December 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131210213913/http://knowledge.unavsa.org/culture/black-april/ |archive-date=10 December 2013 |url-status=dead}}{{cite web |title=April 30th 1975, betrayed and abandoned |url=http://vnafmamn.com/black_april.html |website=vnafmamn.com |access-date=7 December 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131110202925/http://www.vnafmamn.com/black_april.html |archive-date=10 November 2013 |url-status=usurped}}{{cite web |author=Secretary of State |title=Assembly Concurrent Resolution No. 220 Chapter 74 Relative to Black April Memorial Week |url=http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml;jsessionid=197a70db2305a21a4d9049a44403?bill_id=200320040ACR220 |work=Legislative Counsel's Digest |publisher=California Legislative Information |access-date=7 December 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131212120655/http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml;jsessionid=197a70db2305a21a4d9049a44403?bill_id=200320040ACR220 |archive-date=12 December 2013 |url-status=live}}{{cite web |last=Kurhi |first=Eric |title=Black April ceremony honors Vietnam War soldiers in San Jose |url=http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_23143775/black-april-ceremony-honors-vietnam-war-soldiers-san |work=San Jose Mercury News |date=30 April 2013 |access-date=7 December 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131211184715/http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_23143775/black-april-ceremony-honors-vietnam-war-soldiers-san |archive-date=11 December 2013 |url-status=live}}{{cite news |last=Bharath |first=Deepa |title=O.C. Black April events commemorate fall of Saigon |url=http://www.ocregister.com/articles/april-298485-vietnamese-black.html |access-date=7 December 2013 |newspaper=Orange County Register |date=29 April 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131212065250/http://www.ocregister.com/articles/april-298485-vietnamese-black.html |archive-date=12 December 2013 |url-status=live}} "National Day of Shame" ({{lang|vi|Ngày quốc sỉ}}), or "National Day of Resentment" ({{lang|vi|Ngày quốc hận}}){{cite web |url=http://www.ocregister.com/articles/april-black-saigon-2026517-little-vietnam |title=Black April events commemorate fall of Saigon |first=Deepa |last=Bharath |date=25 April 2008 |access-date=28 May 2009 |work=Orange County Register |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090518005446/http://www.ocregister.com/articles/april-black-saigon-2026517-little-vietnam |archive-date=18 May 2009}}{{cite web |url=https://latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/asia/la-me-saigon-f,0,5630782.flash |title=Audio Slideshow: Black April |work=Los Angeles Times |access-date=28 May 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090504145448/http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/asia/la-me-saigon-f,0,5630782.flash |archive-date=4 May 2009 |url-status=live}}{{cite web |url=https://latimes.com/news/local/la-me-saigon-memories30-2009apr30,0,484204.story |title=Orange County's Vietnamese immigrants reflect on historic moment |first=Mỹ-Thuận |last=Trần |date=30 April 2009 |access-date=28 May 2009 |work=Los Angeles Times |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090503161525/http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-saigon-memories30-2009apr30,0,484204.story |archive-date=3 May 2009 |url-status=live}}{{cite web |url=http://nguoi-viet.com/absolutenm/anmviewer.asp?a=94038&z=177 |title=Tưởng niệm Tháng Tư Đen ở Quận Cam |first=Đỗ |last=Dzũng |publisher=Báo Người Việt |date=30 April 2009 |access-date=28 May 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090502181429/http://www.nguoi-viet.com/absolutenm/anmviewer.asp?a=94038&z=177 |archive-date=2 May 2009}} by many overseas Vietnamese who were refugees from the former South Vietnam. It is also known by the neutral name "April 30, 1975 incident" ({{lang|vi|Sự kiện 30 tháng 4 năm 1975}}) or simply "April 30" ({{lang|vi|30 tháng 4}}).

{{See also|1975 Spring Offensive}}

File:South Vietnam - The final days 1975.jpg

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. 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.{{sfn|Todd|1990|p=433}} These predictions proved to be grievously in error. Even as that memo was being released, 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.{{sfn|Tanner|2000|p=303}}

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—Huế on the 25th and Đà Nẵng on the 28th. Along the way, disorderly South Vietnamese retreats and the flight of refugees—there were more than 300,000 in Đà Nẵng{{sfn|Dawson|1977|p=xiii}}—damaged South Vietnamese prospects for a turnaround. After the loss of Đà Nẵng, those prospects had already been dismissed as nonexistent by CIA officers in Vietnam, who believed that nothing short of B-52 strikes against Hanoi could possibly stop the North Vietnamese.{{sfn|Snepp|1977|p=280}}

By 8 April, the North Vietnamese Politburo, which in March had recommended caution to Dũng, cabled him to demand "unremitting vigor in the attack all the way to the heart of Saigon."{{sfn|Todd|1990|p=248}} On 14 April, they renamed the campaign the "Hồ Chí Minh campaign", after revolutionary leader Hồ Chí Minh, in hopes of wrapping it up before his birthday on 19 May.{{sfn|Todd|1990|p=249}} Meanwhile, South Vietnam failed to garner any significant increase in military aid from the United States, snuffing out President Nguyễn Văn Thiệu's hopes for renewed American support.

On 9 April, PAVN forces reached Xuân Lộc, the last line of defense before Saigon, where the ARVN 18th Division made a last stand and held the city through fierce fighting for 11 days. The ARVN finally withdrew from Xuân Lộc on 20 April having inflicted heavy losses on the PAVN, and President Thiệu resigned on 21 April in a tearful televised announcement in which he denounced the United States for failing to come to the aid of the South.{{cite web |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/april/21/newsid_2935000/2935347.stm |date=21 April 2008 |website=BBC Home |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101122162651/http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/april/21/newsid_2935000/2935347.stm |archive-date=22 November 2010 |url-status=live |title=On This Day {{!}} 21 April {{!}} 1975: Vietnam's President Thieu resigns}} The North Vietnamese front line was now just {{cvt|26|mi}} from downtown Saigon.{{sfn|Dawson|1977|p=xv}} The victory at Xuân Lộc, which had drawn many South Vietnamese troops away from the Mekong Delta area,{{sfn|Dawson|1977|p=xv}} opened the way for PAVN to encircle Saigon, and they soon did so, moving 100,000 troops in position around the city by 27 April. With the ARVN having few defenders, the fate of the city was effectively sealed.

