0:00:52 > 0:00:56As we began to contemplate evacuation,
0:00:56 > 0:00:59the question, the burning question was,
0:00:59 > 0:01:03"Who goes...and who gets left behind?"
0:01:17 > 0:01:20I borrowed a truck...
0:01:20 > 0:01:23and I basically sent the signal to my folks,
0:01:23 > 0:01:25and this meant a group of South Vietnamese majors,
0:01:25 > 0:01:28lieutenant colonels, colonels and their families
0:01:28 > 0:01:33to muster at an address in downtown Saigon.
0:01:33 > 0:01:37I drove down there, they loaded up onto the truck,
0:01:37 > 0:01:40and I drove them to the airbase.
0:01:42 > 0:01:44And I had told them, "When you hear three thumps,
0:01:44 > 0:01:46"that means hold the babies' mouths.
0:01:46 > 0:01:50"Don't breathe, don't talk, don't make any noise
0:01:50 > 0:01:52"because we're going through the gatepost."
0:01:52 > 0:01:57I saluted in uniform as a captain of the United States Army.
0:01:57 > 0:02:00The guard waved me through,
0:02:00 > 0:02:02and I drove straight out to the flight line
0:02:02 > 0:02:05to an aircraft that was awaiting.
0:02:06 > 0:02:11One Vietnamese colonel that was putting his family on the plane,
0:02:11 > 0:02:15he had wanted to stay in Vietnam to defend the country.
0:02:15 > 0:02:20And this full colonel had, like, eight kids and a wife.
0:02:20 > 0:02:24And he was in tears, the family...
0:02:28 > 0:02:31The family were in tears,
0:02:31 > 0:02:34and I said to him, "Get on the plane.
0:02:34 > 0:02:37"Just...go.
0:02:37 > 0:02:39"Go."
0:02:41 > 0:02:47It was a terrible, terrible, terrible moral dilemma
0:02:47 > 0:02:49for everybody.
0:02:58 > 0:03:03We today have concluded an agreement to end the war
0:03:03 > 0:03:06and bring peace with honour in Vietnam.
0:03:13 > 0:03:16'We have adopted a plan for the complete withdrawal
0:03:16 > 0:03:20'of all US combat ground forces.
0:03:20 > 0:03:24'We are finally bringing American men home.'
0:03:27 > 0:03:32We who made the agreement thought that it would be the beginning
0:03:32 > 0:03:35not of peace in the American sense,
0:03:35 > 0:03:38but the beginning of a period of coexistence
0:03:38 > 0:03:43which might evolve as it did in Korea into two states.
0:03:45 > 0:03:48Reconciliation between North and South Vietnam
0:03:48 > 0:03:51we knew would be extremely difficult.
0:03:52 > 0:03:55But I was hopeful.
0:03:57 > 0:04:00Because of the Paris Agreement,
0:04:00 > 0:04:03American soldiers were going home.
0:04:04 > 0:04:07But I was on my way back to Vietnam.
0:04:11 > 0:04:15I was assigned to Saigon in the first week of August 1973,
0:04:15 > 0:04:18so about six months after the ceasefire.
0:04:28 > 0:04:33I would say that between the State Department people and CIA people,
0:04:33 > 0:04:36the contractors who were there to maintain infrastructure,
0:04:36 > 0:04:40maintain aircraft, as well as people like me,
0:04:40 > 0:04:44we had 5,000 to 7,000 Americans in country.
0:04:46 > 0:04:51A lot of the guys had Vietnamese girlfriends and wives,
0:04:51 > 0:04:54in many cases with children.
0:04:54 > 0:04:59In general, things were...eerily calm
0:04:59 > 0:05:02and in many ways normal in Saigon.
0:05:04 > 0:05:06My sense was that we were going to be there,
0:05:06 > 0:05:10you know, pretty much for a long time to come.
0:05:12 > 0:05:16I was assigned to the American embassy in Saigon.
0:05:16 > 0:05:22I was in charge of the 84 Marine security guards that were there,
0:05:23 > 0:05:28making sure that they kept up with their physical fitness training.
0:05:28 > 0:05:31We were there to protect American lives
0:05:31 > 0:05:34as well as American property.
0:05:34 > 0:05:37It was just a day-to-day job.
0:05:39 > 0:05:45The Ambassador there was a guy named Graham Martin,
0:05:45 > 0:05:47a North Carolinian, just as I was.
0:05:47 > 0:05:50He spoke with a slow Southern drawl.
0:05:50 > 0:05:52He was a great gentleman.
0:05:52 > 0:05:55He was a cold warrior in the old stripe.
0:05:55 > 0:06:00He'd lost an adopted son in Vietnam to combat.
0:06:00 > 0:06:05And he was not going to give up South Vietnam to the Communists.
0:06:05 > 0:06:10He was determined to keep US aid flowing into Saigon.
0:06:12 > 0:06:16When the ceasefire occurred in 1973,
0:06:16 > 0:06:20everybody toasted it with Bloody Marys in the US embassy.
0:06:20 > 0:06:22It was a grand party.
0:06:22 > 0:06:25We thought peace was at hand.
0:06:26 > 0:06:31But the Paris Peace Accord was a masterpiece of ambiguity.
0:06:35 > 0:06:37In order to get President Thieu and the South Vietnamese
0:06:37 > 0:06:39to go along with the Paris Agreement,
0:06:39 > 0:06:42President Nixon pulled out all the stops,
0:06:42 > 0:06:44and in a letter to President Thieu,
0:06:44 > 0:06:47he promised that if the North Vietnamese
0:06:47 > 0:06:51were to substantially violate the terms of the Paris Agreement,
0:06:51 > 0:06:55the United States would respond with full force.
0:06:55 > 0:06:58In other words, re-enter the war.
0:06:59 > 0:07:04The North Vietnamese viewed Nixon as a madman.
0:07:04 > 0:07:06They were terrified of him.
0:07:08 > 0:07:11They believed that Nixon, if necessary,
0:07:11 > 0:07:13would bring back American air power.
0:07:15 > 0:07:20But in August 1974, he was gone.
0:07:20 > 0:07:24Nixon resigned because of Watergate.
0:07:24 > 0:07:27And overnight, everything changed.
0:07:27 > 0:07:28CHEERING
0:07:28 > 0:07:33Hanoi suddenly saw the road to Saigon as being open.
0:07:45 > 0:07:46GUNFIRE
0:08:03 > 0:08:06The South Vietnamese population
0:08:06 > 0:08:10had ample reason to fear the Vietnamese Communists.
0:08:10 > 0:08:13The Communist conduct throughout the course of the war
0:08:13 > 0:08:17had been violent and unforgiving.
0:08:17 > 0:08:19For example, when the city of Hue
0:08:19 > 0:08:21was taken over by the North Vietnamese,
0:08:21 > 0:08:25several thousand people on a long blacklist were rounded up,
0:08:25 > 0:08:28schoolteachers, government civil servants,
0:08:28 > 0:08:30people who were known anti-Communists,
0:08:30 > 0:08:33and they were executed,
0:08:33 > 0:08:35in some cases even buried alive.
0:08:35 > 0:08:38WOMAN WAILS
0:08:38 > 0:08:42So panic was but a millimetre away.
0:08:48 > 0:08:50Hundreds of thousands of refugees
0:08:50 > 0:08:52are in a blind rush to flee even further
0:08:52 > 0:08:54from the rapidly advancing Communists.
0:08:54 > 0:08:56Bruce Dunning reports.
0:08:56 > 0:08:58MAN'S INDISTINCT VOICE OVER TANNOY
0:08:58 > 0:09:00'President Thieu broadcast a strong appeal
0:09:00 > 0:09:03'to the soldiers and the people of Da Nang,
0:09:03 > 0:09:05'urging them to stay and fight.'
0:09:05 > 0:09:07IN VIETNAMESE
0:09:21 > 0:09:23As the enemy approaches, the panic has swept
0:09:23 > 0:09:26from the coastal city's crowded backstreets and pagodas
0:09:26 > 0:09:28onto runways at the airport.
0:09:28 > 0:09:30Our plane is surrounded here.
0:09:30 > 0:09:32I don't know how the hell we're going to get out.
0:09:32 > 0:09:35We're racing down the runway,
0:09:35 > 0:09:37leaving behind hundreds and thousands of people.
0:09:39 > 0:09:44Another dozen of them running along, grabbing at the air stair.
0:09:44 > 0:09:47We're pulling them on as fast as we can.
0:09:47 > 0:09:49There's a sea of humanity jamming on.
0:09:49 > 0:09:52Impossible to stop the crowd.
0:09:52 > 0:09:55We're pulling away. We're leaving them behind.
0:09:55 > 0:09:58We're pulling up with the... People are falling off the air stairs!
0:09:58 > 0:10:01The plane is taking off.
0:10:01 > 0:10:05It was every man for himself.
0:10:05 > 0:10:07So you saw the World Airways flight
0:10:07 > 0:10:12being mobbed by South Vietnamese soldiers.
0:10:12 > 0:10:16You saw ships with thousands of refugees,
0:10:16 > 0:10:20including lots of soldiers.
0:10:20 > 0:10:22You saw out-of-control panic.
0:10:24 > 0:10:29Basically any boats, trucks, airplanes, or anything going south
0:10:29 > 0:10:33were besieged by people wanting to get onboard.
0:10:38 > 0:10:41The Americans were gone,
0:10:41 > 0:10:45and as a result, the house of cards began to collapse.
0:10:49 > 0:10:53The North Vietnamese decided to escalate,
0:10:53 > 0:10:56escalate, escalate, escalate at every turn
0:10:56 > 0:10:59to see if the United States would react.
0:11:04 > 0:11:08In April of '75, I was with President Gerald Ford,
0:11:08 > 0:11:11and we were flying across the country on Air Force One
0:11:11 > 0:11:14when one of the airplane's crew
0:11:14 > 0:11:16comes and hands me a note,
0:11:16 > 0:11:19and it says, "Da Nang has fallen."
0:11:19 > 0:11:22Ford was bombarded by questions from the press
0:11:22 > 0:11:25after he got off Air Force One.
0:11:25 > 0:11:30Around 150,000 to 175,000
0:11:30 > 0:11:33well-trained North Vietnamese regular forces
0:11:33 > 0:11:37in violation of the Paris Peace Accords moved into South Vietnam.
0:11:37 > 0:11:42We have...objected to that violation.
0:11:42 > 0:11:48It's a tragedy unbelievable in its ramifications.
0:11:48 > 0:11:52We are now in a crisis.
0:11:53 > 0:11:55We had a wave of humanity,
0:11:55 > 0:12:01500,000 refugees rolling, rolling south towards Saigon...
0:12:03 > 0:12:10..and 160,000 North Vietnamese troops moving right behind them.
0:12:15 > 0:12:18I had become so concerned, I decided to pull
0:12:18 > 0:12:21our best Vietnamese agents in out of the woodwork
0:12:21 > 0:12:23to try to see what they could tell us
0:12:23 > 0:12:28about Communist planning, which obviously was rapidly evolving.
0:12:28 > 0:12:31On the 8th of April,
0:12:31 > 0:12:35I met with one of our best agents,
0:12:35 > 0:12:38who said, "The Communists are going to drive on Saigon.
