The Lore of the Corps
Marines were crucial to Saigon evacuation
By Fred L. Borch and Robert F. Dorr - Special to the Times
Posted : May 14, 2007

On April 30, 1975, U.S. helicopters evacuated thousands of Americans from Saigon, South Vietnam. Dubbed “Operation Frequent Wind,” the evacuation succeeded because of expert Marine flying and Marine ground forces providing security during the pullout.

The U.S. combat role ended Jan. 27, 1973, in Vietnam and Aug. 15, 1973, in adjacent Cambodia. With Congress reluctant to support further military involvement, the U.S. did not respond when the North Vietnamese captured South Vietnam’s Phuoc Long province in January 1975. The province was 80 miles from Saigon; its seizure emboldened the North Vietnamese to believe they could go farther.

In March 1975, North Vietnam’s Gen. Dung Van Tien launched a well-planned attack on Ban Me Thuot, a city in the Central Highlands that was key to South Vietnam’s defenses.

Although South Vietnamese defenders fought well, Dung’s three divisions took the city. South Vietnamese soldiers and civilians fled southward. Panic followed.

Military historians agree that South Vietnam’s President Nguyen Van Thieu panicked, too. Alarmed by Dung’s success, he ordered a general retreat. The result was disaster: Instead of an orderly exodus, South Vietnamese soldiers simply fled toward Saigon — along with thousands of civilian refugees.

Communist troops captured Hue City, Da Nang, and Qui Nhon in March and Nha Trang in early April. They also seized critical roads around Saigon.

U.S. Ambassador Graham Martin, who did not want to withdraw, kept asking for economic and military aid long after Washington had decided to send no more. Thieu resigned April 21. On April 29, Martin reluctantly authorized Operation Frequent Wind, an emergency evacuation of American, South Vietnamese and friendly foreign nationals from Saigon. But the city’s airport had been badly damaged, and the pullout had to be made by helicopter.

According to an article in Air Force Magazine in April 2000, helicopters transported 6,000 men, women and children from the Defense Attach� Office at Tan Son Nhut and the U.S. Embassy to Navy ships 80 miles away.

While Air Force, Navy and civilian pilots flew some missions, the helicopter evacuation was “very much a Marine show,” said David Brown, a State Department officer.

Sixty-one Marine CH-46 Sea Knights and CH-53A Sea Stallions flew more than 550 sorties. The 9th Marine Amphibious Brigade, including 2nd Battalion, 4th Marines, and 2nd Battalion, 9th Marines, provided critical security for the evacuation forces on the ground.

At 4:58 a.m. on April 30, a CH-46 flown by Marine Capt. Gerald Berry carried away Martin. At 7:53 a.m., the last American helicopter took off, carrying Marines who had defended the embassy.

South Vietnam surrendered that afternoon.

Borch retired from the Army. He can be reached at borchfj@aol.com. Dorr helped manage the Saigon evacuation from Washington, D.C., in April 1975. He can be reached at robert.f.dorr@cox.net.

Ellie