Goodnight Saigon
Page 50
Tuan, Nguyen Manh—Lieutenant Colonel, Army of the Republic of Vietnam. An artillery battalion commander in South Vietnam’s II Army Corps, he received his artillery training at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, and on March 21, 1975, he was captured by North Vietnamese and Viet Cong forces at Cheo Reo while leading a group of civilians and children in an effort to evade capture. He provided a colorful firsthand account of the massacre at Cheo Reo. Interview in person, at Nguyen Dinh (Kevi brand scissors factory), Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), Socialist Republic of Vietnam, October 1994.
Tuan, Nguyen Sinh—North Vietnamese Army Enlisted Soldier and Documentary Photographer, 320th NVA Division. Tuan participated in the final campaign’s early battles around Da Nang and in the NVA victories at Ban Me Thuot, Cheo Reo, and Saigon. Interview in person, home of Nguyen Duc Qui, Hanoi, Socialist Republic of Vietnam, October 1994.
Ty, Nguyen Giap—Terminal Manager, Port of Saigon, 1975. Ty retired from the South Vietnamese Army as a lieutenant colonel in 1974 and was awarded the Bronze Star Medal by the United States for heroism, saving the lives of a platoon of American soldiers trapped in a minefield. He and his wife were both heavily involved in evacuating their fellow countrymen and believed they would surely be evacuated at the end. However, due to the chaos and collapse of what refugee evacuation process had existed, the Nguyen family fell in the backwash. Ty was arrested and sent to a re-education camp for the next six years. When Ty was released in 1981, the family spent the next ten years enduring Communist harassment and finally escaped the country without permission as boat people in 1990. Multiple interviews, telephone and in person, Nguyen home in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, January 1995.
Valdez, John J. “Top”—Master Sergeant, United States Marine Corps. Valdez served as the staff noncommissioned officer in charge of Marine Security Guard Detachment, Company C, Marine Security Guard Battalion, United States Embassy, Saigon. He was the senior enlisted Marine among the last to leave from the American embassy roof. Interview in person, Hotel Saigon, Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), Socialist Republic of Vietnam, October 1994.
Van Es, Hubert “Hugh”—Dutch photographer. During the chaos of the final day, he was trapped in the crowds of Saigon and could never reach any evacuation points in time; thus he involuntarily remained in Vietnam after the fall. He took the now-famous photograph of the Air America Huey helicopter hovering over the rooftop with people climbing aboard. Getting the photograph was purely luck, Van Es told the author in an interview in Bangkok in 1994. He said, “The right place at the right time. Someone said, ‘Christ there is a chopper on the roof.’ So I put on my longest lens, a 300 mm, got off six frames, and she was gone.” He attended a conference held by Colonel Vo Dong Giang (Colonel Ba), in which the Viet Cong representative told the journalists that if they should get left behind, NVA and VC troops had been told to expect to see foreigners, and they should treat them with respect. Colonel Ba, however, advised them that they should remain in the city because he was not sure what could happen to them outside it. Van Es observed South Vietnamese soldiers stripping off uniforms, running to the river, and throwing their guns away. He told of a pile of rifles and pistols lying in the street, and kids playing with them. People were very scared, burning their papers, and making Viet Cong flags. Interview in person, Intercontinental Hotel, Bangkok, Thailand, November 1994.
Vinh, Trong—General, North Vietnamese Army, and North Vietnamese diplomat. Serving as a member of the North Vietnamese delegation to the Paris Peace Talks, 1972 through 1974, he described his impression of Henry Kissinger as that of a strong man, intelligent, but a man who negotiated by force, and this did not work for the Vietnamese. While seated at the Paris Peace Talks, he left his family in Hanoi to endure the bombing. Finally his family was evacuated from Hanoi, which helped him focus better on the talks. He held that the position of the Vietnamese Communists was that their negotiations must reflect their “victory on the battlefield,” so the negotiations must come to the conclusion that supported the Communists. When the peace accord was finally adopted, he was able to return home. However, he was immediately dispatched to Saigon to participate in the Joint Military Commission and International Oversight Committee. His delegation was held on their aircraft in Saigon for twenty-four hours, in heat with no food or water, and not allowed to participate in the delegation. Because of the maltreatment by the South Vietnamese, the Communist delegation concluded that South Vietnam was not interested in implementing the accords. Multiple interviews in person, Vinh home and Hotel Metropole, Hanoi, Socialist Republic of Vietnam, October 1994.