0:12:38 > 0:12:40"They're going to be in there by Ho China Minh's birthday,"
0:12:40 > 0:12:45which was May 19th, literally a month away.
0:12:45 > 0:12:47Communist forces in South Vietnam,
0:12:47 > 0:12:50already solidly in control of 11 provinces,
0:12:50 > 0:12:53began working on yet another one today - Binh Dinh.
0:13:01 > 0:13:03IN VIETNAMESE
0:13:38 > 0:13:40I kept a map every day
0:13:40 > 0:13:42on the progress of the North Vietnamese onslaught.
0:13:42 > 0:13:44By the 5th of April,
0:13:44 > 0:13:48the North Vietnamese had 15, even 16 divisions
0:13:48 > 0:13:50heading in the direction of Saigon.
0:13:50 > 0:13:52They were bringing SA-2 missiles down
0:13:52 > 0:13:56to provide anti-aircraft cover for their forces.
0:13:58 > 0:14:01There were people who were saying, "Look, we've got to do some heavy, heavy planning here
0:14:01 > 0:14:07"because depending on how this goes, and it doesn't look good now, we may all have to evacuate."
0:14:07 > 0:14:11And Ambassador Martin wouldn't tolerate or countenance such thought.
0:14:11 > 0:14:15That was defeatism. That was poisonous to the prospects
0:14:15 > 0:14:17of the people we're here to help.
0:14:19 > 0:14:23But people could see what was going on...
0:14:23 > 0:14:26and they started leaving...
0:14:26 > 0:14:29especially the Americans.
0:14:29 > 0:14:33- I'm leaving Vietnam.- Why?- I'm kind of scared, to be honest with you.
0:14:33 > 0:14:35To be perfectly honest with you, I'm really scared.
0:14:35 > 0:14:38I think the situation's a lot worse than we know about.
0:14:40 > 0:14:45There was always a standing evacuation plan in the embassy.
0:14:45 > 0:14:47It held that in an emergency,
0:14:47 > 0:14:50all Americans still in the country,
0:14:50 > 0:14:54about 6,000 people, would be evacuated
0:14:54 > 0:14:58and that no South Vietnamese would be evacuated with them.
0:15:03 > 0:15:06I was a student.
0:15:06 > 0:15:07The school's not closing,
0:15:07 > 0:15:10but it seemed like nobody's interested in school any more.
0:15:10 > 0:15:13You can't stay here.
0:15:13 > 0:15:16You can't live with the Communists,
0:15:16 > 0:15:21especially if you have a connection with the Americans.
0:15:21 > 0:15:23Then you really got to get out.
0:15:26 > 0:15:31If we really made up a list of endangered South Vietnamese,
0:15:31 > 0:15:35the ones who really worked closely with us during the war,
0:15:35 > 0:15:38this number could be 150-200,000.
0:15:39 > 0:15:42Including their families, many more than that.
0:15:44 > 0:15:46But the idea of talking about an evacuation
0:15:46 > 0:15:49and of planning for an evacuation of Americans,
0:15:49 > 0:15:53let alone an evacuation of Vietnamese,
0:15:53 > 0:15:57was still anathema in the embassy.
0:15:57 > 0:16:03If you mean, "Is South Vietnam on the imminent verge of collapse?"
0:16:03 > 0:16:06I think the answer is quite definitely no.
0:16:06 > 0:16:09We were dealing with an ambassador
0:16:10 > 0:16:14who was just convinced that somehow,
0:16:14 > 0:16:17he was going to be able to pull this out
0:16:17 > 0:16:20and that there wouldn't have to be an evacuation
0:16:20 > 0:16:23and therefore, there wouldn't have to be a concern
0:16:23 > 0:16:25about evacuating South Vietnamese.
0:16:27 > 0:16:33The situation in South Vietnam has reached a critical phase
0:16:33 > 0:16:38requiring immediate and positive decisions by this government.
0:16:38 > 0:16:41There are tens of thousands
0:16:41 > 0:16:45of South Vietnamese employees of the United States government,
0:16:45 > 0:16:51of news agencies, of contractors and businesses for many years
0:16:51 > 0:16:56whose lives, with their dependents,
0:16:56 > 0:16:59are in very grave peril.
0:17:01 > 0:17:05I'm therefore asking the Congress
0:17:05 > 0:17:08to appropriate without delay 722 million
0:17:08 > 0:17:13for emergency military assistance for South Vietnam.
0:17:13 > 0:17:17If the very worst were to happen,
0:17:17 > 0:17:23at least allow the orderly evacuation of Americans
0:17:23 > 0:17:29and endangered South Vietnamese to places of safety.
0:17:29 > 0:17:32There was no way in 1975
0:17:32 > 0:17:35that the Congress was going to vote any money
0:17:35 > 0:17:37to go to the aid of South Vietnam.
0:17:37 > 0:17:40We had pulled out our troops in 1973
0:17:40 > 0:17:44and public opinion at that point shifted.
0:17:44 > 0:17:48The people of the United States, having seen Watergate,
0:17:48 > 0:17:51having seen the deception of the generals,
0:17:51 > 0:17:56weren't about to give any help in Southeast Asia.
0:17:56 > 0:17:59And, you know, Kissinger knew this.
0:17:59 > 0:18:03We knew we were not going to get the 722 million.
0:18:03 > 0:18:07By that time it made no big difference,
0:18:07 > 0:18:14but President Ford said he owed it to Vietnam to make a request.
0:18:14 > 0:18:17We've sent, so to speak, battleship after battleship
0:18:17 > 0:18:21and bomber after bomber and 500,000 and more men
0:18:21 > 0:18:25and billions and billions of dollars.
0:18:25 > 0:18:27If billions and billions didn't do
0:18:27 > 0:18:30at a time when we had all our men there,
0:18:30 > 0:18:34how can 722 million save the day?
0:18:37 > 0:18:40This is the way my map looked in mid-April.
0:18:40 > 0:18:45The North Vietnamese just rolled down the coast.
0:18:45 > 0:18:47Saigon was clearly threatened.
0:18:49 > 0:18:51The situation was...urgent.
0:18:51 > 0:18:53Urgent understates it.
0:18:55 > 0:19:00At this time, Ambassador Martin had been back in Washington
0:19:00 > 0:19:03trying to persuade Congress to vote additional aid.
0:19:03 > 0:19:06Do you have anything to say on your arrival?
0:19:06 > 0:19:08He has no statement to make.
0:19:08 > 0:19:11He came back to Saigon,
0:19:11 > 0:19:14and my boss, the CIA Station Chief, said,
0:19:14 > 0:19:16"Go down and tell the old man what's happening."
0:19:16 > 0:19:18I went and I said, "Mr Ambassador,
0:19:18 > 0:19:22"half of the South Vietnamese Army has disintegrated.
0:19:22 > 0:19:24"We're in grave trouble.
0:19:24 > 0:19:27"Please, sir, plan for an evacuation.
0:19:27 > 0:19:30"At least allow us to begin putting together
0:19:30 > 0:19:33"lists of South Vietnamese we should rescue."
0:19:35 > 0:19:37And he said, "No, Frank.
0:19:37 > 0:19:44"It's not so bleak and I won't have this negative talk."
0:19:46 > 0:19:48Young officers in the embassy
0:19:48 > 0:19:52began to mobilise a black operation,
0:19:52 > 0:19:58meaning a makeshift underground rare way evacuation
0:19:58 > 0:20:01using outgoing cargo aircraft
0:20:01 > 0:20:05that would be totally below the radar of the Ambassador.
0:20:06 > 0:20:08People like myself and others
0:20:08 > 0:20:13took the bull by the horns and organized an evacuation.
0:20:13 > 0:20:15In my case, that meant friends of mine
0:20:15 > 0:20:20who were senior officers in the South Vietnamese military.
0:20:20 > 0:20:25As the North Vietnamese came closer and closer to Saigon,
0:20:25 > 0:20:28these people were dead men walking.
0:20:31 > 0:20:34I had arranged a signal with my intelligence community friends
0:20:34 > 0:20:37that if I said, "I'm having a barbecue,"
0:20:37 > 0:20:39that meant come to a certain pre-designated place
0:20:39 > 0:20:41and bring your families and only bring one suitcase
0:20:41 > 0:20:44because we're going to have a party.
0:20:44 > 0:20:47But it was understood the party meant I was going to get them out.
0:20:51 > 0:20:54Black Ops were essentially violating the rules.
0:20:54 > 0:20:56In this case meaning,
0:20:56 > 0:20:59you're not allowed to bring out Vietnamese military people
0:20:59 > 0:21:02who were under obligation to stand and fight.
0:21:04 > 0:21:07We were fully expecting if we got caught doing this
0:21:07 > 0:21:09that we would be run out of country.
0:21:09 > 0:21:11End of career, do not pass go.
0:21:13 > 0:21:16But sometimes there's an issue not of legal and illegal,
0:21:16 > 0:21:18but right or wrong.
0:21:20 > 0:21:25The deputy defence attache moved out Vietnamese personnel
0:21:25 > 0:21:29and their families to Clark Air Base in the Philippines
0:21:29 > 0:21:31without any approval whatsoever,
0:21:31 > 0:21:34without any immigration papers, anything.
0:21:34 > 0:21:35Passports, you name it.
0:21:35 > 0:21:38And when they began showing up in the Philippines,
0:21:38 > 0:21:41Martin hit the roof and fired him!
0:21:41 > 0:21:45But that didn't stop other State Department people
0:21:45 > 0:21:49who had Vietnamese friends and family members.
0:21:50 > 0:21:54They continued to organise these makeshift airlifts.
0:22:05 > 0:22:08TERRY MCNAMARA: That April, I was in Can Tho,
0:22:08 > 0:22:10which was about 100 miles from Saigon.
0:22:10 > 0:22:13And we were getting reports
0:22:13 > 0:22:16of this town falling and that province falling and so on.
0:22:16 > 0:22:20EXPLOSION And then we were attacked.
0:22:20 > 0:22:25Sergeant Hasty came by to give me a report on the damage.
0:22:25 > 0:22:29Can Tho came under pretty intense artillery bombardment.
0:22:29 > 0:22:32The North Vietnamese had overrun
0:22:32 > 0:22:35some South Vietnamese artillery batteries
0:22:35 > 0:22:42and managed to turn those around and shell the centre of Can Tho.
0:22:45 > 0:22:48We knew that the situation was bad.
0:22:48 > 0:22:54We could see that the South Vietnamese Army was eroding.
0:22:54 > 0:22:56Supplies had been cut-off
0:22:56 > 0:23:00and you could see the...the armaments dwindling.
0:23:04 > 0:23:07MCNAMARA: We were, under the terms of the Paris Agreement,
0:23:07 > 0:23:11committed to resupplying the South Vietnamese.
0:23:12 > 0:23:17They lacked simple things, like barbed wire and bags for sand bags.
0:23:19 > 0:23:23They were rationing their artillery shells
0:23:23 > 0:23:26because they were running out.
0:23:26 > 0:23:30The military support, the material support, was not coming.
0:23:32 > 0:23:35- KISSINGER:- When President Ford went before the Congress,
0:23:35 > 0:23:40he had two major concerns.
0:23:40 > 0:23:46The first was to save as many people as we could.
0:23:47 > 0:23:51He cared for the human beings involved, they were not just pawns
0:23:51 > 0:23:55that once they had lost their military power were abandoned.
