Fall of Saigon
The Fall of Saigon (in Vietnamese: 30 tháng tư, or April 30th), was the capture of the South Vietnamese capital of Saigon by the People's Army of Vietnam on April 30, 1975.
The event marked the end of the Vietnam War and the unification of the country under communist rule.
A massive evacuation of American diplomats and support personnel, foreign nationals, and Vietnamese refugees, including two thousand Vietnamese orphans during "Operation Babylift," occurred beforehand. In the morning of that day, General Duong Van Minh, who had been president of South Vietnam for only three days after the resignation of Tran Van Huong, made a radio declaration stating "we are here to hand over to you the power in order to avoid bloodshed." North Vietnamese forces accompanied by some Vietnamese National Liberation Front (NLF) forces fought their way into the city the same day.
Despite some previous predictions that the fall of Saigon would be long and bloody, only scattered pockets of resistance remained. The gates of the Independence Palace were destroyed by North Vietnamese tanks as they entered. The NLF flag was raised over the Palace at 12:15 pm. Late in the morning of April 29, Armed Forces Radio played the song "White Christmas" as a signal to begin the noncombatant evacuation Operation Frequent Wind.
Vietnamese civilians gathered outside the US embassy and scaled the walls hoping to claim refugee status. Within 24 hours of the fall, the city was renamed "Ho Chi Minh City", after the Vietnamese revolutionary leader Ho Chi Minh. Order was slowly restored to the city, although the US Embassy, previously the site of an evacuation by helicopter, was looted along with many other businesses. At 15:30, General Duong Van Minh released another radio broadcast, stating "I declare the Saigon government... completely dissolved at all levels." The war in Vietnam was over.
April 30 is a public holiday in Vietnam known as Reunification Day or Liberation Day (Ngày Giải Phóng).
See also
External links
- "Saigon's Finale" - The New York Times.
- "1975: Saigon surrenders" - BBC News.
- Vietnam Babylift web site
- Fall of Saigon Marine Association
- "White Christmas: The Fall of Saigon" - Dirck Halstead, The Digital Journalist.
Further reading
- Herrington, Stuart A. Peace with Honor An American Reports on Vietnam 1973-75. Presidio Press, 1983. ISBN 0891411828 [see especially pp. 137-189].
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