Haste: Operation Frequent Wind and the Fall of Saigon

This week marks the fiftieth anniversary of the Fall of Saigon, as well as the fiftieth anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War. With the last American combat troops withdrawing from Vietnam in March of 1973, Richard Nixon resigning his presidency in August of 1974, and the resignation of South Vietnamese president Nguyễn Văn Thiệu in mid-April 1975, the war was all but over. In the waning days of April 1975, as Northern Vietnamese forces began to encircle the city of Saigon, thousands of U.S. and South Vietnamese civilians and military personnel evacuated under the contingency measure known as Operation Frequent Wind.

Operation Frequent Wind was the codename for the military contingency plan to evacuate all remaining American officials, as well as certain South Vietnamese officials, from the country in the event that the war would be eminently lost. On the morning of April 29th, 1975, artillery shells began to fall upon the Tan Son Nhut Air Base in Saigon. From there, the signal was given to begin evacuation operations: the song “White Christmas” being played over Saigon radio stations. Over the next twenty-four hours, American helicopters would land near (or in some cases, on top of) the American embassy to collect as many people as they feasibly could carry nearly every ten minutes. The helicopters would then fly out to American aircraft carriers to flee the country.

Record Group 428-NPC (Moving Images Relating to Military Activities, ca. 1947–1980) contains several films that showcase the point in which these helicopters would arrive at sea. 

As thousands began to populate the carriers, one of the biggest issues became the lack of space for future helicopters to land. This led to some of the most striking imagery of the event: dozens of helicopters had been pushed overboard to make room on deck.

These records also show the processing of thousands of Southern Vietnamese men, women, and children as they board these carriers, visibly shaken by their rapid escape from their homes and uncertain as to what the future holds for them.

Alongside the evacuations by air, many also escaped by sea. 428-NPC-52886 showcases a handful of boats that managed to bypass the Northern Vietnamese naval blockade around Saigon and their occupants being brought aboard the US naval carrier.

By the end of April 30th, 7,000 people were evacuated from Saigon before the South Vietnamese government surrendered the city. In the months to follow, President Gerald Ford and Congress passed the Indochina Migration and Refugee Assistance Act, allocating $405 million to assist refugees fleeing from South Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos. Even with this, millions of Southeast Asian refugees would remain displaced for decades to come.

Today, exactly fifty years later, we are fortunate enough to have these records, allowing individuals of today to learn from the experiences of the past for a better tomorrow. Combat photographers such as Sergeant Dennis Fisher, whom the National Archives had the pleasure of interviewing back in 2023, risked their lives to capture these moments and to allow others to view history from the perspective of those living through it. As Sgt. Fisher put it in his interview with the Still Picture Branch:

“I’m just glad somebody is interested in the images. We gave up a lot to get these pictures and knowing that they are in good hands at the Still Picture Branch provides a measure of satisfaction that will be preserved for all time.”

For more posts regarding the Vietnam War, be sure to check the Unwritten Record’s tag on the subject here.