0:23:57 > 0:24:02The second was the honour of America,
0:24:02 > 0:24:08that we would not be seen at the final agony of South Vietnam
0:24:08 > 0:24:13as having stabbed it in the back.
0:24:18 > 0:24:20Congress wouldn't pass it.
0:24:20 > 0:24:22They said, "No more.
0:24:22 > 0:24:26"No more troops, no more money, no more aid to the Vietnamese."
0:24:29 > 0:24:33Well, I had to go into President Ford's office to tell him.
0:24:35 > 0:24:40I had never heard Ford use a curse word in all the time I'd known him.
0:24:42 > 0:24:45But when I showed him this story, he said,
0:24:45 > 0:24:47"Those sons of bitches."
0:25:04 > 0:25:07I think there were a total of 50 ships that were there.
0:25:07 > 0:25:10I mean, it wasn't just us, it was a whole bunch of ships.
0:25:10 > 0:25:15We were standing by for the evacuation of Americans.
0:25:17 > 0:25:19I was a terrible letter writer.
0:25:19 > 0:25:22I would write one letter for my wife's ten letters,
0:25:22 > 0:25:24and she didn't like that, so she said,
0:25:24 > 0:25:26"We're going to exchange tapes."
0:25:26 > 0:25:28So I would run into my stateroom,
0:25:28 > 0:25:30turn the tape recorder on for a couple of minutes
0:25:30 > 0:25:32and tell her what's happening.
0:25:32 > 0:25:37'I really don't know where to start. It's been such an unusual couple days for us.
0:25:37 > 0:25:42'We went with the rest of this huge task force of ours
0:25:42 > 0:25:48'up into about, oh, 20 miles off the coast,
0:25:48 > 0:25:50'basically east of Saigon.'
0:25:52 > 0:25:56As most Navy operations are, it was very carefully planned.
0:25:58 > 0:26:00We planned it to death.
0:26:01 > 0:26:05The chain of command, as I understood it
0:26:05 > 0:26:08as a captain of the United States Marine Corps,
0:26:08 > 0:26:09and I think I got it right,
0:26:09 > 0:26:12is that for any evacuation,
0:26:12 > 0:26:16that decision is the Ambassador's decision.
0:26:16 > 0:26:19Graham Martin is the responsible guy.
0:26:21 > 0:26:24But the military is responsible for giving him all kinds of plans.
0:26:24 > 0:26:28And this is how we got into the four options.
0:26:30 > 0:26:32The first option was
0:26:32 > 0:26:35you would take commercial ships right up the Saigon River
0:26:35 > 0:26:37to a couple blocks from the embassy.
0:26:37 > 0:26:40You would load whoever you wanted to bring out on these ships
0:26:40 > 0:26:42and you'd be done with it.
0:26:44 > 0:26:47The second option was, you know,
0:26:47 > 0:26:51United and Continental and Flying Tiger Airlines
0:26:51 > 0:26:54were still using Tan Son Nhut Air Force Base at the time,
0:26:54 > 0:26:58and you could've brought anybody you wanted out by commercial aviation.
0:27:00 > 0:27:03The third option was military fixed-wing aviation.
0:27:03 > 0:27:06The C5As, the C-141s, which carry a lot of people.
0:27:06 > 0:27:09You could've brought them out of Tan Son Nhut on those.
0:27:11 > 0:27:14The very last option, the very last option,
0:27:14 > 0:27:16was helicopters off the carriers
0:27:16 > 0:27:19in the Tan Son Nhut Air Force Base.
0:27:19 > 0:27:22We had 75 Marine Corps helicopters out there.
0:27:22 > 0:27:25The helicopter option, that was absolutely the last resort.
0:27:25 > 0:27:29You know, they don't go very fast, they don't carry that many people.
0:27:29 > 0:27:31That was if everything else failed.
0:27:42 > 0:27:47I got into Vietnam late on the 24th of April, 1975.
0:27:47 > 0:27:53Saigon was full of rumour, of false stories,
0:27:53 > 0:27:56whether we were going to have a last attempt
0:27:56 > 0:27:58to draw a line across the country,
0:27:58 > 0:28:01that Saigon and the south would remain a free republic,
0:28:01 > 0:28:04all of these things, and it was all churning all around.
0:28:04 > 0:28:07The fighting was close to Saigon
0:28:07 > 0:28:10but hadn't shown up in the streets of Saigon.
0:28:13 > 0:28:15I served as a naval officer
0:28:15 > 0:28:17in three and a half tours in Vietnam,
0:28:17 > 0:28:19two of those years as a Special Forces advisor
0:28:19 > 0:28:24with a 20-boat River Division, all Vietnamese.
0:28:24 > 0:28:28I could tell jokes and hear jokes in Vietnamese.
0:28:28 > 0:28:30And once you start off like that,
0:28:30 > 0:28:33you eventually end up being able to dream in Vietnamese.
0:28:36 > 0:28:40In 1975, my mission was to remove or destroy
0:28:40 > 0:28:43as many ships, swift boats, anything that I considered
0:28:43 > 0:28:45to be a benefit to the enemy.
0:28:47 > 0:28:49I met with Captain Do Kiem,
0:28:49 > 0:28:52who was the operations officer of the Vietnamese Navy.
0:29:10 > 0:29:15The plan was to sail all the large ships of the South Vietnamese Navy
0:29:15 > 0:29:18down the Saigon River to the sea...
0:29:18 > 0:29:21and rendezvous at Con Son Island.
0:29:23 > 0:29:25We had to keep this secret.
0:29:25 > 0:29:29If word got out, it would have had an effect
0:29:29 > 0:29:31on the morale of the people in the street.
0:29:37 > 0:29:41JOE MCBRIDE: We knew that there were roughly 5,000 Americans
0:29:41 > 0:29:43still in the country.
0:29:43 > 0:29:48Many of them had Vietnamese wives, mistresses, whatever,
0:29:48 > 0:29:50just hadn't left.
0:29:51 > 0:29:53And they were basically letting us know,
0:29:53 > 0:29:56"We're not leaving without our families."
0:29:56 > 0:30:01Finally, we were given authority by the Ambassador
0:30:01 > 0:30:04to bypass the immigration laws
0:30:04 > 0:30:08and send these Vietnamese out of the country.
0:30:10 > 0:30:13So then we started an operation
0:30:13 > 0:30:17basically to get out the Americans and their Vietnamese dependents.
0:30:22 > 0:30:25It was not an official evacuation.
0:30:25 > 0:30:29We still had no organized plan
0:30:29 > 0:30:33for evacuating high-risk South Vietnamese
0:30:33 > 0:30:34because we had an ambassador
0:30:34 > 0:30:37who was making up his mind on the wing.
0:30:37 > 0:30:38The President also asked Congress
0:30:38 > 0:30:42for authorisation to use American troops here to evacuate Americans
0:30:42 > 0:30:44and Vietnamese who worked for Americans.
0:30:44 > 0:30:47- If it were necessary.- Do you have plans for that?
0:30:47 > 0:30:50Well, of course, every embassy in the world has plans for it.
0:30:50 > 0:30:54- Do you think it will be necessary? - That again, you see, is a judgment
0:30:54 > 0:30:58that I can't possibly make at this time.
0:30:58 > 0:31:04We have been reducing the population here as measure of prudency
0:31:04 > 0:31:09and will take measures to reduce it further as a question of prudence.
0:31:10 > 0:31:13The Ambassador was extremely skittish,
0:31:13 > 0:31:17and I guess understandably so, about talking about evacuation,
0:31:17 > 0:31:20about sending signals that an evacuation
0:31:20 > 0:31:23was being planned or even executed.
0:31:23 > 0:31:26He feared it would trigger a panic.
0:31:30 > 0:31:32It's time to get out.
0:31:32 > 0:31:38And in Saigon at that time, it was like, "Who do you know?"
0:31:38 > 0:31:40The key word would be "connection."
0:31:42 > 0:31:46There's a lot of people, they try to get their money
0:31:46 > 0:31:48because if the people have money,
0:31:48 > 0:31:51maybe they will find a connection to get out.
0:31:53 > 0:31:57You know, and so, "You want to go? Give me this kind of money."
0:31:58 > 0:32:02One guy said to me, "Your family, tell them to come to the boat dock.
0:32:02 > 0:32:04"I'll be waiting for them."
0:32:04 > 0:32:07Of course they took the money, but they never got us.
0:32:11 > 0:32:14There was chaos in Saigon at that time.
0:32:15 > 0:32:21Everybody was looking for ways to get out as soon as possible.
0:32:22 > 0:32:28Of course, the Americans we worked with had a plan in place for us.
0:32:28 > 0:32:32They told us to get to the meeting place,
0:32:32 > 0:32:40which was a safe house near the American embassy,
0:32:40 > 0:32:45and to wait for buses to come to pick us up.
0:32:53 > 0:32:55If we were going to get people out,
0:32:55 > 0:32:57we were going to have to make it happen
0:32:57 > 0:33:00and deliver the Vietnamese to the big airplanes
0:33:00 > 0:33:02in some form or fashion.
0:33:04 > 0:33:06And the only way we could do that
0:33:06 > 0:33:09was keeping the airport open as long as we could.
0:33:25 > 0:33:29Ambassador Martin still hoped that somehow,
0:33:29 > 0:33:33this thing would not end with the North Vietnamese
0:33:33 > 0:33:37humiliating the United States by attacking Saigon.
0:33:40 > 0:33:44But it seemed like the North Vietnamese had other ideas.
0:34:06 > 0:34:09What may be the final battle of Saigon has begun.
0:34:09 > 0:34:11Communist ground forces have started moving in
0:34:11 > 0:34:14on Saigon's Tan Son Nhut Airport.
0:34:14 > 0:34:16'Rockets exploded all over the base,
0:34:16 > 0:34:19'setting off three major fires.'
0:34:21 > 0:34:24The air base was under continuous artillery fire.
0:34:24 > 0:34:26I felt the rounds.
0:34:26 > 0:34:28They were so close,
0:34:28 > 0:34:32the shrapnel was plinking against the fence behind us.
0:34:33 > 0:34:38It was abundantly clear that it was a whole new ball game.
0:34:43 > 0:34:45We never expected any trouble out there.
0:34:48 > 0:34:51And then, of course, fear a little bit set in,
0:34:51 > 0:34:54because now we knew that it really meant business, you know?
0:34:54 > 0:34:58Were they going to continue shelling Tan Son Nhut?
0:35:00 > 0:35:02They'd given us a warning, you know?
0:35:02 > 0:35:04"Get out."
0:35:06 > 0:35:10As the sun came up, General Smith,
0:35:10 > 0:35:13who was our defence attache out at Tan Son Nhut,
0:35:13 > 0:35:15contacted the Ambassador and said,
0:35:15 > 0:35:17"The plan to use the fixed-wing
0:35:17 > 0:35:20"to get a few thousand people out today isn't going to work.
0:35:20 > 0:35:26"And we need to consider that this is it, option four,
0:35:26 > 0:35:30"a heavy-lift helicopter evacuation."
0:35:30 > 0:35:33And Ambassador Martin wouldn't hear of it.
0:35:34 > 0:35:38He said, "I want to come out there. I want to see it," which he did.