The ARVN III Corps commander, General Nguyễn Văn Toàn, had organized five centers of resistance to defend the city. These fronts were so connected as to form an arc enveloping the entire area west, north, and east of the capital. The Cu Chi front, to the northwest, was defended by the 25th Division; the Binh Duong front, to the north, was the responsibility of the 5th Division; the Bien Hoa front, to the northeast, was defended by the 18th Division; the Vung Tau and 15 Route front, to the southeast, were held by the 1st Airborne Brigade and one battalion of the 3rd Division; and the Long An front, for which the Capital Military District Command was responsible, was defended by elements of the re-formed 22nd Division. South Vietnamese defensive forces around Saigon totalled approximately 60,000 troops.{{sfn|Willbanks|2004|p=257}} However, as the exodus made it into Saigon, along with them were many ARVN soldiers, which swelled the "men under arms" in the city to over 250,000. These units were mostly battered and leaderless, which threw the city into further anarchy.{{citation needed|date=January 2014}}

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.{{cite news |last=Weinraub |first=Bernard |author-link=Bernard Weinraub |date=1 April 1975 |title=Attack on Saigon Feared; Danang Refugee Sealift is Halted by Rocket Fire |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1975/04/01/archives/attack-on-saigon-feared-da-nang-refugee-sealift-is-halted-by-rocket.html |access-date=7 July 2024 |newspaper=The New York Times |page=1 |issn=0362-4331}} Many feared that once the communists took control of the city, a bloodbath of reprisals would take place. In 1968, PAVN and VC forces had occupied Huế for close to a month. After they were ejected, American and ARVN forces had found mass graves. A study indicated that the VC had targeted ARVN officers, Catholics, intellectuals, businessmen, and other suspected counterrevolutionaries.{{sfn|Pike|1970}} More recently, eight Americans captured in Buôn Ma Thuột had vanished and reports of beheadings and other executions were filtering through from Huế and Đà Nẵng, mostly spurred on by government propaganda.{{sfn|Tanner|2000|p=312}} Most Americans and citizens of other countries allied to the United States wanted to evacuate the city before it fell, and many South Vietnamese, especially those associated with the United States or South Vietnamese government, wanted to leave as well.

As early as the end of March, some Americans were leaving the city.{{sfn|Dawson|1977|p=xiv}} Flights out of Saigon, lightly booked under ordinary circumstances, were full.{{cite news |last=Butterfield |first=Fox |author-link=Fox Butterfield |title=Many Americans Quit Vietnam; U.S. Denies Evacuation Orders |newspaper=The New York Times |date=2 April 1975 |page=1 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1975/04/02/archives/many-americans-quit-vietnam-us-denies-evacuation-orders-americans.html |access-date=16 August 2021 |archive-date=16 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210816220334/https://www.nytimes.com/1975/04/02/archives/many-americans-quit-vietnam-us-denies-evacuation-orders-americans.html |url-status=live }} Throughout April the speed of the evacuation increased, as the Defense Attaché Office (DAO) began to fly out nonessential personnel. Many Americans attached to the DAO refused to leave without their Vietnamese friends and dependents, who included common-law wives and children. It was illegal for the DAO to move these people to American soil, and this initially slowed down the rate of departure, but eventually the DAO began illegally flying undocumented Vietnamese to Clark Air Base in the Philippines.{{sfn|Snepp|1977|p=312}}

On 3 April, President Gerald Ford announced "Operation Babylift", which would evacuate about 2,000 orphans from the country. One of the Lockheed C-5 Galaxy planes involved in the operation crashed, killing 155 passengers and crew and seriously reducing the morale of the American staff.{{rp|157}}{{sfn|Snepp|1977|p=304}} In addition to the over 2,500 orphans evacuated by Babylift, Operation New Life resulted in the evacuation of over 110,000 Vietnamese refugees. The final evacuation was Operation Frequent Wind which resulted in 7,000 people being evacuated from Saigon by helicopter.

By this time, the Ford administration had also begun planning a complete evacuation of the American presence. The planning was complicated by practical, legal, and strategic concerns. The administration was divided on how swift the evacuations should be. The Pentagon sought to evacuate as fast as possible, to avoid the risk of casualties or other accidents. The U.S. Ambassador to South Vietnam, Graham Martin, was technically the field commander for any evacuation since evacuations are part of the purview of the State Department. Martin drew the ire of many in the Pentagon by wishing to keep the evacuation process as quiet and orderly as possible. His desire for this was to prevent total chaos and to deflect the real possibility of South Vietnamese turning against Americans and to keep all-out bloodshed from occurring.{{Citation needed|date=January 2020}}

Ford approved a plan between the extremes in which all but 1,250 Americans—few enough to be removed in a single day's helicopter airlift—would be evacuated quickly; the remaining 1,250 would only leave when the airport was threatened. In the meantime, as many Vietnamese refugees as possible would be flown out.{{sfn|Kissinger|2003|pp=540–41}}

American evacuation planning was set against the Ford administration's other policies. Ford still hoped that he would be able to gain additional military aid for South Vietnam. Throughout April, he attempted to get Congress behind a proposed appropriation of $722 million, which might cover the cost of the reconstitution of some of the South Vietnamese forces that had been destroyed. National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger was opposed to a full-scale evacuation as long as the aid option remained on the table because the removal of American forces would signal a loss of faith in Thiệu and severely weaken him.{{sfn|Snepp|1977|p=330}}

There was also a concern in the administration over whether the use of military forces to support and carry out the evacuation was permitted under the newly passed War Powers Act. Eventually, White House lawyers determined that the use of American forces to rescue citizens in an emergency was unlikely to run afoul of the law, but the legality of using military assets to withdraw refugees was unknown.{{sfn|Snepp|1977|p=303}}

While American citizens were generally assured of a simple way to leave the country just by showing up to an evacuation point, South Vietnamese who wanted to leave Saigon before it fell often resorted to independent arrangements. The under-the-table payments required to gain a passport and exit visa jumped sixfold, and the price of seagoing vessels tripled.{{sfn|Snepp|1977|p=352}} Those who owned property in the city were often forced to sell it at a substantial loss or abandon it altogether; the asking price of one particularly impressive house was cut 75 percent within a two-week period.{{sfn|Brown|1976|p=318}} American visas were of enormous value, and Vietnamese seeking American sponsors posted advertisements in newspapers. One such ad read: "Seeking adoptive parents. Poor diligent students" followed by names, birthdates, and identity card numbers.{{sfn|Todd|1990|p=311}} A disproportionate fraction of Vietnamese in the 1975 wave of emigration who later achieved refugee status in the United States were former members of the South Vietnamese government and military. Though most expected to find political and personal freedom in the United States on account of their anti-Communist bonafides, they often encountered an unexpected and complex resettlement process, involving stays in U.S. military-operated processing centers for varying lengths of time before they could begin their new lives in America.{{cite journal |last1=Lipman |first1=Jana K. |title=A Refugee Camp in America: Fort Chaffee and Vietnamese and Cuban Refugees, 1975–1982 |journal=Journal of American Ethnic History |date=2014 |volume=33 |issue=2 |page=58 |doi=10.5406/jamerethnhist.33.2.0057 |jstor=10.5406/jamerethnhist.33.2.0057 |quote=Anticipating political and presumably personal freedom within the United States, numerous refugees found themselves unexpectedly waiting days, and at times weeks and months, in military compounds.... The 1975 Vietnamese refugees were disproportionately former active members of the South Viet-namese military and government |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5406/jamerethnhist.33.2.0057 |access-date=23 January 2021 |archive-date=25 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210125030029/https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5406/jamerethnhist.33.2.0057 |url-status=live |url-access=subscription }}

