On April 29, 1975, chaos engulfed Saigon's streets as the US Embassy closed its gates for the last time, signaling the end of US involvement in the Vietnam War. The evacuation of US military and civilian personnel was underway, but with Saigon under North Vietnamese control, the only escape route was by air. Desperate crowds surged, and a photo of one man punching another off a helicopter captured the violent struggle to survive. With the nearby airport destroyed, dozens of US military helicopters evacuated over 1,000 Americans and 5,000 Vietnamese by April 30th, while thousands more rushed the Embassy compound, seeking freedom.
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The North Vietnamese Army took over parts of Saigon, the South Vietnam capital.April 29, 1975The US Army knew they had to leave the country. The place was in total turmoil.
Word spread about the evacuation. Thousands of South Vietnamese civilians and soldiers gathered at the US Embassy gates, desperate to escape and find freedom.People feared the chance of "massive arrests, 're-education' camps and executions by the communists."Massive arrests, 're-education' camps, and executions by communists happened. However, with few helicopters and a goal to evacuate Americans fast, the process decided how many South Vietnamese could leave, and alsoSome people got the ticket out.They got the golden ticket out.
Chaos and violence erupted. Panicked Vietnamese civilians broke through the compound gates, rushing stairwells to the roof where the final US military helicopters departed. One picture shows an American punching a South Vietnamese man trying to board a helicopter.
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Outside the US Embassy, desperation filled the scene. It grew worse as news of the US evacuation spread across Saigon. Individuals and families, young and old, crowded the area around the Embassy, trying any way to reach the gates and a helicopter.
Some South Vietnamese tried paying with money, jewelry, and gold. Others just tried convincing soldiers to take their children to safety, as an Associated Press reporter reported.An Associated Press reporter reported the day after the evacuation:The day after the evacuation:
"Some tried to jump the wall and landed on barbed wire strung along the top. A middle-aged man and a woman lay on the wire, bleeding. People held up their children, asking Americans to take them over the fence."
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By the end of the nearly19-hour evacuationEighty-one helicopters moved at least 1,373 Americans and 5,595 Vietnamese out of Saigon. But thousands more South Vietnamese stayed with the North Vietnamese People's Army, which suddenly took over the city. With no other choices, an astonishingsixty-five thousand additionalSouth Vietnamese people fled the city on their own "in fishing boats and barges, homemade rafts and sampans" hoping to reach US warships off the coast.
The evacuation happened fast and violently. Too many people suffered from the tragedy that engulfed the city.
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