0:35:38 > 0:35:42He got in a sedan. He didn't lack for guts.
0:35:42 > 0:35:45There were still rounds coming in.
0:35:45 > 0:35:49Sporadic, but there was still artillery fire.
0:35:51 > 0:35:54And he could see that the main runway
0:35:54 > 0:35:57was full of craters from North Vietnamese artillery.
0:35:58 > 0:36:01And it was understood that General Smith
0:36:01 > 0:36:05was not being premature with the recommendation for option four.
0:36:08 > 0:36:11MCBRIDE: Ambassador Martin's concern very clearly up to now
0:36:11 > 0:36:16was that once we started an official evacuation,
0:36:16 > 0:36:19it's pretty obvious that the game is over.
0:36:21 > 0:36:23You've got to remember, this is an ambassador
0:36:23 > 0:36:27who had lost his only son in combat in Vietnam.
0:36:29 > 0:36:32One becomes pretty invested in that country.
0:36:34 > 0:36:36He had been holding out hope
0:36:36 > 0:36:41that some kind of third-party solution could be worked out,
0:36:41 > 0:36:44so that South Vietnam could continue
0:36:44 > 0:36:48with some from of independence or autonomy.
0:36:48 > 0:36:50And he was being encouraged
0:36:50 > 0:36:53to think that this might be possible.
0:36:54 > 0:36:57But the morning of the 29th,
0:36:57 > 0:37:02he came to accept the fact that that wasn't going to happen.
0:37:06 > 0:37:07And I picked up the phone
0:37:07 > 0:37:13and told Secretary Kissinger to inform the President
0:37:13 > 0:37:16that I had decided that we would have to go to option four.
0:37:19 > 0:37:23When I tell President Ford the airport is being shelled
0:37:23 > 0:37:27and that it's now time to pull the plug,
0:37:27 > 0:37:30he keeps coming back time and again,
0:37:30 > 0:37:33"You really think we have to do it?"
0:37:35 > 0:37:38That's how heartbreaking it was for him.
0:37:39 > 0:37:45He finally...reluctantly gave the go-ahead
0:37:45 > 0:37:48for the final evacuation.
0:37:51 > 0:37:54'This is the American Forces Vietnam Network.
0:37:56 > 0:37:59The prearranged signal for the evacuation
0:37:59 > 0:38:03was broadcast on American radio in Saigon.
0:38:03 > 0:38:05The message was,
0:38:05 > 0:38:08"The temperature is 105 and rising,"
0:38:08 > 0:38:12and then Bing Crosby's White Christmas.
0:38:12 > 0:38:14And sure enough,
0:38:14 > 0:38:19about ten o'clock in the morning, I believe, on the 29th,
0:38:19 > 0:38:22there was Bing Crosby on the airwaves.
0:38:24 > 0:38:32# I'm dreaming of a white Christmas
0:38:34 > 0:38:42# Just like the ones I used to know
0:38:43 > 0:38:48# Where the tree tops glisten
0:38:48 > 0:38:53# And children listen
0:38:53 > 0:39:01# To hear sleigh bells in the snow. #
0:39:01 > 0:39:04That morning, Ambassador Martin
0:39:04 > 0:39:06received a message that said within 24 hours,
0:39:06 > 0:39:10the US presence in Vietnam had to be closed out,
0:39:10 > 0:39:14meaning we had to be gone.
0:39:14 > 0:39:17It was obvious that there was the need
0:39:17 > 0:39:21for a hasty plan to be developed
0:39:21 > 0:39:25for a helicopter airlift out of the embassy to the fleet.
0:39:25 > 0:39:29And we had less than 24 hours to pull it off.
0:39:29 > 0:39:33MCBRIDE: That morning, there must have been, I would guess,
0:39:33 > 0:39:38at least 10,000 people literally ringing the embassy.
0:39:38 > 0:39:43The embassy compound was the size of a city block, it was big.
0:39:43 > 0:39:49And all sides of it were filled 200-300ft back.
0:39:49 > 0:39:52Fortunately, people were by and large very controlled.
0:39:52 > 0:39:56They were very...patient.
0:39:56 > 0:39:59They were just hoping desperately to get in.
0:40:02 > 0:40:04It's like the whole of Saigon
0:40:04 > 0:40:07wanted to get inside the American embassy.
0:40:07 > 0:40:11So you have to know somebody, you know?
0:40:13 > 0:40:15If you're like me, I find my friend
0:40:15 > 0:40:19and got a little paper to ensure us to get in.
0:40:19 > 0:40:22So several of us went to the embassy.
0:40:22 > 0:40:25Then my friend, he showed the paper to the guard,
0:40:25 > 0:40:28and he's just kind of pointing at each one of us,
0:40:28 > 0:40:32and we, one by one, could go inside of the embassy.
0:40:33 > 0:40:36When I first got in, I feel so good.
0:40:36 > 0:40:38"I'm in America. I'm almost there."
0:40:40 > 0:40:43They have a courtyard and a swimming pool,
0:40:43 > 0:40:46and we mostly gather around the swimming pool.
0:40:46 > 0:40:52And 1,000 people there, and they just keep coming in.
0:40:52 > 0:40:53ROTORS WHIR
0:40:55 > 0:41:00That morning, CIA choppers began picking up evacuees
0:41:00 > 0:41:03off the roofs of buildings around the city
0:41:03 > 0:41:06and bringing them to the embassy.
0:41:08 > 0:41:13There was an old pilot named OB Harnage.
0:41:13 > 0:41:17He was blind in one eye and lame in one leg.
0:41:17 > 0:41:22And I said, "Harnage, we got people at 6 Gia Long,
0:41:22 > 0:41:26"you got to go pick 'em up."
0:41:26 > 0:41:31It was the deputy CIA Station Chief's apartment building.
0:41:33 > 0:41:36There were a number of very high-risk Vietnamese,
0:41:36 > 0:41:40including the Defence Minister of South Vietnam,
0:41:40 > 0:41:43all waiting to be rescued.
0:41:43 > 0:41:47As they climbed up the ladder to the roof,
0:41:47 > 0:41:51a photographer took that famous photograph.
0:41:51 > 0:41:55Many people thought that was the US embassy, it wasn't.
0:41:55 > 0:42:00But it indicated to what extent chaos had descended
0:42:00 > 0:42:03on this entire operation.
0:42:07 > 0:42:13Inside the embassy, everywhere we looked was teeming with Vietnamese.
0:42:13 > 0:42:18We counted them, and the total number was about 2,800.
0:42:19 > 0:42:21There was no hiding it
0:42:21 > 0:42:25that somehow people had to have let these people into the embassy.
0:42:25 > 0:42:28Was it, you know, Marine security guards
0:42:28 > 0:42:30who kind of looked the other way?
0:42:30 > 0:42:33Was it American employees in the embassy
0:42:33 > 0:42:36who were doing kind of what we did with black ops
0:42:36 > 0:42:38and taking care of their own?
0:42:38 > 0:42:40We never got to the bottom of that
0:42:40 > 0:42:45and, frankly, we never pursued it.
0:42:45 > 0:42:48One of the Marines said to me, "You know, we should take out the tailor."
0:42:48 > 0:42:53There was a tailor who made all our civilian clothes.
0:42:53 > 0:42:56So I said, "Why don't we take out the cook too?"
0:42:56 > 0:42:59He said, "Well, you should take out the cook too,
0:42:59 > 0:43:01"and all the other cooks. They should get out,
0:43:01 > 0:43:04"they had business with Americans."
0:43:04 > 0:43:05So they took the bread truck
0:43:05 > 0:43:08and they rounded up the tailor, the cooks and the dishwashers,
0:43:08 > 0:43:11a few others and their families,
0:43:11 > 0:43:14and drove them into the embassy compound.
0:43:20 > 0:43:23There was in the parking lot of the embassy
0:43:23 > 0:43:25a great tamarind tree,
0:43:25 > 0:43:28which the Ambassador had often referred to
0:43:28 > 0:43:32as "steadfast as the American commitment in Vietnam."
0:43:34 > 0:43:36The CIA Station Chief that last morning said,
0:43:36 > 0:43:39"Mr Ambassador, we have to cut this tree down."
0:43:41 > 0:43:45You could not land any large helicopters on the parking lot
0:43:45 > 0:43:49unless the tree and all the shrubbery was all gone.
0:43:51 > 0:43:54The Ambassador had resisted us cutting that tree
0:43:54 > 0:43:59because he did not want anybody to be alerted
0:43:59 > 0:44:01that we were doing any sort of evacuation
0:44:01 > 0:44:03or were going to do any sort of evacuation.
0:44:06 > 0:44:09He was upset.
0:44:09 > 0:44:13But finally he succumbed, you know, to just common sense
0:44:13 > 0:44:15and gave up his, uh...
0:44:15 > 0:44:17I guess you could call it a dream.
0:44:18 > 0:44:20And we cut it down.
0:44:22 > 0:44:24CHAINSAW BUZZES
0:44:25 > 0:44:27He had also, for the past few days,
0:44:27 > 0:44:30prevented us from burning classified documents,
0:44:30 > 0:44:34for fear that it would panic the South Vietnamese.
0:44:34 > 0:44:37So that morning of the 29th,
0:44:37 > 0:44:41we had thousands of pages of classified documents
0:44:41 > 0:44:44we had failed to destroy beforehand.
0:44:44 > 0:44:48Our next job was just looking at that classified document idea
0:44:48 > 0:44:51and getting rid of that.
0:44:51 > 0:44:55So we went to every office and told them to start pulling stuff,
0:44:55 > 0:44:59and piles and piles of paper began coming out.
0:44:59 > 0:45:01And we began shredding 'em.
0:45:08 > 0:45:12There was a small building where we handled the pay
0:45:12 > 0:45:16for the Vietnamese who worked for the embassy.
0:45:16 > 0:45:18And in this building,
0:45:18 > 0:45:21there was over 1 million in US currency.
0:45:21 > 0:45:25So...we had to send a message to the Navy,
0:45:25 > 0:45:27who sent it to the Treasury Department,
0:45:27 > 0:45:30who came back and said, "Destroy it."
0:45:30 > 0:45:33So I assigned a few Marines to get rid of the money.
0:45:33 > 0:45:37And I said, "Oh, by the way, we're going to lock you in there."
0:45:37 > 0:45:40It took 'em eight hours to burn a million dollars.
0:45:44 > 0:45:48That morning, fear and desperation were the order of the day.
0:45:48 > 0:45:52But I had a job to do, and it was an important job to do, I thought,
0:45:52 > 0:45:55to deny the enemy the South Vietnamese naval ships.
0:46:23 > 0:46:27We had expected, frankly, a longer time period to get ready.
0:46:27 > 0:46:30We had been told by people in our intelligence community
0:46:30 > 0:46:33that we might have as long as the 4th of May,
0:46:33 > 0:46:37but the North Vietnamese were closing in quite tightly,
0:46:37 > 0:46:40and clearly it was time to send the signal to leave.
0:47:06 > 0:47:08I knew this...
0:47:08 > 0:47:11but I didn't know how many civilians were going to be on board.
0:47:11 > 0:47:13I had no idea.
0:47:58 > 0:48:00I was the first one into the embassy.
0:48:00 > 0:48:02And my only mission at this time,
0:48:02 > 0:48:07this is early in the afternoon, was to bring the Ambassador out.