As the North Vietnamese chipped away at more and more of South Vietnam's territory, internal opposition to Thiệu continued to accumulate. For instance, in early April, the Senate unanimously voted through a call for new leadership, and some top military commanders were pressing for a coup. In response to this pressure, Thiệu made some changes in his cabinet, and Prime Minister Trần Thiện Khiêm resigned.{{sfn|Snepp|1977|p=287}} This did little to reduce the opposition to Thiệu. On 8 April, a South Vietnamese pilot and secret communist, Nguyễn Thành Trung, bombed the Independence Palace and then flew to a PAVN-controlled airstrip; Thiệu was not hurt.{{sfn|Snepp|1977|p=316}}

Many in the American mission—Martin in particular—along with some key figures in Washington, believed that negotiations with the communists were still possible, especially if Saigon could stabilize the military situation. Martin's hope was that North Vietnam's leaders would be willing to allow a "phased withdrawal" whereby a gradual departure might be achieved to allow helpful locals and all Americans to leave (along with full military withdrawal) over a period of months.{{citation needed|date=April 2013}}

Opinions were divided on whether any government which would be headed by Thiệu could affect such a political solution.{{sfn|Snepp|1977|p=289}} The foreign minister of the Provisional Revolutionary Government (PRG) had indicated, on 2 April, that the PRG might negotiate with a Saigon government that did not include Thiệu. Thus, even among Thiệu's supporters, pressure was growing for his ouster.{{sfn|Snepp|1977|p=319}}

Thiệu resigned on 21 April. His remarks were particularly hard on the Americans, first for forcing South Vietnam to accede to the Paris Peace Accords, second for failing to support South Vietnam afterwards, and all the while asking South Vietnam "to do an impossible thing, like filling up the oceans with stones."{{sfn|Todd|1990|p=296}} The presidency was turned over to Vice President Trần Văn Hương. The view of the North Vietnamese government, broadcast by Radio Hanoi, was that the new regime was merely "another puppet regime."{{sfn|Todd|1990|p=298}}

:All times given are Saigon time.

File:Fall of Saigon map.jpg

On 27 April, Saigon was hit by PAVN rockets—the first in more than 40 months.{{sfn|Dawson|1977|p=xv}}

With his overtures to the North rebuffed out of hand, Tran resigned on 28 April and was succeeded by General Duong Van Minh. Minh took over a regime that was by this time in a state of utter collapse. He had longstanding ties with the Communists, and it was hoped he could negotiate a ceasefire; however, Hanoi was in no mood to negotiate. On 28 April, PAVN forces fought their way into the outskirts of the city. At the Newport Bridge ({{lang|vi|Cầu Tân Cảng}}), about five kilometres (three miles) from the city centre, the VC seized the Thảo Điền area at the eastern end of the bridge and attempted to seize the bridge but were repulsed by the ARVN 12th Airborne Battalion.{{cite web |url=http://partners.nytimes.com/library/world/asia/042875vietnam-fighting-fb.html |title=Saigon Hears the Fighting at Its Edge |work=The New York Times |date=28 April 1975 |access-date=25 September 2016 |archive-date=6 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160306085637/http://partners.nytimes.com/library/world/asia/042875vietnam-fighting-fb.html |url-status=live }}{{YouTube|id=Yk-WBJCbiW0 |title=Vietnam Newport Bridge}} As Bien Hoa was falling, Toan fled to Saigon, informing the government that most of the top ARVN leadership had virtually resigned themselves to defeat.{{sfn|Willbanks|2004|p=275}}

At 18:06 on 28 April, as Minh finished his acceptance speech three A-37 Dragonflies piloted by former Republic of Vietnam Air Force (RVNAF) pilots, who had defected to the Vietnamese People's Air Force at the fall of Da Nang, dropped six Mk81 250 lb bombs on Tan Son Nhut Air Base damaging aircraft. RVNAF F-5s took off in pursuit, but they were unable to intercept the A-37s.{{Cite book |last=Tobin |first=Thomas |title=USAF Southeast Asia Monograph Series Volume IV Monograph 6: Last Flight from Saigon |publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office |year=1978 |isbn=9781410205711}}{{PD-notice}}{{rp|70}} C-130s leaving Tan Son Nhut reported receiving PAVN .51 cal and 37 mm anti-aircraft (AAA) fire while sporadic PAVN rocket and artillery attacks also started to hit the airport and air base.{{rp|71–72}} C-130 flights were stopped temporarily after the air attack but resumed at 20:00 on 28 April.{{rp|72}}

At 03:58 on 29 April, C-130E, #72-1297, flown by a crew from the 776th Tactical Airlift Squadron, was destroyed by a 122 mm rocket while taxiing to pick up refugees after offloading a BLU-82 at the base. The crew evacuated the burning aircraft on the taxiway and departed the airfield on another C-130 that had previously landed.{{rp|182}} This was the last USAF fixed-wing aircraft to leave Tan Son Nhat.{{rp|79}}

At dawn on 29 April the RVNAF began to haphazardly depart Tan Son Nhut Air Base as A-37s, F-5s, C-7s, C-119s and C-130s departed for Thailand while UH-1s took off in search of the ships of Task Force 76.{{rp|81}} Some RVNAF aircraft stayed to continue to fight the advancing PAVN. One AC-119 gunship had spent the night of 28/29 April dropping flares and firing on the approaching PAVN. At dawn on 29 April, two A-1 Skyraiders began patrolling the perimeter of Tan Son Nhut at {{cvt|2500|ft}} until one was shot down, presumably by an SA-7 missile. At 07:00 the AC-119 was firing on PAVN to the east of Tan Son Nhut when it too was hit by an SA-7 and fell in flames to the ground.{{rp|82}}

At 06:00 on 29 April, Dũng was ordered by the Politburo to "strike with the greatest determination straight into the enemy's final lair."{{sfn|Todd|1990|p=347}} After one day of bombardment and general offensive, the PAVN were ready to make their final push into the city.

At 08:00 on 29 April Lieutenant General Trần Văn Minh, commander of the RVNAF and 30 of his staff arrived at the DAO Compound demanding evacuation, signifying the complete loss of RVNAF command and control.{{rp|85–87}}

{{Main|Operation Frequent Wind}}

File:CH-53 landing at Defense Attaché Office compound, Operation Frequent Wind.jpg provides security as American helicopters land at the DAO compound]]

File:Vietnamese refugees on US carrier, Operation Frequent Wind.jpg

The continuing rocket fire and debris on the runways at Tan Son Nhut caused General Homer D. Smith, the U.S. defense attaché in Saigon, to advise Martin that the runways were unfit for use and that the emergency evacuation of Saigon would need to be completed by helicopter.{{sfn|Smith|1975}} Originally, Martin had intended to effect the evacuation by use of fixed-wing aircraft from the base. This plan was altered at a critical time when a South Vietnamese pilot decided to defect, and jettisoned his ordnance along the only runways still in use (which had not yet been destroyed by shelling).

