US withdrawal: The fall of Saigon
Witness History
BBC
4.5 • 1.6K Ratings
🗓️ 17 August 2021
⏱️ 15 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
The last remaining US forces pulled out of Vietnam on April 30th 1975 as communist North Vietnamese troops took control of the country. There was a desperate scramble to evacuate US personnel and some Vietnamese colleagues who feared brutal reprisals at the hands of the communists for having helped the Americans. With the airport destroyed, they had to use helicopter airlifts from inside the US embassy compound to transport people to the USS Midway, an aircraft carrier waiting offshore. Rebecca Kesby speaks to two former US servicemen, Stu Herrington and Vern Jumper, who were involved in the mission.
(Photo: A CIA employee helps Vietnamese evacuees onto an Air America helicopter from the top of 22 Gia Long Street, a half mile from the U.S. Embassy. April 1975. Getty Images.)
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Just before this BBC podcast gets underway, here's something you may not know. |
| 0:04.7 | My name's Linda Davies and I Commission Podcasts for BBC Sounds. |
| 0:08.5 | As you'd expect, at the BBC we make podcasts of the very highest quality featuring the most knowledgeable experts and genuinely engaging voices. |
| 0:18.0 | What you may not know is that the BBC makes podcasts about all kinds of things like pop stars, |
| 0:24.6 | poltergeist, cricket, and conspiracy theories and that's just a few examples. |
| 0:29.7 | If you'd like to discover something a little bit unexpected, find your next podcast over at BBC Sounds. |
| 0:40.0 | Hello and welcome to this witness history podcast from the BBC World Service with me Rebecca Kespi. |
| 0:47.0 | This week many commentators are comparing the dramatic events in Afghanistan following the US withdrawal to the fall of Saigon in April |
| 0:55.5 | 1975. So let's revisit that moment with a piece from our archives. The Vietnam War ended when communist troops from North Vietnam |
| 1:05.3 | reached the edge of the southern capital Saigon. With the city surrounded on three sides, |
| 1:10.7 | the last few remaining American troops were ordered to evacuate. I've been speaking |
| 1:15.8 | to two men involved in that operation. |
| 1:20.0 | It's 7 o'clock. Good evening. This is John Tidmarsh with news desk and from South Vietnam where it's now the middle of the night. |
| 1:27.0 | We are now waiting for just one word surrender. |
| 1:30.0 | It could come at any time. The Saigon government is reported to be ready to meet any conditions for peace. |
| 1:36.0 | In the last desperate hours, helicopters have carried all the remaining Americans, about a thousand of them to safety. |
| 1:42.0 | Three and a half thousand Vietnamese have also been airlifted out, |
| 1:46.0 | but thousands more fighting to get places on the rescue aircraft |
| 1:49.0 | were forced away and left behind. |
| 1:53.0 | There were six of us left, not counting the Marines who were still policing the wall. |
| 1:57.0 | And then at a point in time, I looked up at the embassy roof and a helicopter just left and I thought oh should I have been on that |
| 2:04.2 | one? |
... |
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