0:48:07 > 0:48:10It was actually a mission that was called "Embassy Snatch."
0:48:10 > 0:48:12I was just supposed to get the Ambassador.
0:48:12 > 0:48:14I land and I said to the people,
0:48:14 > 0:48:17I said, "I'm here to get the Ambassador."
0:48:17 > 0:48:21Well, not quite.
0:48:21 > 0:48:25The Ambassador refused to leave until he could get
0:48:25 > 0:48:28as many Vietnamese on as many choppers as possible.
0:48:31 > 0:48:34The evacuation of Vietnamese happened
0:48:34 > 0:48:37because Graham Martin wanted it to happen.
0:48:48 > 0:48:51So they loaded some Vietnamese onto my helicopter
0:48:51 > 0:48:54and because I'm supposed to have the Ambassador on board,
0:48:54 > 0:48:57we go right to the command ship, the USS Blue Ridge.
0:48:57 > 0:49:00ROTORS WHIR
0:49:00 > 0:49:03We land on the Blue Ridge, General Carey comes out,
0:49:03 > 0:49:06wants to know where the Ambassador is. I said, "Well, he didn't get on."
0:49:06 > 0:49:09I mean, I don't know who I'm supposed to tell,
0:49:09 > 0:49:11but I told everybody I was supposed to get the Ambassador
0:49:11 > 0:49:15but the Ambassador didn't get on. So that starts the lift.
0:49:16 > 0:49:20Like I say, we had 75 Marine Corps helicopters.
0:49:20 > 0:49:24You and your wingman would fly into the embassy,
0:49:24 > 0:49:27get your passengers loaded,
0:49:27 > 0:49:30and fly back out to the ships.
0:49:38 > 0:49:41It was a little over an hour back and forth.
0:49:56 > 0:50:00On the USS Kirk, our mission was to protect the helicopters moving
0:50:00 > 0:50:04from the embassy out to the aircraft carriers and back and forth.
0:50:04 > 0:50:06We were very close to the action.
0:50:10 > 0:50:11You could stand there on the deck
0:50:11 > 0:50:14and you could watch it all happening.
0:50:15 > 0:50:17We thought that the USS Kirk was just going to be
0:50:17 > 0:50:19an observer to this whole thing,
0:50:19 > 0:50:25when all of a sudden on radar we started seeing these little blips
0:50:25 > 0:50:27coming out from the shore.
0:50:28 > 0:50:30I really don't know where to start.
0:50:30 > 0:50:32We looked up at the horizon
0:50:32 > 0:50:35and all you could see were helicopters all heading toward us.
0:50:35 > 0:50:38These were not Marine Corps helicopters,
0:50:38 > 0:50:41they were small helicopters, the little Hueys,
0:50:41 > 0:50:45which were never part of the evacuation plan.
0:50:45 > 0:50:47But they were flying over top of us.
0:50:47 > 0:50:50We were watching them fly over top over and over and over again.
0:50:54 > 0:50:58We viewed them as enemy until we could verify who it was.
0:51:01 > 0:51:04Then we realised that these were South Vietnamese trying to escape.
0:51:07 > 0:51:08I figured if we could save one,
0:51:08 > 0:51:11at least we'd save 15, 20 people.
0:51:11 > 0:51:14They were packed in there like sardines.
0:51:16 > 0:51:18So I made a decision.
0:51:18 > 0:51:20Land the helicopter.
0:51:21 > 0:51:24One of our sailors could speak rudimentary Vietnamese,
0:51:24 > 0:51:27so we put him on the radio and he started broadcasting.
0:51:27 > 0:51:31"This is ship 1087. Land here."
0:51:31 > 0:51:33MAN SPEAKS VIETNAMESE OVER RADIO
0:51:33 > 0:51:35So, we got his attention.
0:51:35 > 0:51:39He came flying over and landed on our flight deck.
0:51:39 > 0:51:42And it turned out that the pilot, he was the pilot
0:51:42 > 0:51:46for the Deputy Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
0:51:46 > 0:51:48Real high up.
0:51:48 > 0:51:51And he had the general with him, who was a two-star general,
0:51:51 > 0:51:54and the two-star general's nephew,
0:51:54 > 0:51:57three women and about four children.
0:51:57 > 0:52:01It was a big deal for us.
0:52:01 > 0:52:03When it landed and we got everything off, and I looked up,
0:52:03 > 0:52:07because there were five, six, seven stacked up ready to land.
0:52:08 > 0:52:12Turned out that all throughout the southern part of Vietnam
0:52:12 > 0:52:16there were South Vietnamese Army and Air Force installations
0:52:16 > 0:52:18with one or two or three or four helicopters.
0:52:18 > 0:52:21And those helicopters were flyable.
0:52:21 > 0:52:23Their pilots were there.
0:52:23 > 0:52:26And when they realised that the evacuation was happening
0:52:26 > 0:52:29and they weren't going to be part of it, they said, "Oh, yeah, we are."
0:52:31 > 0:52:34These young Vietnamese pilots would go to their homes,
0:52:34 > 0:52:38land right in their front yards, pick up their families
0:52:38 > 0:52:40and anybody else, and head out to sea,
0:52:40 > 0:52:43hoping they can rendezvous with a ship.
0:52:43 > 0:52:45Well, we were one of the first ships they saw.
0:52:50 > 0:52:53Our flight deck will only take one helicopter at a time landing.
0:52:53 > 0:52:56There are no wheels on them, they just have skids.
0:52:56 > 0:52:57We couldn't think of what else to do
0:52:57 > 0:52:59and these other planes were looking for a place to land,
0:52:59 > 0:53:02so we just physically pushed them.
0:53:02 > 0:53:06Of course, this was a big old helicopter, thousands of pounds,
0:53:06 > 0:53:08so we had to figure out how to get it 15 feet over
0:53:08 > 0:53:11to the edge of the flight deck.
0:53:14 > 0:53:17You don't have time to think about what you did, you just had to do it.
0:53:18 > 0:53:22So, we open up our flight deck and they begin to land,
0:53:22 > 0:53:25one right after the other.
0:53:25 > 0:53:28Some of 'em were shot at, holes in 'em.
0:53:32 > 0:53:36Most of the Vietnamese who came out, I'm talking about the flight crews,
0:53:36 > 0:53:37they were heavily armed,
0:53:37 > 0:53:41all with side arms, some with M-16 rifles.
0:53:41 > 0:53:43They had no idea what was going to happen,
0:53:43 > 0:53:46so they came out ready for anything, really.
0:53:47 > 0:53:50So we had to disarm them.
0:53:53 > 0:53:56None of them had ever landed on a ship before.
0:53:56 > 0:53:57They were Vietnamese Air Force.
0:53:57 > 0:54:00Everybody had a gun and we took all the guns away from them.
0:54:00 > 0:54:02Then about five minutes later another one came in and landed.
0:54:02 > 0:54:06And we pushed his airplane over the side.
0:54:10 > 0:54:13That was the second one. I helped push that one over, too.
0:54:13 > 0:54:15Then the third plane came in.
0:54:15 > 0:54:16It landed also.
0:54:16 > 0:54:18We pushed it over the side.
0:54:18 > 0:54:21So meanwhile, we've thrown three helicopters in the water so far.
0:54:21 > 0:54:25This is incredible. I know you probably don't believe any of this,
0:54:25 > 0:54:27but it's all true.
0:54:40 > 0:54:45By late afternoon, the chopper flow at the embassy really started.
0:54:48 > 0:54:51And each time a bird came in,
0:54:51 > 0:54:52here would go another 40-50 people.
0:54:54 > 0:54:57But did the right mix of people get out?
0:54:59 > 0:55:01You know, who says that these were the people
0:55:01 > 0:55:04who either deserved or should have gone out?
0:55:04 > 0:55:05SHOUTING
0:55:05 > 0:55:08At the embassy a lot of the people who got out
0:55:08 > 0:55:10happened to be good wall jumpers.
0:55:12 > 0:55:16The choppers started coming in at ten-minute intervals.
0:55:16 > 0:55:20One would land on the roof and one would land on the parking lot.
0:55:20 > 0:55:23They would put all the Vietnamese in groups,
0:55:23 > 0:55:26they would search them, and if they had any weapons
0:55:26 > 0:55:29all those weapons were thrown into the swimming pool.
0:55:29 > 0:55:32And as soon as the chopper would land,
0:55:32 > 0:55:36they would be brought into the restricted area
0:55:36 > 0:55:38where a couple of the Marines
0:55:38 > 0:55:40would escort 'em into the aircraft.
0:55:43 > 0:55:48Then they would raise the ramp up...and take off.
0:55:53 > 0:55:57I remember I talked to my friend and he said, "Oh, it's our turn now.
0:55:57 > 0:56:00"We're almost there." You know, so we're all excited.
0:56:01 > 0:56:04And I remember very distinctively that every time
0:56:04 > 0:56:06the helicopter coming down it just blew us away.
0:56:06 > 0:56:10We have to duck down to fight with the wind of the chopper.
0:56:16 > 0:56:19Three of the choppers that came in
0:56:19 > 0:56:23each landed a platoon of 40 Marines from the task force.
0:56:23 > 0:56:24And they had to be brought in
0:56:24 > 0:56:26because we didn't have enough Marines
0:56:26 > 0:56:30in the Embassy Security Guard to secure the walls.
0:56:35 > 0:56:39I went with my wife to the embassy.
0:56:41 > 0:56:46A lot of people, they clenched to the top of the wall,
0:56:46 > 0:56:49but they couldn't get in.
0:56:59 > 0:57:02Each gate was besieged like that,
0:57:02 > 0:57:06although the side gate was the principal place where they came.
0:57:08 > 0:57:10People holding letters saying, you know,
0:57:10 > 0:57:12"I worked for the Americans. Please let me in."
0:57:16 > 0:57:20Journalists were arriving and counting on being recognised
0:57:20 > 0:57:23to be let in by the Marines.
0:57:33 > 0:57:36There was a sea of people
0:57:36 > 0:57:40wanting to get out by helicopters.
0:57:40 > 0:57:47But, well, they looked up at the helicopters leaving
0:57:47 > 0:57:51and I could see their eyes.
0:57:51 > 0:57:53Desperate eyes.
0:58:03 > 0:58:06My dad flew a Chinook helicopter
0:58:06 > 0:58:09in the South Vietnamese Air Force.
0:58:09 > 0:58:11He had been waiting for orders,
0:58:11 > 0:58:16but his captain had, you know, basically just left.
0:58:16 > 0:58:18So he and some other pilots
0:58:18 > 0:58:22picked out the best Chinooks and took off.
0:58:27 > 0:58:30He said it was the Wild West at this point.
0:58:33 > 0:58:36Just you and your horse and you just do what you had to do to survive
0:58:36 > 0:58:39and take care of your family.
0:58:40 > 0:58:43He had given my mom a heads-up
0:58:43 > 0:58:47that if she did hear a Chinook coming, to get ready.
0:58:47 > 0:58:50I was six and a half years old.
0:58:50 > 0:58:52I can still hear the rumbling,
0:58:52 > 0:58:56a very, you know, familiar rumbling of a Chinook.
0:58:56 > 0:58:58When you hear the Chinook coming, you know it's coming.