Under pressure from Kissinger, Martin forced Marine guards to take him to Tan Son Nhat in the midst of continued shelling, so he might personally assess the situation. After seeing that fixed-wing departures were not an option (a decision Martin did not want to make without firsthand knowledge of the situation on the ground, in case the helicopter lift failed), Martin gave the green light for the helicopter evacuation to begin in earnest.{{citation needed|date=September 2019}}

Reports came in from the outskirts of the city that the PAVN were closing in.{{sfn|Tanner|2000|p=313}} At 10:48, Martin relayed to Kissinger his desire to activate Operation Frequent Wind, the helicopter evacuation of U.S. personnel and at-risk Vietnamese. At 10:51 on 29 April, the order was given by CINCPAC to commence Operation Frequent Wind.{{rp|183}} The American radio station began regular play of Irving Berlin's "White Christmas", the signal for American personnel to move immediately to the evacuation points.{{sfn|Todd|1990|p=353}}{{cite news |last=Schudel |first=Matt |title=Thomas Polgar, CIA official during the fall of Saigon, dies |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/thomas-polgar-cia-official-during-the-fall-of-saigon-dies/2014/03/31/f11d6f36-b6a5-11e3-a7c6-70cf2db17781_story.html |access-date=24 November 2016 |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=31 March 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160309153549/https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/thomas-polgar-cia-official-during-the-fall-of-saigon-dies/2014/03/31/f11d6f36-b6a5-11e3-a7c6-70cf2db17781_story.html |archive-date=9 March 2016 |url-status=live}}

Under this plan, CH-53 and CH-46 helicopters were used to evacuate Americans and friendly Vietnamese to ships, including the Seventh Fleet, in the South China Sea. The main evacuation point was the DAO Compound at Tan Son Nhat; buses moved through the city picking up passengers and driving them out to the airport, with the first buses arriving at Tan Son Nhat shortly after noon. The first CH-53 landed at the DAO compound in the afternoon, and by the evening, 395 Americans and more than 4,000 Vietnamese had been evacuated. By 23:00 the U.S. Marines who were providing security were withdrawing and arranging the demolition of the DAO office, American equipment, files, and cash. Air America UH-1s also participated in the evacuation.Esper, George, "Copters Ending Vietnam Era", The Washington Star, Washington, D.C., Tuesday 29 April 1975, p. A-1.

The original evacuation plans had not called for a large-scale helicopter operation at the United States Embassy, Saigon. Helicopters and buses were to shuttle people from the embassy to the DAO Compound. However, in the course of the evacuation it turned out that a few thousand people were stranded at the embassy, including many Vietnamese. Additional Vietnamese civilians gathered outside the embassy and scaled the walls, hoping to claim refugee status. Thunderstorms increased the difficulty of helicopter operations. Nevertheless, the evacuation from the embassy continued more or less unbroken throughout the evening and night.

At 03:45 on the morning of 30 April, Kissinger and Ford ordered Martin to evacuate only Americans from that point forward. 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.{{sfn|Todd|1990|p=366}} Martin was ordered by Ford to board the evacuation helicopter. The call sign of that helicopter was "Lady Ace 09", and the pilot carried direct orders from Ford for Martin to be on board. The pilot, Gerry Berry, had the orders written in grease-pencil on his kneepads. Martin's wife, Dorothy, had already been evacuated by previous flights, and left behind her suitcase so a South Vietnamese woman might be able to squeeze on board with her.

"Lady Ace 09" from USMC squadron HMM-165 and piloted by Berry, took off at 04:58—though he didn't know it, had Martin refused to leave, the Marines had a reserve order to arrest him and carry him away to ensure his safety.{{sfn|Todd|1990|p=367}} The embassy evacuation had flown out 978 Americans and about 1,100 Vietnamese. The Marines who had been securing the embassy followed at dawn, with the last aircraft leaving at 07:53. 420 Vietnamese and South Koreans were left behind in the embassy compound, with an additional crowd gathered outside the walls.

The Americans and the refugees they flew out were generally allowed to leave without intervention from either the North or South Vietnamese. Pilots of helicopters heading to Tan Son Nhat were aware that PAVN anti-aircraft guns were tracking them, but they refrained from firing. The Hanoi leadership, reckoning that completion of the evacuation would lessen the risk of American intervention, had instructed Dũng not to target the airlift itself.{{sfn|Snepp|1977|p=478}} Meanwhile, members of the police in Saigon had been promised evacuation in exchange for protecting the American evacuation buses and control of the crowds in the city during the evacuation.{{sfn|Tanner|2000|p=314}}

Although this was the end of the American military operation, Vietnamese continued to leave the country by boat and, where possible, by aircraft. RVNAF pilots who had access to helicopters flew them offshore{{Cite web |last=Stephen |first=Winduss |date=29 April 2025 |title=The Last Flight Out |url=https://www.battingthebreeze.com/ba-van-nguyen-the-last-flight-out/ |website=BattingtheBreeze.com}} to the American fleet, where they were able to land. Many RVNAF helicopters were dumped into the ocean to make room on the decks for more aircraft.{{sfn|Tanner|2000|p=314}} RVNAF fighters and other planes also sought refuge in Thailand while two O-1s landed on {{USS|Midway|CV-41|6}}.{{sfn|Todd|1990|p=370}}

Martin was flown out to the {{USS|Blue Ridge|LCC-19|6}}, where he pleaded for helicopters to return to the embassy compound to pick up the few hundred remaining hopefuls waiting to be evacuated. {{citation needed span|date=April 2020|text=Although his pleas were overruled by Ford, Martin was able to convince the Seventh Fleet to remain on station for several days so any locals who could make their way to sea via boat or aircraft might be rescued by the waiting Americans.}}

Many Vietnamese nationals who were evacuated were allowed to enter the United States under the Indochina Migration and Refugee Assistance Act.

Decades later, when the U.S. government reestablished diplomatic relations with Vietnam, the former embassy building was returned to the United States. The historic staircase that led to the rooftop helicopter pad in the nearby apartment building used by the CIA and other U.S. government employees was salvaged and is on permanent display at the Gerald R. Ford Museum in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

In the early hours of 30 April, Dũng received orders from the Politburo to attack. He then ordered his field commanders to advance directly to key facilities and strategic points in the city.{{sfn|Snepp|1977|p=551}} The first PAVN unit to enter the city was the 324th Division.{{sfn|Snepp|1977|p=568}} By now, the government had not made any sort of appeals to the people for donations of blood, food, etc.{{Sfn|Isaacs|1983|p=393}}{{Sfn|Moise|1988|p=15}}

On the morning of 30 April, PAVN sappers attempted to seize the Newport Bridge but were repulsed by the ARVN Airborne. At 09:00 the PAVN tank column approached the bridge and came under fire from ARVN tanks which destroyed the lead T-54, killing the PAVN Battalion commander.