Williams, Derek—CBS News sound-recording technician. Williams began working in the Far East in Cambodia and eventually wound up in Saigon. He had a Vietnamese girlfriend and had the same idea as a lot of people: marry her and get her on the registry so she could get out. He got the registry office to open on Sunday with money he had won in a poker game and got married. His wife’s family, who remained in Saigon, eventually got out as boat people, launching on a Russian freighter from Vung Tao. Williams was in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, when he heard the news of Ban Me Thuot and hurried back to Vietnam because of concerns about his wife. He noted that the American embassy got the story backwards with the outcome of Vietnam and Cambodia. They said the Khmer Rouge would hold a lovefest in Cambodia while the VC would create a bloodbath in Vietnam. The Khmer Rouge were the animals. CBS did not sanction anyone staying behind, but many had planned to stay. Then they saw a South Vietnamese soldier insanely pumping rounds from his pistol into a parked car, and a photographer taking pictures of him. The soldier, seeing the photographer, turned the pistol toward him and pulled the trigger, but it was out of bullets. Seeing that changed a number of people’s minds. Seeing Ban Me Thuot fall, several Australian journalists predicted to Williams the fall of South Vietnam, nearly to the day. Interview in person, Intercontinental Hotel, Bangkok, Thailand, November 1994.
Wood, Christopher—Sergeant, United States Marine Corps. Wood served as the crew chief of the last helicopter from Saigon, Swift Two-Two, which flew with dangerously low fuel and rescued the eleven Marines left on the roof of the United States Embassy. When the crew of Swift Two-Two received orders to pick up the last Marines, the sun was already up. The three earlier choppers that picked up the bulk of rear guard Marines had departed the embassy still in darkness. When Swift Two-Two lifted from the embassy rooftop, tear gas swirled inside the cockpit so badly that the pilot had to set the aircraft down so that he could clear his eyes and then launch. As the aircraft launched with the final eleven Marines aboard, the low-fuel warning lights were flashing on the instrument panel. Interview in person, Hotel Saigon, Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), Socialist Republic of Vietnam, October 1994.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
55 Days: The Fall of South Vietnam by Alan Dawson (published by Prentice Hall, 1977, Englewood Cliffs, NJ: 366 p.)
Air Force Magazine: A Galaxy of Heroes by John L. Frisbee, Contributing Editor, August 1991, Volume 74, Number 8 (published by the Air Force Association, Arlington, VA)
C-5 Galaxy Crash—Operation Babylift by Adopted Vietnamese International (published by AVI on their Internet site, www.adoptedvietnamese.org, 2004)
C-5 Galaxy Crash—Vietnam Babylift Personal Stories by Brock Townsend (found on the Internet at www.vietnambabylift.org, 2004)
Decent Interval: An Insider’s Account of Saigon’s Indecent End Told by the CIA’s Chief Strategy Analyst in Vietnam by Frank Snepp (published by Vintage Books, a Division of Random House, 1977, New York, NY: 591 p.)
Dumb Bombs: Aircraft Weapons Loads fact sheet (published by Federation of American Scientists, Military Analysis Network, August 1994)
Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 Fishbed fact sheet (published by Combat Aircraft, available on the Internet at www.combataircraft.com/aircraft/fmig21.asp, 2004)
Northrop F-5 “Freedom Fighter” aka Skoshi Tiger fact sheet (published by the United States Air Force Museum archives, Washington, DC)
Operation Babylift fact sheet (from Un
ited States Air Force Security Force Heritage and History, Lackland Air Force Base Museum.)