0:58:58 > 0:59:00I knew my dad was coming.
0:59:03 > 0:59:05In Saigon, during my childhood,
0:59:05 > 0:59:10it was like, say, living in the middle of busy LA.
0:59:10 > 0:59:16So, there's really not a big area to land the Chinook.
0:59:16 > 0:59:19So he came in and landed in a play field.
0:59:21 > 0:59:24Caused a lot of wind, caused a lot of commotion.
0:59:25 > 0:59:28My mom grabbed my little sister,
0:59:28 > 0:59:31who was about six months at that time,
0:59:31 > 0:59:35and I had a little brother who was about three or four years old, and myself.
0:59:35 > 0:59:40We quickly ran into the Chinook
0:59:40 > 0:59:46and we all flew off out into the Pacific Ocean.
0:59:48 > 0:59:52My dad was afraid for not having enough fuel,
0:59:52 > 0:59:54afraid for a lot of things.
0:59:54 > 0:59:57He was just flying blind.
0:59:57 > 1:00:00And then he saw a ship out there.
1:00:02 > 1:00:07In the middle of the day, after we had taken those first helicopters aboard,
1:00:07 > 1:00:11this huge helicopter called a Chinook,
1:00:11 > 1:00:14it came out and tried to land on the ship.
1:00:14 > 1:00:17And oh, we almost... The thing almost crashed onboard our ship.
1:00:17 > 1:00:19This big Chinook showed up.
1:00:19 > 1:00:24There's no way he could land on Kirk without impacting the ship.
1:00:24 > 1:00:28He would have killed everybody on this helicopter plus my crew.
1:00:28 > 1:00:31It was way too big to land.
1:00:31 > 1:00:35We thought that the helicopter would just fly away.
1:00:35 > 1:00:37But as the ship was moving forward,
1:00:37 > 1:00:40probably four, five, six knots, something like that,
1:00:40 > 1:00:43the pilot communicated that he was running low on fuel.
1:00:43 > 1:00:47He opened up the port side of the helicopter
1:00:47 > 1:00:50and he hovered across the stern of the Kirk.
1:00:50 > 1:00:53Then, all of a sudden, here comes a human.
1:00:55 > 1:00:58One by one, we jump out.
1:00:58 > 1:01:00I jumped out, my brother jumped out.
1:01:00 > 1:01:06My mom was holding my sister...obviously very scared.
1:01:06 > 1:01:12And she just, you know, just trustingly, just with one hand,
1:01:12 > 1:01:16with her right hand, holding on with her left to brace herself,
1:01:16 > 1:01:20you know, just dropped my baby sister.
1:01:20 > 1:01:23One fella's standing there and he said he looked up
1:01:23 > 1:01:27and he saw this big bundle of stuff come flying out and it was a baby.
1:01:27 > 1:01:29It was the one-year-old baby.
1:01:31 > 1:01:35And then the mother jumped out and he caught her, too.
1:01:35 > 1:01:40Then the pilot flew out on our starboard, right side.
1:01:40 > 1:01:44He hovered with his wheels in and out of the water.
1:01:46 > 1:01:50He hovered there for like ten minutes and we couldn't figure out what he was doing.
1:01:50 > 1:01:53And it turned out what he was doing was taking his flight suit off.
1:01:53 > 1:01:57Here's a man flying a twin-rotor helicopter by himself,
1:01:57 > 1:02:00at the same time he's taking off a flight suit.
1:02:00 > 1:02:02How you do it, I've talked to helicopter pilots
1:02:02 > 1:02:05and they can't figure out how he did that, you know,
1:02:05 > 1:02:07like a Houdini, trying to get out of this thing.
1:02:07 > 1:02:10And, finally, he made the helicopter roll to the right
1:02:10 > 1:02:13as he stepped out the door on the left.
1:02:13 > 1:02:15ROTORS WHIR
1:02:18 > 1:02:22Just...a thunderous loud noise.
1:02:22 > 1:02:24The shrapnel is just blowing up.
1:02:26 > 1:02:29And suddenly...just quiet.
1:02:32 > 1:02:35And he pops up and he's alive.
1:02:35 > 1:02:37APPLAUSE
1:02:37 > 1:02:40And he swam away.
1:02:40 > 1:02:42And the helicopter was only about 20ft from him when it hit the water.
1:02:42 > 1:02:45- It was amazing. - CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
1:02:46 > 1:02:50We went out and picked him up. He was no worse for the wear.
1:02:50 > 1:02:51He was a little bit wet.
1:02:51 > 1:02:54Only one unfortunate thing is he had some small bars of gold,
1:02:54 > 1:02:57which was all his worldly possessions,
1:02:57 > 1:03:00that were in his shirt pocket and it sank.
1:03:00 > 1:03:03So he lost everything. He didn't own a thing but his underwear
1:03:03 > 1:03:06when he finally came aboard the ship.
1:03:07 > 1:03:09He was a tremendous pilot.
1:03:09 > 1:03:13The guy was just so cool and calm.
1:03:13 > 1:03:18We've so far taken a total of 17 helicopters.
1:03:18 > 1:03:22We ended up with 157 people aboard this ship.
1:03:29 > 1:03:31And that crew was very special.
1:03:31 > 1:03:33They went, they took their money,
1:03:33 > 1:03:35went to the Navy Exchange and Commissary,
1:03:35 > 1:03:38bought all the clothes and food they could get,
1:03:38 > 1:03:41took it up and gave it to the refugees they had befriended.
1:03:41 > 1:03:44They were unbelievable.
1:03:47 > 1:03:50We laid mats and all kinds of blankets and stuff out
1:03:50 > 1:03:52on the deck for the babies.
1:03:52 > 1:03:55And there were all kinds of...there were infants and children and women,
1:03:55 > 1:03:58and oh, it was a scene I'll never forget.
1:04:01 > 1:04:05We were happy. My mom was just, you know, "Wow!"
1:04:05 > 1:04:08Symbolically, it was like, you know, the first step
1:04:08 > 1:04:12onto not American soil, but American freedom.
1:05:01 > 1:05:05When we started the evacuation we were very, very excited about it.
1:05:05 > 1:05:08Then your next emotion probably was
1:05:08 > 1:05:12just determined to get this job done and get these people out.
1:05:14 > 1:05:18And then, later as it went on, you became fatigued and frustrated
1:05:18 > 1:05:22that you could never make a dent in the amount of people
1:05:22 > 1:05:24that were coming out of the embassy.
1:05:26 > 1:05:29You'd ask questions like, "Was the crowd getting any smaller?
1:05:29 > 1:05:32"When are we going to finish this?" you know. And they'd say,
1:05:32 > 1:05:35"You know, we're under orders from the Ambassador. We're doing the best we can."
1:05:37 > 1:05:42Carrier pilots were saying, look, it's an uncontrollable sea of people
1:05:42 > 1:05:45and Ambassador Martin has lost his objectivity,
1:05:45 > 1:05:48that Ambassador Martin is trying to evacuate all of Saigon
1:05:48 > 1:05:50through the US embassy.
1:05:52 > 1:05:56But he was doing his best under terrible circumstances.
1:05:59 > 1:06:01JOSEPH MCBRIDE: Ambassador Martin
1:06:01 > 1:06:03was dragging out the evacuation as long as he could
1:06:03 > 1:06:07to get as many South Vietnamese out as possible.
1:06:09 > 1:06:12Each helicopter took about 40 people.
1:06:12 > 1:06:15He knew that once the Americans were gone,
1:06:15 > 1:06:19the evacuation would be over.
1:06:22 > 1:06:26So they just put one or two Americans on each one.
1:06:33 > 1:06:37You're very tired and you're not seeing an end to this thing.
1:06:37 > 1:06:38So I got the word out,
1:06:38 > 1:06:42"You know, we could use some help out here.
1:06:42 > 1:06:45"We only have 75 helicopters."
1:06:45 > 1:06:47And the word comes back, "No.
1:06:47 > 1:06:49"No, Marine pilots don't get tired."
1:06:57 > 1:07:01Back at the embassy under the Ambassador's direction,
1:07:01 > 1:07:04we, of course, were taking advantage of the presence of the aircraft
1:07:04 > 1:07:07to evacuate threatened folks.
1:07:10 > 1:07:15But there were other independent efforts...to get people out.
1:07:16 > 1:07:21MCBRIDE: Several of us at the embassy agreed that we would drive vans
1:07:21 > 1:07:26down to the docks on the Saigon River.
1:07:27 > 1:07:32I had an assigned assembly point in the middle of Saigon,
1:07:32 > 1:07:36and I crammed about 15 people into a nine-person van
1:07:36 > 1:07:40and then drove through the streets of Saigon
1:07:40 > 1:07:45through various checkpoints down to the docks.
1:07:49 > 1:07:50People would get out
1:07:50 > 1:07:54and go running for these commercial boats and get on.
1:07:56 > 1:07:59I made a number of runs
1:07:59 > 1:08:02and there'd just be more and more and more people.
1:08:11 > 1:08:13Finally, as the sun was going down,
1:08:13 > 1:08:15we were running out of light.
1:08:16 > 1:08:19A man came up to me.
1:08:19 > 1:08:24I turned to him and said, "This is my last load.
1:08:24 > 1:08:27"You know, I can't take any more."
1:08:27 > 1:08:29I said, "Well, get your family." And he said, "Can't do it.
1:08:29 > 1:08:32"My family's too big.
1:08:32 > 1:08:35"My family's too big."
1:08:37 > 1:08:42And he just shook my hand and said, "Thanks for trying,"
1:08:42 > 1:08:45and walked away.
1:08:45 > 1:08:48So I came back to the embassy and parked the van.
1:08:50 > 1:08:53It was already getting well into twilight.
1:08:53 > 1:08:57Got my way through the crowd. It was a big crowd.
1:09:02 > 1:09:04I had nothing more I could do.
1:09:04 > 1:09:07So I went to get on the helicopter
1:09:07 > 1:09:11and Ambassador Martin pulled me out of line and he said,
1:09:11 > 1:09:14"I know what you've been doing. I know you've been out there.
1:09:14 > 1:09:18"We've been talking. I want to thank you."
1:09:18 > 1:09:21I thought that was...a kind gesture.
1:09:24 > 1:09:26By that time it was definitely dark.
1:09:26 > 1:09:30The lights of the...of the helicopter inside
1:09:30 > 1:09:33radiated very clearly.
1:09:33 > 1:09:35I sat down, looked around.
1:09:35 > 1:09:39I was one of maybe two or three Americans.
1:09:39 > 1:09:42The rest were all Vietnamese.
1:09:42 > 1:09:45And we flew out.
1:09:49 > 1:09:52It was very dark, I remember that.
1:09:52 > 1:09:55And people started to elbow each other
1:09:55 > 1:09:57and try to get in the front line.
1:09:57 > 1:09:59And that's when Captain Herrington
1:09:59 > 1:10:02started speaking to us in Vietnamese.
1:10:02 > 1:10:05- HE SPEAKS VIETNAMESE - "Nobody is going to be left behind."
1:10:05 > 1:10:09HE SPEAKS VIETNAMESE
1:10:09 > 1:10:14And then he said, "When you are in American embassy,
1:10:14 > 1:10:16"you are in American soil.