The ARVN 3rd Task Force, 81st Ranger Group commanded by Major Pham Chau Tai defended Tan Son Nhut and they were joined by the remnants of the Loi Ho unit. At 07:15 on 30 April, the PAVN 24th Regiment approached the Bay Hien intersection ({{coord|10.793|N|106.653|E|display=inline}}) 1.5 km from the main gate of Tan Son Nhat Air Base. The lead T-54 was hit by M67 recoilless rifle and then the next T-54 was hit by a shell from an M48 tank. The PAVN infantry moved forward and engaged the ARVN in house to house fighting forcing them to withdraw to the base by 08:45. The PAVN then sent three tanks and an infantry battalion to assault the main gate and they were met by intensive anti-tank and machine gun fire knocking out the three tanks and killing at least twenty PAVN soldiers. The PAVN tried to bring forward an 85 mm antiaircraft gun, but the ARVN knocked it out before it could start firing. The PAVN 10th Division ordered eight more tanks and another infantry battalion to join the attack, but as they approached the Bay Hien intersection they were hit by an airstrike from RVNAF jets operating from Binh Thuy Air Base which destroyed two T-54s. The six surviving tanks arrived at the main gate at 10:00 and began their attack, with two being knocked out by antitank fire in front of the gate and another destroyed as it attempted a flanking manoeuvre.{{cite book |last=Veith |first=George |title=Black April The Fall of South Vietnam 1973–75 |publisher=Encounter Books |year=2012 |isbn=9781594035722 |pages=488–489}} Also on 30 April 1975 as the PAVN 2nd Corps deep penetration unit advanced towards Saigon, soldiers at Thủ Đức Military Academy engaged the PAVN armored column on Route 15. Several tanks were detached to deal with the resistance and one was destroyed before the soldiers at the academy surrendered.{{cite book|last=Veith|first=George|title=Black April The Fall of South Vietnam 1973–75|publisher=Encounter Books|year=2012|isbn=9781594035722|page=492}}

At 10:24, Minh announced an unconditional surrender. He ordered all ARVN troops "to cease hostilities in calm and to stay where they are", while inviting the Provisional Revolutionary Government to engage in "a ceremony of orderly transfer of power so as to avoid any unnecessary bloodshed in the population".

At approximately 10:30 Pham at Tan Son Nhut Air Base heard of the surrender broadcast and went to the Joint General Staff Compound to seek instructions. He called Minh who told him to prepare to surrender. Pham reportedly told Minh, "If Viet Cong tanks are entering Independence Palace we will come down there to rescue you, sir." Minh refused Pham's suggestion and Pham then told his men to withdraw from the base gates. At 11:30 the PAVN entered the base.{{rp|490–91}}

At Newport Bridge the ARVN and PAVN continued to exchange tank and artillery fire until the ARVN commander received Minh's capitulation order over the radio. While the bridge was rigged with approximately {{convert|4000|lb|kg}} of demolition charges, the ARVN stood down and at 10:30 the PAVN column crossed the bridge.{{rp|492}}

File:Tank_843_and_Tank_390_at_the_gates_of_Independence_Palace.jpg showed the two tanks at the gates while tank 390 technically entered first and Lieutenant Bui Quang Than was running with the VC flag in his hand]]

PAVN 203rd Tank Brigade (from 2nd Corps of Major general Nguyễn Hữu An{{cite book |last=Terzani |first=Tiziano |title=Giai Phong! The Fall and Liberation of Saigon |publisher=Angus & Robertson (U.K.) Ltd |year=1976 |isbn=0207957126 |pages=92–96}}) under the command of Commander Nguyễn Tất Tài and Political Commissar Bùi Văn Tùng{{cite web |url=https://independencepalace.gov.vn/news/a-reunion-of-the-veterans-organization-of-tank-amour-force-in-the-south-vietnam-was-held-at-independence-palace-historical-site/ |title=Reunion of the Veterans organization of Tank Amour force in the South Vietnam |author= |work=Dinh Độc Lập official website |date=28 April 2020 |access-date=14 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220115062636/https://independencepalace.gov.vn/news/a-reunion-of-the-veterans-organization-of-tank-amour-force-in-the-south-vietnam-was-held-at-independence-palace-historical-site/ |archive-date=15 January 2022 |url-status=live }} was the first unit to burst through the gates of the Independence Palace around noon. Tank 843 (a Soviet T-54 tank) was the first to directly hit and struck the side gate of the Palace. This historic moment was recorded by the Australian cameraman Neil Davis.{{cite web |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-09-08/revered-war-cameraman-neil-davis-remembered/6759644?nw=0&r=Gallery |title=Revered war cameraman Neil Davis remembered |author=Ryan, Jane |work=ABC News |date=8 September 2015 |access-date=14 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220114113647/https://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-09-08/revered-war-cameraman-neil-davis-remembered/6759644?nw=0&r=Gallery |archive-date=14 January 2022 |url-status=live }} Tank 390 (a Chinese Type 59 tank) then crashed through the main gate in the middle to enter the front yard. For many years, the official record of Vietnamese government and international historical sources maintained that tank 843 was the first one to enter the Presidential Palace.{{cite news |url=https://www.bangkokpost.com/world/540479/pride-and-obscurity-the-historic-crew-of-vietnam-tank-390 |title=Pride and obscurity: the historic crew of Vietnam's 'Tank 390' |author= |work=Agence France-Presse |date=24 April 2015 |access-date=14 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230430010718/https://www.bangkokpost.com/world/540479/pride-and-obscurity-the-historic-crew-of-vietnam-tank-390 |archive-date=30 April 2023 |url-status=live }}{{cite web |url=https://www.smh.com.au/world/vietnams-war-heroes-get-star-treatment-40-years-after-fall-of-saigon-20150429-1mweck.html |title=Vietnam's war heroes get star treatment 40 years after fall of Saigon |author=Nguyen Ha Minh |work=The Sydney Morning Herald reposted |date=29 April 2015 |access-date=14 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220114113652/https://www.smh.com.au/world/vietnams-war-heroes-get-star-treatment-40-years-after-fall-of-saigon-20150429-1mweck.html |archive-date=14 January 2022 |url-status=live }} However, in 1995, French war photographer Françoise Demulder published her photo showed that tank 390 entered the main gate while tank 843 was still behind the steel columns of the smaller gate on the right hand side (view from inside) and tank 843's commander Bui Quang Than was running with the Vietcong flag on his hand. Both tanks were declared national treasures in 2012 and each was displayed in a different museum in Hanoi.{{Citation |author=Prime Minister of Vietnam |date=1 October 2012 |title=Decision No. 1426/QD-TTg on recognization of national precious objects |publication-place=Hanoi |website=luatminhkhue.vn |url=https://luatminhkhue.vn/en/decision-no-1426-qd-ttg-dated-october-01--2012-of-the-prime-minister-on-recognization-of-national-precious-objects.aspx |access-date=14 January 2022 |archive-date=18 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200718152905/https://luatminhkhue.vn/en/decision-no-1426-qd-ttg-dated-october-01--2012-of-the-prime-minister-on-recognization-of-national-precious-objects.aspx |url-status=live }} Lieutenant Bui Quang Than pulled down the Flag of South Vietnam on top of the Palace and raised the Viet Cong flag at 11:30 am on 30 April 1975.{{Citation |author=Khanh Nguyen-Doan Hiep |date=27 April 2010 |title=Famous person with simple life |publication-place=Hanoi |website=People's Army Newspaper |url=https://en.qdnd.vn/politics/news/famous-person-with-simple-life-431698 |access-date=14 January 2022 |archive-date=14 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220114115423/https://en.qdnd.vn/politics/news/famous-person-with-simple-life-431698 |url-status=live }}{{Citation |author=Mai Huong |date=27 June 2012 |language=Vietnamese |title=2nd Corps headed to Sai Gon from Southeast direction |publication-place=Ho Chi Minh City |website=Sai Gon Giai Phong Online |url=https://www.sggp.org.vn/bai-2-quan-doan-2-tien-ve-sai-gon-tu-huong-dong-nam-225700.html |access-date=14 January 2022 |archive-date=14 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220114115418/https://www.sggp.org.vn/bai-2-quan-doan-2-tien-ve-sai-gon-tu-huong-dong-nam-225700.html |url-status=live }}

