Fall of Saigon: Vietnam War Documentary Film - CIA Archival Footage (1975)

http://thefilmarchive.org/ DVD: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000C8STNU/ref=as_li_tf_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=d...

The Fall of Saigon was the capture of Saigon, the capital of South Vietnam, by the People's Army of Vietnam and the National Liberation Front on April 30, 1975. The event marked the end of the Vietnam War and the start of a transition period leading to the formal reunification of Vietnam into a communist state.

North Vietnamese forces under the command of the Senior General Văn Tiến Dũng began their final attack on Saigon, which was commanded by General Nguyen Van Toan on April 29, with a heavy artillery bombardment. This bombardment at the Tân Sơn Nhứt Airport killed the last two American servicemen that died in Vietnam, Charles McMahon and Darwin Judge. By the afternoon of the next day, North Vietnamese troops had occupied the important points within the city and raised their flag over the South Vietnamese presidential palace. South Vietnam capitulated shortly after. The city was renamed Ho Chi Minh City, after communist leader Ho Chi Minh. The fall of the city was preceded by the evacuation of almost all the American civilian and military personnel in Saigon, along with tens of thousands of South Vietnamese civilians associated with the southern regime. The evacuation culminated in Operation Frequent Wind, which was the largest helicopter evacuation in history. In addition to the flight of refugees, the end of the war and institution of new rules by the communists contributed to a decline in the population of the city.

Various names have been applied to the incident. Fall of Saigon is the most commonly used name in English, but Liberation of Saigon is sometimes used by communists. It has also been called Sự kiện 30 tháng 4 (April 30 Incident) or Giải phóng miền Nam (The liberation of the south) by the current Vietnamese communist government and Ngày mất nước (The day we lost our country/nation) or Ngày Quốc Hận (National Hatred Day) or Tháng Tư Đen (Black April) by dissident Vietnamese refugees overseas.

The rapidity with which the South Vietnamese position collapsed in 1975 was surprising to most American and South Vietnamese observers, and probably to the North Vietnamese and their allies as well. For instance, a memo prepared by the CIA and Army Intelligence and published on 5 March indicated that South Vietnam could hold through the current dry season—i.e. at least until 1976. These predictions proved to be grievously in error. Even as that memo was being released, General Dũng was preparing a major offensive in the Central Highlands of Vietnam, which began on 10 March and led to the capture of Buon Me Thuot. The ARVN began a disorderly and costly retreat, hoping to redeploy its forces and hold the southern part of South Vietnam, perhaps an enclave south of the 13th parallel.

Supported by artillery and armor, the North Vietnamese continued to march towards Saigon, capturing the major cities of northern South Vietnam at the end of March—Huế on the 25th and Da Nang on the 28th. Along the way, disorderly South Vietnamese retreats and the flight of refugees—there were more than 300,000 in Da Nang—damaged South Vietnamese prospects for a turnaround. After the loss of Da Nang, those prospects had already been dismissed as nonexistent by American Central Intelligence Agency officers in Vietnam, who believed nothing short of B-52 strikes against Hanoi could possibly stop the North Vietnamese.

By April 8, the North Vietnamese Politburo, which in March had recommended caution to Dung, cabled him to demand "unremitting vigor in the attack all the way to the heart of Saigon." On April 14, they renamed the campaign the "Ho Chi Minh campaign," after revolutionary leader Ho Chi Minh, in the hopes of wrapping it up before his birthday on May 19. Meanwhile, South Vietnam failed to garner any significant increase in military aid from the United States, snuffing President Nguyen Van Thieu's hopes for renewed American support.

On April 9 PAVN forces reached Xuan Loc, the last line of defense before Saigon, where the ARVN 18th Division made a last stand and held the city through fierce fighting for several days. The PAVN finally overran Xuan Loc on April 20 and on April 21 President Thiệu resigned in a tearful televised announcement in which he denounced the United States for failing to come to the aid of the South. The North Vietnamese front line was now just 26 miles (42 km) from downtown Saigon. The victory at Xuan Loc, which had drawn many South Vietnamese troops away from the Mekong Delta area, opened the way for PAVN to encircle Saigon, and they soon did so, moving 100,000 troops in position around the city by April 27. With the ARVN having few defenders, the fate of the city was effectively sealed.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fall_of_saigon

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[MrRealraw]

HO CHI MINH AND VIRT CONG WON THE WAR HE FOUGHT AGAINST COLONIALISM DEFEATING THE FRENCH AND THE UNITED STATES.

BOTH COUNTRIES DESERVE TO LOSE

VIVA LA LIBRE DE VIETNAM

[piwanabongo]

The politics of fear has been used by the west so many times to justify their actions: the communist domino effect, the war on terror..ad nauseum. Too bad the tax payer has to bear this enormous cost. 

[VVIINNHH]

@Rentaghost76 The mass protest by the hippies caused the abandonment of South Vietnam, but we still have to respect the American soldiers!

[TripeSmuggler]

Well, that's not the Vietnam I've seen, it's a delightful country. Imagine what it would have been like if the American bullies got their own way and made yet another Isreal / Iraq

[MrJodyh54]

The Army wanted to fight-Congress would not approve anymore funding. I have lived in Vietnam now 9 years, and what you have is a brainwashed society with no creativeness or individualism. Trust me-I have been a college lecturer here trying to assit them all this time. Vietnam-a must see for anyone with interest in the War or country. Still uncivilized in many ways, life is still cheap.

[Rentaghost76]

Shameful abandonment of South Vietnam by the yanks. Fvckin' cowards running away like that and leaving all their vietnamese workers to face the communists. 

[truongvanhoangbn]

1 ban anh hung ca cua cach mang viet nam

[laz2thedouble]

The Vietnam War just seemed like the last of the Red Scare bullsh*t from earlier but even now certain ppl are hella intent on making Muslims the new Communists so it kinda resembles that whole atmosphere. Gotta hate the scare tactics cuz some ppl will believe anything, which is how we end up with Cold Wars, Vietnam, Iraq, etc. How primative are we still? :(

[laz2thedouble]

As an OIF vet who was on the ground and had my own traumatic experiences, Vietnam looked like Hell. Such a shame that they Ddnt get the respect they deserved when they came home. however it sux that both wars were unnecessary and all those young men died for our policy-makers' bs. Smh.

[GoldenShellback1]

@stevecantlow No shit sherlock. If it wasn't for those feeble-minded right wing nutjobs using our military to invade other nations under the guise of freedom, those ordinary people you mentioned would still be alive today. Remember Iraq? Your boy Bush lied on that one and as a result not only ordinary people, women, and children died but American lives too. I heard Cheney is a multi-billionaire now.

[stevecantlow]

I tell you who loses in any war; the ordinary people. The women, the children the old, the infirm. Not that they matter to your socialist vermin. What is it they say; you have got to crack a few eggs to make an omlete. Well try telling that to the thousands left without their loved ones. Oh yeh another point is those useless American military are trying to protect the freedom you lefties enjoy, so you can express your opinions even if it's a load of tosh.