The Fall of Saigon to the North Vietnamese Army at 11:30 on 30 April 1975 That Ended the Vietnam War

The 1973 Paris Peace Accords had ended direct US military involvement in Vietnam. The North Vietnamese 1975 spring offensive opened on 10 March 1975 with the capture of Buon Ma Thuot in the Central Highlands. South Vietnamese President Nguyen Van Thieu’s order to evacuate the Highlands triggered a panicked retreat that destroyed approximately half the South Vietnamese army within three weeks.

By mid-April 1975 approximately 16 North Vietnamese divisions under General Van Tien Dung were converging on Saigon. The defending South Vietnamese forces had collapsed in the Central Highlands and along the coast.

President Nguyen Van Thieu resigned on 21 April 1975. Vice President Tran Van Huong was sworn in then resigned on 28 April 1975. General Duong Van Minh (“Big Minh”) was sworn in on 28 April 1975 as the third South Vietnamese president in eight days, charged with negotiating a transition.

Operation Frequent Wind

The US Embassy under Ambassador Graham Martin had resisted evacuation planning until the final week. Martin believed an evacuation announcement would trigger urban panic. The contingency plan Operation Frequent Wind — the helicopter evacuation of the remaining 6,000 US citizens and approximately 130,000 evacuable South Vietnamese — was activated at 10:51 on 29 April 1975 when the Tan Son Nhut Airport runways were closed by North Vietnamese artillery.

The code-phrase for the evacuation broadcast on Armed Forces Radio was Bing Crosby’s “White Christmas.” The evacuation operated from two principal sites:

— Tan Son Nhut Defense Attaché Office compound — approximately 5,000 evacuated by approximately 23:00 on 29 April 1975 — US Embassy rooftop — approximately 2,100 evacuated through the night of 29-30 April 1975

A US Marine helicopter lifted Ambassador Martin from the Embassy rooftop at 04:58 on 30 April 1975. The final helicopter lifted the remaining 11 Marine guards at 07:53 on 30 April 1975. Approximately 400 South Vietnamese who had been promised evacuation were left at the Embassy.

Total Operation Frequent Wind evacuees were approximately 7,000.

30 April 1975

North Vietnamese forces had reached the Saigon outskirts by the evening of 29 April 1975. The advance into central Saigon began at approximately 09:00 on 30 April 1975. T-54 tanks of the 203rd Armoured Regiment under Brigade Commander Bui Tin reached the Independence Palace at approximately 11:30.

The lead tank — Tank 843 commanded by Lieutenant Bui Quang Than — crashed through the wrought-iron palace gates. The famous photograph by Vietnamese journalist Tran Mai Hanh captured the moment. Than ran into the palace lobby with the Viet Cong flag and demanded the surrender. President Duong Van Minh stated: “I have been waiting since this morning to transfer power to you.” Bui Tin replied: “You cannot transfer what you do not possess.”

The South Vietnamese surrender broadcast aired on Saigon Radio at 13:30 on 30 April 1975: “I, General Duong Van Minh, President of the Government of the Republic of Vietnam, am calling on our armed forces to lay down their weapons and surrender unconditionally to the forces of the National Liberation Front.”

Vietnam reunified

Saigon was renamed Ho Chi Minh City in 1976. The Socialist Republic of Vietnam was proclaimed on 2 July 1976, formally completing the Communist unification.

Approximately 1.6 million South Vietnamese fled across 1975-1995 — by boat, by overland routes through Cambodia, and through orderly departure programmes. Approximately 250,000 are estimated to have died during the boat exodus of 1978-1982.

The US Vietnam War death toll was 58,220 American servicemembers. The Vietnamese death toll across 1955-1975 is estimated at approximately 3 million civilians and combatants.

The Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington DC was dedicated on 13 November 1982. The reflective black granite wall designed by 21-year-old Maya Lin lists the American dead in chronological order of casualty.