The Tank Brigade 203 soldiers entered the Palace and found Minh and all members of his cabinet sitting and waiting for them. The political commissar Lieutenant colonel Bùi Văn Tùng arrived at the Palace ten minutes after the first tanks.{{rp|95}} Minh realised this was the highest-ranking officer around then said: "We are waiting to hand over the cabinet", Tung replied immediately: "You have nothing to hand over but your unconditional surrender to us".{{Citation |author=Leong, Ernest |date=31 October 2009 |title=Vietnam Tries to Create New Image 30 Years After End of War |publication-place= |website=Voice of America |url=https://www.voanews.com/a/a-13-2005-04-27-voa67/397223.html |access-date=14 January 2022 |archive-date=15 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220115062640/https://www.voanews.com/a/a-13-2005-04-27-voa67/397223.html |url-status=live }}{{cite book |last=Bui |first=Tin |date=1999 |title=Following Ho Chi Minh: The Memoirs of a North Vietnamese Colonel |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2NUl_nVpW-gC |location= |publisher=University of Hawaii Press |pages=84–86 |isbn=9780824822330 |access-date=21 March 2023 |archive-date=30 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230430010702/https://books.google.com/books?id=2NUl_nVpW-gC |url-status=live }} Tung then wrote a speech announcing the surrender and dissolution of what remained of the South Vietnamese government. He then escorted Minh to the Radio Saigon to read it to avoid further needless bloodshed. The surrender announcement was recorded by German journalist Börries Gallasch's tape recorder.{{cite web |url=https://tuoitre.vn/chung-nhan-phuong-tay-duy-nhat-trong-dinh-doc-lap-ngay-30-4-1975-20210428084307205.htm |title=Chứng nhân phương Tây duy nhất trong Dinh Độc Lập ngày 30-4-1975 |work=Tuổi Trẻ |date=28 April 2021 |access-date=14 January 2022 |language=vi |archive-date=18 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220218195552/https://tuoitre.vn/chung-nhan-phuong-tay-duy-nhat-trong-dinh-doc-lap-ngay-30-4-1975-20210428084307205.htm |url-status=live}}

Colonel Bùi Tín, a military journalist was at the Palace around noon to witness the events. In his memoir, he confirmed that Lt.-Col Bùi Văn Tùng was the one who accepted the surrender and wrote the statement for Minh. However, in an interview with WGBH Educational Foundation in 1981, he falsely claimed that he was the first high officer who met Minh and accepted the surrender (with Tung's words).{{cite web |url=https://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/V_484A3DE6CE19467F92F12A2C08FD151A |title=Vietnam: A Television History; Interview with Bui Tin [2], 1981 |author=Ellison, Richard (Series Producer) |work=WGBH Educational Foundation |date=2 February 1981 |access-date=14 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220114133423/https://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/V_484A3DE6CE19467F92F12A2C08FD151A |archive-date=14 January 2022 |url-status=live}} This claim was repeated after his defection from Vietnam and sometimes cited mistakenly by foreign correspondents and historians.{{cite web |last=Oliver |first=Myrna |title=Duong Van Minh; Last President of S. Vietnam |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2001-aug-08-me-31712-story.html |work=Los Angeles Times |date=8 August 2001 |access-date=11 October 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121004163738/http://articles.latimes.com/2001/aug/08/local/me-31712 |archive-date=4 October 2012 |url-status=live}}{{cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/08/08/world/duong-van-minh-85-saigon-plotter-dies.html |title=Duong Van Minh, 85, Saigon Plotter, Dies |author=Butterfield, Fox |work=The New York Times |date=8 August 2001 |access-date=29 November 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121127145719/http://www.nytimes.com/2001/08/08/world/duong-van-minh-85-saigon-plotter-dies.html |archive-date=27 November 2012 |url-status=live}}{{cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/13/obituaries/bui-tin-vietnam-dead.html |title=Bui Tin, Colonel Who Accepted South Vietnam's Surrender, Dies at 90 |author=Ives, Mike |work=The New York Times |date=13 August 2013 |access-date=15 January 2022 |url-status=live |archive-date=14 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220114141351/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/13/obituaries/bui-tin-vietnam-dead.html}}

At 2:30 Minh announced the formal surrender of South Vietnam:

{{cquote|I, General Duong Van Minh, president of the Saigon administration, appeal to the armed forces of the Republic of Vietnam to laydown their arms and surrender unconditionally to the forces of the Liberation Army of South Vietnam. Furthermore, I declare that the Saigon government is completely dissolved at all levels. From the Central government to the local governments must be handed over to the Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Republic of South Vietnam.

|||Duong Van Minh on the transcript written by Bùi Văn Tùng{{rp|96}}}}

Bùi Văn Tùng then took the microphone and announced, "We, the representatives for the forces of the Liberation Army of South Vietnam, solemnly declare that the City of Saigon was completely liberated. We accepted the unconditional surrender of General Dương Văn Minh, the president of the Saigon administration".{{Citation |author=People's Committee of Ca Mau Province |date=20 April 2015 |language=Vietnamese |title=The full transcript of Republic of Vietnam's President declaration of surrender and the acceptance statement from respresentatives of Liberation Army of South Vietnam |publication-place=Ca Mau |website=Online portal of Ca Mau province |url=https://www.camau.gov.vn/wps/portal/?1dmy&page=trangchitiet&urile=wcm%3Apath%3A/camaulibrary/camauofsite/gioithieu/chuyende/kyniemnhungngaylelon/giaiphongmiennam/sukien/dghsrhwrhwr |access-date=14 January 2022 |archive-date=14 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220114133803/https://www.camau.gov.vn/wps/portal/?1dmy&page=trangchitiet&urile=wcm:path:/camaulibrary/camauofsite/gioithieu/chuyende/kyniemnhungngaylelon/giaiphongmiennam/sukien/dghsrhwrhwr |url-status=live}} This announcement marked the end of the Vietnam War.

