Fall of Saigon
In late April of 1975, North Vietnamese troops bombarded outskirts of Saigon. American civilians and South Vietnamese refugees who were stationed in the capitol city of South Vietnam were evacuated quickly by helicopter and plane.
Air Force helicopters and U.S. marines performed a massive airlift to evacuate as many Americans and refugees as possible. Within eighteen hours, around 1,000 American civilians and almost 7,000 South Vietnamese refugees were flown out of Saigon and onto U.S. carriers.
Because South Vietnamese Pilots also participated in this evacuation and landed on the U.S. carriers, more than 100 of the American-supplied helicopters were pushed into the depths of the ocean in order to have more space for more evacuees.
A few days later on April 30th, the North Vietnamese Army overtook Saigon with little fighting back from the South. General Duong Van Minh, the South Vietnamese President states: "We are here to hand over to you the power in order to avoid bloodshed." With the capitol turned, the rest of the country crumbled under communistic powers too.
Saigon was renamed Ho Chi Minh City in honor of the North’s communist revolutionary leader who had died just a few years prior. Later that evening, President Duong Van Minh announced: "I declare the Saigon government [of South Vietnam] is completely dissolved at all levels."
When the Communist forces captured the presidential palace in Saigon, the Second Indochina War had come to an end. The north then pursued to unify Vietnam as a communistic country.
Fall of Saigon: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hz276uryS4s
Air Force helicopters and U.S. marines performed a massive airlift to evacuate as many Americans and refugees as possible. Within eighteen hours, around 1,000 American civilians and almost 7,000 South Vietnamese refugees were flown out of Saigon and onto U.S. carriers.
Because South Vietnamese Pilots also participated in this evacuation and landed on the U.S. carriers, more than 100 of the American-supplied helicopters were pushed into the depths of the ocean in order to have more space for more evacuees.
A few days later on April 30th, the North Vietnamese Army overtook Saigon with little fighting back from the South. General Duong Van Minh, the South Vietnamese President states: "We are here to hand over to you the power in order to avoid bloodshed." With the capitol turned, the rest of the country crumbled under communistic powers too.
Saigon was renamed Ho Chi Minh City in honor of the North’s communist revolutionary leader who had died just a few years prior. Later that evening, President Duong Van Minh announced: "I declare the Saigon government [of South Vietnam] is completely dissolved at all levels."
When the Communist forces captured the presidential palace in Saigon, the Second Indochina War had come to an end. The north then pursued to unify Vietnam as a communistic country.
Fall of Saigon: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hz276uryS4s