1:10:16 > 1:10:19"I promise, me and my soldier will be the last one
1:10:19 > 1:10:21leave the embassy."
1:10:21 > 1:10:24So after that announcement everybody feel relaxed.
1:10:24 > 1:10:26Literally, we totally relaxed.
1:10:26 > 1:10:28We had nothing to worry about. Yeah.
1:10:32 > 1:10:36- KISSINGER:- We were told that the North Vietnamese tanks
1:10:36 > 1:10:38were coming very close.
1:10:38 > 1:10:40So we asked, we in the White House,
1:10:40 > 1:10:46asked the Defence Department how many South Vietnamese were left.
1:10:46 > 1:10:50"Left" meant inside the embassy compound.
1:10:50 > 1:10:53And then we calculated how many helicopters
1:10:53 > 1:10:55it would take to get them out.
1:10:56 > 1:11:01We told Martin that he had to be on the last helicopter.
1:11:03 > 1:11:05All I know is that in Washington
1:11:05 > 1:11:08there was confusion about the numbers on the ground.
1:11:10 > 1:11:14At 1am there were 1,100 people left to evacuate.
1:11:14 > 1:11:17After we'd had a flurry of choppers
1:11:17 > 1:11:19and cleaned out more than half of them
1:11:19 > 1:11:21and there were 420 people left,
1:11:21 > 1:11:26we received an order from Washington that the lift was over
1:11:26 > 1:11:29other than the extraction of the remaining Americans.
1:11:31 > 1:11:36About 4:00 in the morning, 4:30, I land on the USS Blue Ridge again.
1:11:36 > 1:11:39So, General Carey comes out...
1:11:39 > 1:11:42gives me an apple and a cup of coffee or something and says,
1:11:42 > 1:11:44"We're under orders from the President.
1:11:44 > 1:11:47"You got to get the Ambassador out."
1:11:47 > 1:11:51So we fly in. I land on the roof exactly at 4:50 in the morning
1:11:51 > 1:11:55and I said, "I'm not leaving until the Ambassador's onboard."
1:11:57 > 1:12:01One of the Marines lowered the flag, folded it up,
1:12:01 > 1:12:05and escorted the Ambassador up to the landing zone up on top of the embassy
1:12:05 > 1:12:08and he gave him the flag.
1:12:08 > 1:12:11And, uh, that was it.
1:12:13 > 1:12:16Major Kean came to Colonel Madison, said, "No more.
1:12:16 > 1:12:19"Only Americans from this point on."
1:12:19 > 1:12:23And Madison said, "The hell you say. We've got these people over here."
1:12:23 > 1:12:27And Kean said, "Sir, not going to happen.
1:12:27 > 1:12:30"It's a presidential order."
1:12:30 > 1:12:33And Madison said, "I'll take this up with the Ambassador."
1:12:33 > 1:12:34He was very hot under the collar.
1:12:34 > 1:12:39And Kean said, "You can't, that's him,"
1:12:39 > 1:12:43and pointed to the CH-46 that was just flying away.
1:12:48 > 1:12:52So the Ambassador's on board.
1:12:52 > 1:12:55And...out we go.
1:13:00 > 1:13:02We land on the Blue Ridge.
1:13:02 > 1:13:0715 or 20, maybe 25 people get off with the Ambassador
1:13:07 > 1:13:09and that was the end of it.
1:13:10 > 1:13:13I flew 18.3 hours straight through.
1:13:13 > 1:13:17Graham Martin looked very tired, extremely haggard.
1:13:17 > 1:13:21I mean, he looked like... I'm sure the pressure was immense.
1:13:21 > 1:13:24And at what time were you to cease evacuation?
1:13:24 > 1:13:26Cease evacuation?
1:13:26 > 1:13:29We could still be flying if we hadn't gotten the Ambassador out,
1:13:29 > 1:13:32cos he...he refused to stop the lift.
1:13:34 > 1:13:38- I think about 3:00.- 3:00 in the morning?- No, 3:45.
1:13:43 > 1:13:48Colonel Madison says to me, "We're screwed.
1:13:48 > 1:13:50"Stu, you stay down here in the parking lot
1:13:50 > 1:13:53"and keep these 420 people warm."
1:13:53 > 1:13:58Meaning, if they see us all leave at the same time they'll panic.
1:13:58 > 1:14:02"And then make your way to the roof. We've got to go."
1:14:02 > 1:14:07And he was very angry and very disappointed.
1:14:07 > 1:14:10So they disappeared into the embassy.
1:14:10 > 1:14:14And I went to where the remaining Vietnamese who were waiting
1:14:14 > 1:14:18- and told them... - HE SPEAKS VIETNAMESE
1:14:18 > 1:14:22"Big helicopters about to come."
1:14:22 > 1:14:27And...waited a few minutes.
1:14:27 > 1:14:31Then I saw a chopper take off and I thought,
1:14:31 > 1:14:34"Shit! Was I supposed to be on that one?"
1:14:34 > 1:14:37So, I looked at the Vietnamese and I said...
1:14:37 > 1:14:39HE SPEAKS VIETNAMESE
1:14:39 > 1:14:41"I've got to take a leak."
1:14:41 > 1:14:44And I left into the shadows.
1:14:44 > 1:14:47I made my way around in a circuitous route
1:14:47 > 1:14:49and went into the embassy.
1:14:52 > 1:14:58I thought about how this really, really was wrong.
1:14:58 > 1:15:05I thought maybe I should just say, "I'm not leaving till they go, cos I promised 'em."
1:15:05 > 1:15:08Then I said, "Don't be a fool.
1:15:08 > 1:15:10"Maybe they've started shooting down helicopters for all you know.
1:15:10 > 1:15:13"You're not going to get anybody else out.
1:15:13 > 1:15:16"It's a presidential order.
1:15:16 > 1:15:19"This decision has been made."
1:15:19 > 1:15:24So, I got to the roof and a CH-46 alighted on the rooftop,
1:15:24 > 1:15:30put its ramp down and we got on board.
1:15:34 > 1:15:36As it took off, the door was open.
1:15:36 > 1:15:41And down in the parking lot I could see the group of 420 of them.
1:15:41 > 1:15:45They were right were we had left them marshalled on this little patch of grass.
1:15:45 > 1:15:48I felt absolutely awful.
1:15:48 > 1:15:55It was just so...serious and deep a betrayal.
1:16:09 > 1:16:11Later that night, I was quite surprised
1:16:11 > 1:16:13that I got a call to "Come alongside the flagship.
1:16:13 > 1:16:17"The Admiral wants to speak to you."
1:16:17 > 1:16:21My first reaction, as any CO, is, "What did we do?"
1:16:21 > 1:16:26Not realising we had been picked for a special mission.
1:16:26 > 1:16:29We were supposed to pick up this person.
1:16:29 > 1:16:33He was 30 years old, came aboard, civilian clothes.
1:16:33 > 1:16:35And...the Captain was just told
1:16:35 > 1:16:38to take his direction from this guy.
1:16:40 > 1:16:44I went aboard the Kirk and met with Captain Paul Jacobs.
1:16:44 > 1:16:46And the first thing he said to me is,
1:16:46 > 1:16:49"Young man, I'm not accustomed
1:16:49 > 1:16:52"to strange civilians coming aboard my ship armed
1:16:52 > 1:16:56in the middle of the night." And I said, "Captain, I assure you, neither am I."
1:16:56 > 1:16:59He smelled like a Naval officer, you know.
1:16:59 > 1:17:02You know, one officer can smell another one.
1:17:02 > 1:17:05So, I looked him up in the blue book. He's a graduate of the Naval Academy.
1:17:05 > 1:17:09So from that point on we were fine. "What do you want to do?"
1:17:09 > 1:17:12And we worked together as a team.
1:17:15 > 1:17:17We steamed down to Con Son Island
1:17:17 > 1:17:22and we could see on the radar display that there were a lot of blips.
1:17:22 > 1:17:25And I remember dawn breaking and the sun coming up,
1:17:25 > 1:17:30and seeing what I had seen as a radar display in person.
1:17:31 > 1:17:33There were dozens of ships.
1:17:36 > 1:17:39And not just Vietnamese naval ships,
1:17:39 > 1:17:43but also civilian ships.
1:17:43 > 1:17:46And they were all totally crammed with...with people.
1:17:51 > 1:17:54There are no words to describe
1:17:54 > 1:17:59what a ship looks like that holds 200 and it's got 2,000 on it.
1:18:01 > 1:18:05I don't think anybody really understood the magnitude of it
1:18:05 > 1:18:08until we looked at what we had got in front of us.
1:18:09 > 1:18:13It looked like something out of Exodus.
1:18:14 > 1:18:18Our mission was to help the ships into international waters.
1:18:19 > 1:18:22But now they had all these people.
1:18:24 > 1:18:28My reaction is, "How the hell are we going to do this?"
1:18:30 > 1:18:33Most of the Vietnamese Navy ships were dead in the water,
1:18:33 > 1:18:37some were anchored, some were just adrift.
1:18:37 > 1:18:41So, we sent over our engineering, technical people
1:18:41 > 1:18:45to see what we could do to help them and get 'em under way.
1:18:47 > 1:18:52We had worked a plan out to sail the ships to the Philippines.
1:18:52 > 1:18:56And the Kirk was going to escort them.
1:18:58 > 1:19:02But the fact that they're going to be crammed with an unknown number of civilians
1:19:02 > 1:19:05was somewhat problematic.
1:19:05 > 1:19:08The US Government already had a refugee problem
1:19:08 > 1:19:10with the US Naval ships.
1:19:10 > 1:19:14This was another 30,000 or more people to deal with.
1:19:14 > 1:19:17We were up all night talking about it.
1:19:17 > 1:19:19And I'm convinced that if we sent them back or took them back,
1:19:19 > 1:19:25they would have killed them all. And Armitage decided to bring 'em.
1:19:26 > 1:19:29And he didn't get permission from Washington to do that.
1:19:30 > 1:19:34I thought it was a lot easier to beg forgiveness
1:19:34 > 1:19:36than to get permission.
1:19:37 > 1:19:40So the decision was made.
1:19:40 > 1:19:42And they all went with us.
1:19:42 > 1:19:44SHIP'S HORN
1:20:09 > 1:20:13We had finally got out the last of the refugees
1:20:13 > 1:20:15that we could get out.
1:20:15 > 1:20:17Now we had to evacuate the Marines.
1:20:20 > 1:20:24They were all inside the embassy building except for us.
1:20:24 > 1:20:29I was still on the embassy grounds with two of my sergeants
1:20:29 > 1:20:31and I said, "You two stay right with me.
1:20:31 > 1:20:33"Don't leave my side."
1:20:33 > 1:20:36We slowly walked backwards to the embassy door
1:20:36 > 1:20:39and a couple of Vietnamese came towards me.
1:20:39 > 1:20:43I said, "We have no more helicopters. That's it. I'm sorry.
1:20:43 > 1:20:46"We cannot take you."
1:20:46 > 1:20:49And they began to argue with me. They spoke good English, too.
1:20:49 > 1:20:54"We can ride in your helicopter." I said, "I'm sorry, no more."
1:20:54 > 1:20:59So we spun around and slammed these huge doors,
1:20:59 > 1:21:01and we locked it from behind.
1:21:08 > 1:21:10I kind of fall asleep off and on,
1:21:10 > 1:21:13but what gets me woke up is the noise.