The communists renamed the city after Ho Chi Minh, former President of North Vietnam, although the name "Saigon" continues to be used by many residents and others to this day.{{sfn|Dawson|1977|p=351}} Order was slowly restored, although the by-then-deserted U.S. Embassy was looted, along with many other businesses. Communications between the outside world and Saigon were cut. The Viet Cong machinery in South Vietnam was weakened, owing in part to the Phoenix Program, so the PAVN was responsible for maintaining order and General Trần Văn Trà, Dũng's administrative deputy, was placed in charge of the city.{{sfn|Snepp|1977|p=568}} The new authorities held a victory rally on 7 May.{{sfn|Dawson|1977|p=xvi}}

One objective of the Communist Party of Vietnam was to reduce the population of Saigon, which had become swollen with an influx of people during the war and was now overcrowded with high unemployment. "Re-education classes" for former soldiers in the ARVN indicated that to regain full standing in society they would need to move from the city and take up farming. Handouts of rice to the poor, while forthcoming, were tied to pledges to leave Saigon for the countryside. According to the Vietnamese government, within two years of the capture of the city one million people had left Saigon, and the state had a target of 500,000 further departures.{{sfn|Dawson|1977|p=351}}

Following the end of the war, according to official and non-official estimates, between 200,000 and 300,000 South Vietnamese were sent to re-education camps, where many endured torture, starvation, and disease while they were being forced to do hard labor.{{cite journal |last1=Porter |first1=Gareth |last2=Roberts |first2=James |date=1 January 1988 |editor-last=Desbarats |editor-first=Jacqueline |editor2-last=Jackson |editor2-first=Karl D. |title=Creating a Bloodbath by Statistical Manipulation |jstor=2759306 |journal=Pacific Affairs |volume=61 |issue=2 |pages=303–10 |doi=10.2307/2759306}}{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9781585441297 |url-access=registration |quote=250,000. |title=Reeducation in Postwar Vietnam: Personal Postscripts to Peace |last=Metzner |first=Edward P. |year=2001 |publisher=Texas A&M University Press |isbn=9781585441297 |page=xiii}}{{cite web |last1=Sagan |first1=Ginetta |last2=Denney |first2=Stephen |url=https://www.ocf.berkeley.edu/~sdenney/Vietnam-Reeducation-Camps-1982 |title=Re-education in Unliberated Vietnam: Loneliness, Suffering and Death |work=The Indochina Newsletter |date=October–November 1982 |access-date=1 September 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160914222958/https://www.ocf.berkeley.edu/~sdenney/Vietnam-Reeducation-Camps-1982 |archive-date=14 September 2016 |url-status=live}}

Whether the evacuation had been successful or not has been questioned following the end of the war. Operation Frequent Wind was generally described by Western sources as an impressive achievement—Dũng stated this in his memoirs and The New York Times described it as being carried out with "efficiency and bravery".New York Times, "The Americans Depart" On the other hand, the airlift was also criticized for being too slow and hesitant, and it was inadequate in removing Vietnamese civilians and soldiers who were connected with the American presence.{{Citation needed|date=March 2021}}

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. In his testimony to Congress, Martin asserted that 22,294 such people were evacuated by the end of April.{{sfn|Snepp|1977|p=565}}

An iconic photograph of evacuees entering an Air America helicopter on the roof of the apartment building at 22 Gia Long Street is frequently mischaracterized as showing an evacuation from the "U.S. Embassy" via a "military" helicopter.{{Cite book |last=Bradley |first=James |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/870199580 |title=The China mirage : the hidden history of American disaster in Asia |date=2015 |isbn=978-0-316-19667-3 |edition= |publisher=Little, Brown and Company|location=New York |pages=369 |oclc=870199580}}

30 April is celebrated as a public holiday in Vietnam as Reunification Day (though the official reunification actually occurred on 2 July 1976) or Liberation Day (Ngày giải phóng). Along with International Workers' Day on 1 May, most people take the day off work and there are public celebrations.{{Cite web |date=2023-04-28 |title=Đông 'nghẹt thở', người dân cố nhích từng bước rời Hà Nội trước kỳ nghỉ lễ 30/4 |url=https://tienphong.vn/post-1530315.tpo |access-date=2023-08-17 |website=Báo điện tử Tiền Phong |language=vi}}

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.{{cite web |url=http://www.ocregister.com/articles/april-black-saigon-2026517-little-vietnam |title=Black April events commemorate fall of Saigon |work=The Orange County Register |access-date=13 February 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090518005446/http://www.ocregister.com/articles/april-black-saigon-2026517-little-vietnam |archive-date=18 May 2009}}

• Miss Saigon, A Better Tomorrow III: Love & Death in Saigon and The Deer Hunter including the scenery of the fall of Saigon.
• Season 6, episode 16 of The Simpsons, titled "Bart vs. Australia" parodies the fall of Saigon during the Simpsons' evacuation of the American embassy in Australia.
• Some video records during the fall of Saigon were featured in the seventh season of the Canadian-made, internationally distributed documentary series Mayday, in the episode "Operation Babylift", which covered the C-5 plane crash prior to this event.
• {{interlanguage link|Liberate Saigon|vi|Giải phóng Sài Gòn (phim)}} (Giải phóng Sài Gòn) is a 2005 Vietnamese film dramatizing the battle for the capture of Saigon.{{cite web |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8101316/ |title=Giai phóng Sai Gòn (2005) |work=IMDb |access-date=28 April 2021 |archive-date=18 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220318093204/https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8101316/ |url-status=live}}
• Oh, Saigon (2007) is a PBS documentary by Doan Hoang about her family's escape and resettlement.{{cite web |last=Nguyen |first=Hien |title=How Saigon became Ho Chi Minh City |url=https://e.vnexpress.net/projects/how-saigon-became-ho-chi-minh-city-3577900/index.html |access-date=23 April 2022 |website=VnExpress International |archive-date=26 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220526104949/https://e.vnexpress.net/projects/how-saigon-became-ho-chi-minh-city-3577900/index.html |url-status=live}}
• The miniseries The Sympathizer (2024), based on the novel of the same name, features the fall of Saigon.
• Battlefield Vietnam features the Fall of Saigon as a level.{{cite web|url=https://gamerant.com/best-vietnam-war-games/|title=8 Great Games Based On The Vietnam War|date=February 7, 2023|last=Gomez|first=Greg|access-date=November 4, 2024|publisher=Game Rant}}
• Hey Arnold! references the fall of Saigon in the episode Arnold's Christmas. Arnold's housemate Mr. Hyunh is forcibly separated from his daughter during the evacuation, and he is reunited with her twenty years later.{{cite web|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/story-behind-iconic-vietnam-episode-hey-arnold-n1273598/|title=8 "The story behind the iconic Vietnam episode of 'Hey Arnold!'|last=Yam|first=Kimmy|website=nbcnews.com|access-date=December 29, 2024|date=December 26, 2024|publisher=NBC News}}

{{Portal|Vietnam|1970s}}

• Indochina refugee crisis
• Indochina wars
• Re-education camp (Vietnam)
• 1975 in the Vietnam War
• Tet offensive
• Withdrawal from Aden
• Fall of Kabul (1992)
• Fall of Kabul (2021)
• Fall of Phnom Penh
• Fall of Damascus (2024)

