Fall of Saigon, April 30th 1975

OMG! That makes me feel my age; I remember the shots of the helicopters taking off from the embassy roof on the tv news...

 

I have recollections of seeing ARVN Choppers being thrown off the side of a US Aircraft carrier to make way for new ones who managed to get out of the country.

The Fall of Saigon 1975: An Eyewitness Report by John Pilger

White Christmas - The Fall of Saigon by Dirck Halstead - The Digital Journalist

Two blogs about the fall of Saigon. Well worth reading.

 

My favourite little story concerns the last Aussie servicemen in Vietnam - ANZAC day 35 years ago.

See here for the story - http://www.vvaavic.org.au/Pics/RAAF_final_involvement.pdf

And here for the names - The Last out of South Vietnam + ADGies the last ones out in 1975


I'm pretty sure that Ian Dainer was one of the instructors when I did my rookies course - most of them were Vietnam era ADGies

 

I was in elementary school when that happened. Watching all that made me so angry. I won't get into the politics of it all, but the conduct of that war is the prime motivating factor in shaping my national political outlook since.

 

Brings back memories as I was at Police Training College at Bruche, Warrington (Ex WW2 Camp).

It doesn't seem all that long ago and now I am thinking like Cpt Sensible about my age.

Regards
Tom

 

I missed out on the lucky number coming out so it gives my age away also.

 

I noted from some of the commentary on the Falklands War the other week that Rex Hunt, Governor of the Falklands in 1982, was also on the staff of the British Embassy in South Vietnam during the Fall of Saigon in 1975.

That's a lot of crisis management experience.