1:21:13 > 1:21:15It's the different noise.
1:21:15 > 1:21:17So I kind of look up.
1:21:17 > 1:21:20And the first thing in my sight was
1:21:20 > 1:21:25I didn't see that soldier there any more on that wall.
1:21:27 > 1:21:30There were people throwing blankets or jackets
1:21:30 > 1:21:32and materials over the barbed wire
1:21:32 > 1:21:35so they can climb over the wire to come in.
1:21:36 > 1:21:39It was like, "Where are the soldiers?"
1:21:39 > 1:21:43We were going up the stairs
1:21:43 > 1:21:46and below me I could hear feet running on the stairway.
1:21:46 > 1:21:50When we got to the roof, Master Sergeant Valdez was there.
1:21:50 > 1:21:52He says, "We got everybody?"
1:21:52 > 1:21:56"Yeah." I said, "Man, there's somebody chasing me up those stairs."
1:21:59 > 1:22:01There were wall lockers up on the roof
1:22:01 > 1:22:04and those big fire extinguishers with wheels,
1:22:04 > 1:22:07so we tilted all those wall lockers and the fire extinguishers,
1:22:07 > 1:22:10put 'em against the door.
1:22:10 > 1:22:13There was a little window there that we could see 'em in there,
1:22:13 > 1:22:17all the Vietnamese trying to get to the roof.
1:22:19 > 1:22:23The Marines started going out as choppers came in.
1:22:23 > 1:22:25Then all of a sudden choppers all ceased.
1:22:28 > 1:22:30There was 11 of us still left there.
1:22:36 > 1:22:40The briefing was delayed until the evacuation was completed
1:22:40 > 1:22:43and the last helicopters are now in the air.
1:22:43 > 1:22:46The President commends the personnel of the armed forces
1:22:46 > 1:22:50who accomplished it, as well as Ambassador Graham Martin
1:22:50 > 1:22:53and the staff of his mission who served so well
1:22:53 > 1:22:54under difficult conditions.
1:22:54 > 1:22:58- KISSINGER:- We were told that Martin had left on the last helicopter
1:22:58 > 1:23:01and that the evacuation had ended.
1:23:01 > 1:23:08I'm confident that every American who wanted to come out is...is out.
1:23:08 > 1:23:10So we held a briefing.
1:23:10 > 1:23:13Well, it turned out not to be the last helicopter,
1:23:13 > 1:23:17because there was another horrendous screw-up.
1:23:19 > 1:23:21There were no helicopters.
1:23:21 > 1:23:25You know, we were just kind of sitting down around
1:23:25 > 1:23:27looking at each other,
1:23:27 > 1:23:30wondering, you know, what's going to happen here,
1:23:30 > 1:23:32you know, whether they truly had forgotten about us.
1:23:34 > 1:23:39So I got on my radio and I began saying, "US Navy, US Navy,
1:23:39 > 1:23:42"American Embassy, request extraction immediate."
1:23:42 > 1:23:44And I repeated this over and over and over.
1:23:44 > 1:23:49The only option we had was sit on the stupid roof,
1:23:49 > 1:23:51like a sitting duck.
1:23:51 > 1:23:54And I kept thinking, "Where are the North Vietnamese?"
1:23:56 > 1:23:59About 7:45 in the morning,
1:23:59 > 1:24:03you could start seeing the North Vietnamese coming down the road.
1:24:03 > 1:24:06My thoughts were, "What's to keep them from bombing
1:24:06 > 1:24:09the top of the embassy roof and blowing us off," you know?
1:24:11 > 1:24:15A tank is going to take one shot, if it hits the building, you're gone.
1:24:19 > 1:24:21So I didn't like the idea of being up there,
1:24:21 > 1:24:23but where else are you going to go?
1:24:25 > 1:24:28Finally, I looked out and I saw a black dot.
1:24:30 > 1:24:35When that chopper landed, I told the Marines, "Go! Get in!"
1:24:37 > 1:24:40I was the last one out.
1:24:40 > 1:24:44And as I was putting my foot on the ramp, I fell down,
1:24:44 > 1:24:48and I'm just hanging on and the ramp's going up.
1:24:48 > 1:24:50The ramp is closing
1:24:50 > 1:24:53and I did what I was trained in my first tour...count.
1:24:53 > 1:24:57So I went, "One, two, three, four, five, six...ten.
1:24:57 > 1:25:01"Ten?! One, two, three, four, five, six...ten. Ten!"
1:25:01 > 1:25:05And I looked at the crew chief and I said, "Put it down."
1:25:05 > 1:25:07I knew I was missing one man.
1:25:07 > 1:25:09HE LAUGHS I remember looking at the ramp
1:25:09 > 1:25:13and two hands were over the top of it.
1:25:13 > 1:25:16So the Marines just kind of grabbed me and then just pulled me in.
1:25:20 > 1:25:25We left, by my watch, at 7:58 Saigon time.
1:25:25 > 1:25:28And we were the last 11.
1:25:34 > 1:25:38My cameraman, Neil Davis, and I decided to stay.
1:25:41 > 1:25:46We saw the last helicopter leave from the roof.
1:25:46 > 1:25:49We then tried to scramble into the embassy ourselves.
1:25:49 > 1:25:52Neil got to the roof, I did not.
1:25:52 > 1:25:54And he saw dozens of Vietnamese
1:25:54 > 1:25:58just sitting on the helicopter pad on the roof of the embassy,
1:25:58 > 1:26:01waiting, wanting to get out.
1:26:01 > 1:26:05And, of course, no more helicopters were going to come.
1:26:08 > 1:26:10I didn't join 'em.
1:26:10 > 1:26:12I was actually...scared.
1:26:14 > 1:26:16If the Communists come in,
1:26:16 > 1:26:20the last thing we want them to see us is in the American Embassy.
1:26:20 > 1:26:22So we get out.
1:26:27 > 1:26:30People were coming in and out of the buildings.
1:26:30 > 1:26:32Literally, anything that could not be fastened down
1:26:32 > 1:26:35or was not fastened down was being taken away.
1:26:36 > 1:26:40Any souvenirs from the Ambassador's office were taken away.
1:26:40 > 1:26:44Almost brick by brick the embassy was being dismantled.
1:26:44 > 1:26:46It was ordinary looting,
1:26:46 > 1:26:50but more than that, I think it was just frustration and anger
1:26:50 > 1:26:54and an opportunity to get back, perhaps, at the Americans,
1:26:54 > 1:26:58because in the view of many in that crowd that day,
1:26:58 > 1:27:00we had deserted 'em.
1:27:07 > 1:27:10NBC news correspondent, Jim Laurie,
1:27:10 > 1:27:13is one of the few Americans still left in Saigon,
1:27:13 > 1:27:17in the city when President Duong Van Minh went on the radio
1:27:17 > 1:27:18and told the Viet Cong
1:27:18 > 1:27:21that his country would surrender unconditionally
1:27:21 > 1:27:25and that he had told its army to lay down its arms.
1:27:25 > 1:27:29Here from Saigon radio hook-up is Laurie's report on the surrender.
1:27:29 > 1:27:33In the words of General Minh, "We are here to hand over
1:27:33 > 1:27:38the power of government to you in order to avoid bloodshed."
1:27:38 > 1:27:42It is a unilateral ceasefire and an unconditional surrender.
1:27:42 > 1:27:46The 30-year war in South Vietnam is at last over.
1:28:10 > 1:28:14The first thing I did was to destroy my documents,
1:28:14 > 1:28:19my badges, just keeping the civilian ID.
1:28:19 > 1:28:25And then I went around Saigon to see what happened.
1:28:57 > 1:29:04I saw a lot of South Vietnamese soldiers in underwear.
1:29:04 > 1:29:11They took off all their military clothes, boots,
1:29:11 > 1:29:13and they threw them away.
1:29:21 > 1:29:26And I thought, well, what would happen to them?
1:29:29 > 1:29:31And to me, to myself.
1:29:31 > 1:29:33Right.
1:29:36 > 1:29:40I thought of my friends who were killed in action.
1:29:41 > 1:29:47And I thought, "Well, is this what we fought for?"
1:29:49 > 1:29:54"Is this what the Americans came for?"
1:29:57 > 1:30:01And I didn't have the answer.
1:30:06 > 1:30:11I have wrestled with this...ever since.
1:30:12 > 1:30:16I realised that I had become...
1:30:16 > 1:30:19the quintessential American in Vietnam.
1:30:19 > 1:30:23I had all these causes, all these big things I was doing.
1:30:23 > 1:30:26I was trying to get the truth back to Washington.
1:30:26 > 1:30:29I was talking to agents, trying to persuade the Ambassador,
1:30:29 > 1:30:34and I forgot...that what was at stake were human lives.
1:30:39 > 1:30:44For years after that, I hear that sound in my head,
1:30:44 > 1:30:47that sound like, "Tchk-tchk-tchk-tchk-tchk."
1:30:47 > 1:30:50In the middle of the night I just jump up.
1:30:50 > 1:30:52I thought the helicopter had come to pick me up.
1:30:54 > 1:30:57I called it "dream in the wind."
1:31:00 > 1:31:03Later we found out the big fleet is out there.
1:31:03 > 1:31:07You can just take a boat and go there. They take everybody.
1:31:09 > 1:31:12If you can get out there, you're on board.
1:31:14 > 1:31:16And I just didn't know that.
1:31:16 > 1:31:18You know, so...
1:31:32 > 1:31:34As we approached the Philippines with our refugees,
1:31:34 > 1:31:37there was a big problem.
1:31:37 > 1:31:39They wouldn't let us in.
1:31:39 > 1:31:41And the reason they wouldn't let us in
1:31:41 > 1:31:46is because the government there had recognised the new regime in Vietnam
1:31:46 > 1:31:49and these Navy ships we were escorting,
1:31:49 > 1:31:52they were all flying South Vietnamese flags.
1:31:52 > 1:31:57And the solution was to reflag all these ships
1:31:57 > 1:31:59as American ships.
1:32:52 > 1:32:56They lowered their Vietnamese flag, people crying.
1:32:56 > 1:33:00It was very emotional for them to lose their country,
1:33:00 > 1:33:02their flag, their ship.
1:33:02 > 1:33:04Everything was gone.
1:33:04 > 1:33:06And then we raised the American flag.
1:33:06 > 1:33:10We tried to do that with as much dignity as we could.
1:33:21 > 1:33:23There were thousands and thousands of Americans
1:33:23 > 1:33:28who served in Vietnam who were sitting at home heartbroken
1:33:28 > 1:33:32at watching this whole thing come to naught.
1:33:36 > 1:33:41The end of April of 1975 was...
1:33:41 > 1:33:45the whole Vietnam involvement in a microcosm.
1:33:45 > 1:33:48Promises made in good faith, promises broken,
1:33:48 > 1:33:54people being hurt because we didn't get our act together.
1:33:54 > 1:33:59You know, the whole Vietnam War is a story that kind of sounds like that.
1:33:59 > 1:34:02But on the other hand,
1:34:02 > 1:34:05sometimes there are moments when good people
1:34:05 > 1:34:09have to rise to the occasion and do the things that need to be done.
1:34:09 > 1:34:14And in Saigon, there was no shortage of people like that.