{{Reflist}}

{{Refbegin|60em}}

• {{Cite web |last=Adams |first=E. G. |title=The Beginning of the End |url=http://www.air-america.org/Articles/Fall_of_Saigon.shtml#adams |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110720084338/http://www.air-america.org/Articles/Fall_of_Saigon.shtml#adams |archive-date=20 July 2011 |publisher=Air America}}
• {{Cite book |last=Brown |first=Weldon A. |title=The Last Chopper: The Dénouement of the American Role in Vietnam, 1963–1975 |publisher=Kennikat Press |year=1976 |isbn=0-8046-9121-5}}
• {{Cite book |last=Butler |first=David |title=The Fall of Saigon |publisher=Simon and Schuster |location=New York |year=1985 |isbn=0-671-46675-5}}
• {{Cite book |last=Dawson |first=Alan |title=55 Days: The Fall of South Vietnam |publisher=Prentice-Hall |year=1977 |isbn=0-13-314476-3 |url=https://archive.org/details/55daysfallofsou00daws}}
• {{Cite book |last1=Dunham |first1=George R. |last2=Quinlan |first2=David A. |title=U.S. Marines in Vietnam: The Bitter End, 1973–1975 |url=https://www.marines.mil/Portals/1/Publications/U.S.%20Marines%20in%20Vietnam_The%20Bitter%20End%201973-1975%20%20PCN%201900310900_1.pdf |publisher=History and Museums Division, Headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps |location=Washington, D.C. |year=1990 |isbn=978-0-16-026455-9 |access-date=3 May 2021 |archive-date=10 July 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210710083619/https://www.marines.mil/Portals/1/Publications/U.S.%20Marines%20in%20Vietnam_The%20Bitter%20End%201973-1975%20%20PCN%201900310900_1.pdf |url-status=live}}
• {{Cite book |last=Engelmann |first=Larry |title=Tears Before the Rain: An Oral History of the Fall of South Vietnam |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=1990 |isbn=978-0-19-505386-9}}
• {{Cite book |last=Isaacs |first=Arnold |title=Without Honor: Defeat in Vietnam and Cambodia |url=https://archive.org/details/withouthonordefe0000isaa |url-access=registration |publisher=The Johns Hopkins University Press |year=1983 |isbn=0-8018-6107-1}}
• {{Cite book |last=Kissinger |first=Henry |year=2003 |title=Ending the Vietnam War: A History of America's Involvement in and Extrication from the Vietnam War |publisher=Simon & Schuster |isbn=0-7432-1532-X |url=https://archive.org/details/endingvietnamwar00kiss}}
• {{Cite journal |last=Moise |first=Edwin E. |date=Fall 1988 |title=Nationalism and Communism in Vietnam |volume=5 |issue=2 |journal=Journal of Third World Studies |pages=6–22 |publisher=University Press of Florida |jstor=45193059}}
• {{Cite news |title=The Americans Depart |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1975/04/30/archives/the-americans-depart.html |department=Opinion |newspaper=The New York Times |date=30 April 1975 |page=37 |access-date=16 August 2021 |archive-date=16 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210816214038/https://www.nytimes.com/1975/04/30/archives/the-americans-depart.html |url-status=live}}
• {{Cite book |last=Pike |first=Douglas |author-link=Douglas Pike |date=1970 |title=The Viet-Cong Strategy of Terror |url=http://www.vietnam.ttu.edu/star/images/231/2310402003a.pdf |access-date=18 January 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110720115232/http://www.vietnam.ttu.edu/star/images/231/2310402003a.pdf |archive-date=20 July 2011 |url-status=dead |via=Texas Tech University}}
• {{Cite web |last=Smith |first=Homer D. |author-link=Homer D. Smith |title=The Final Forty-Five Days in Vietnam |date=22 May 1975 |access-date=16 January 2007 |website=vietnam.ttu.edu |url=http://www.vietnam.ttu.edu/star/images/636/6360101002.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110720115535/http://www.vietnam.ttu.edu/star/images/636/6360101002.pdf |archive-date=20 July 2011 |url-status=dead}}
• {{Cite book |last=Snepp |first=Frank |author-link=Frank Snepp |title=Decent Interval: An Insider's Account of Saigon's Indecent End Told by the CIA's Chief Strategy Analyst in Vietnam |publisher=Random House |year=1977 |isbn=0-394-40743-1}}
• {{Cite book |last=Tanner |first=Stephen |author-link=Stephen Tanner |title=Epic Retreats: From 1776 to the Evacuation of Saigon |publisher=Sarpedon |year=2000 |isbn=1-885119-57-7}} (See especially p. 273 and on.)
• {{Cite book |last=Todd |first=Olivier |title=Cruel April: The Fall of Saigon |publisher=W. W. Norton & Company |year=1990 |orig-year=1987 (in French) |isbn=0-393-02787-2}}
• {{Cite book |editor-last=Tucker |editor-first=Spencer C. |editor-link=Spencer C. Tucker |title=Encyclopedia of the Vietnam War: A Political, Social, and Military History |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=1998 |isbn=0-874-36983-5}}
• {{Cite book |author=Dũng |first=Văn Tiến |author-link=Văn Tiến Dũng |year=1977 |title=Our Great Spring Victory: An Account of the Liberation of South Vietnam |publisher=Monthly Review Press |isbn=0-85345-409-4}}
• {{Cite book |last=Willbanks |first=James H. |year=2004 |title=Abandoning Vietnam: How America Left and South Vietnam Lost Its War |publisher=University Press of Kansas |isbn=978-0-7006-1331-1}}
• Journal of Vietnamese Studies. [https://online.ucpress.edu/jvs/issue/20/2 20 (2): Special Issue Commemorating the Fiftieth Anniversary of the Vietnam War]. Spring 2025.

{{Refend}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20060415045823/http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/specials/saigon/ "Saigon's Finale"] – The New York Times.
• [http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/april/30/newsid_2498000/2498441.stm "1975: Saigon surrenders"] – BBC News.
• {{Internet Archive short film|id=gov.archives.arc.1938171|name=Fall of Saigon}} (1975)
• [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6sCYPpFzNw Last Days in Vietnam on Youtube]
• {{YouTube|cmWzl1jx724|Fall of Saigon - Rare Footage of US Embassy Airlift and NVA Takeover (1975)}}.
• {{YouTube|mknTDi70KFE|VIETNAM SAIGON THE COMMUNISTS TAKEOVER - 1975 (AP Archive)}}.
• [https://radiotapes.com/special-postings/#Vietnam Coverage of the fall of Saigon as heard on shortwave radio stations including the Voice of Vietnam and BBC plus medium wave on WCCO-AM and KFMX-FM in the Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN area]

{{Vietnam War}}

Category:April 1975 in Asia

Saigon

Category:Communist revolutions

Category:Evacuations

Category:Forced migration in Asia

Category:Fall of regimes

Category:United States Marine Corps in the Vietnam War

Category:Urban warfare

Category:Vietnamese diaspora