Operation Babylift—American Women Who Died in Vietnam by Vietnam Women’s Memorial Project (A Circle of Sisters/A Circle of Friends, Washington, DC, 2004)
Operation New Life by Global Security (compiled from Operation Babylift and New Life by Lea Arakaki, Fifteenth Air Base Wing historian, USAF, and The Command’s Humanitarian Efforts by Anne M. Bazzell, Pacific Air Force, Office of History, USAF)
Safi Thi-Kim Felce—An Adopted Vietnamese Story by Safi Thi-Kim Felce (published by AVI Adopted Vietnamese International, found at www.adoptedvietnamese.org, 2004)
The Victor: What Next in Asia? a special edition of TIME magazine containing the following news articles and commentary: A Letter from the Publisher, The Last Grim Good-bye, The End of a Thirty Years’ War, Last Chopper Out of Saigon, ‘This Is It! Everybody Out!,’ The Privileged Exiles, Now On to ‘Camp Fortuitous,’ Saigon: Memories of a Fallen City, ‘You Are Always With Us, Uncle Ho,’ Henry Makes the Best of It, After the Fall: Reactions and Rationales, The Final Comment: People, Rocky’s Turn to the Right, Ending a Personal War, After Vietnam: What Next in Asia?, The Press: They Stayed (published by Time Inc., May 12, 1975, New York, NY: 22 p.)
U. S. Air Force Fact Sheet: C-5 Galaxy by Air Mobility Command (published by the Office of Public Affairs, Scott Air Force Base, IL)
U. S. Marines in Vietnam: The Bitter End 1973-1975 by Major George R. Dunham, United States Marine Corps, and Colonel David A. Quinlan, United States Marine Corps (published by History and Museums Division, Headquarters, United States Marine Corps, 1990, Washington, DC: 315 p.)
Vietnam: A History by Stanley Kornow (published by Viking Press, 1983, New York, NY: 750 p.)
Where We Were in Vietnam: A Comprehensive Guide to the Firebases, Military Installations and Naval Vessels of the Vietnam War 1945- 75 by Michael P. Kelley (published by Hellgate Press, an imprint of PSI Research, 2002, Central Point, OR: 840 p.)
World Airways History: Ed Daly and the Beginning. . . by unnamed author (published by Yakety at www.yakety.com/worldstory.html, 1999)
INDEX
Air America
Air Vietnam
Aircraft
North Vietnamese
South Vietnamese
Alaska Barge and Transport Company tugboats of
Alexander, Dan .
Algiers, Algeria
American Forces Radio
American Red Cross
An Khe Pass
An, Le Duc
An Loc
Anderson, Robert .
Anderson, Ronald W.
Army Special Services
Arnett, Peter
Arriola, Lazaro
Associated Press
Ba Diem
Ba, Pham Van
Ba Ria
Babel, Philip
Ban Bleik Pass
Ban Me Thuot
Bao Dai, Emperor
Bassac River
Bauer, Steve
Bayot, Clara
Ben Cat
Ben Hai River
Bennington, Terry
Beroviche Steamship Company
Berry, Gerry
Bice, Sonny
Bien Hoa
Binh Dinh Province
Binh Dong
Binh Long Province
Binh, Nguyen Thi
Bird Airways
Black Box
Blooming Lotus strategy
Blue Ridge, USS
Bradley, Ed
Braniff Air Lines
Brezhnev, Leonid Ilyich
Brown, Levorn .
Buon Ho
Butler, Camp, Okinawa
Ca, Nha
Ca, Ninh
Cam Ne
Cam Ranh
Cam Ranh Bay
Cam, Tran Van
Cambodia
Cambodian Republic
Camp Le Rolland
Campaign/
Can, Ha Thuc
Can, Nguyen Ba
Can Tho
Caravel Hotel
Carey, Richard E.
Carlson, Eric
Carr, Joe
Carver, George
Case-Church Amendment
Case, Clifford P.
Cau Do River
CBS News
Cheney, Dick
Cheo Reo
massacre at
Chief of Naval Operations
China Airlines
China Beach
Chinh, Huong
Chinh, Kieu
Chu Lai
Chung, Hoang Huy
Church, Frank
Civil Aeronautics Board
Clark Air Base
Clinton administration
Colby, William
Colonel Ba. See Giang, Vo Dong
Combat correspondents
Continental Hotel
Cook, Doug
Cook, Phil
Cooper, John Sherman
Coral Sea, USS
Courtney, Camp
Creel, Juanita
Crouch, Mary Ann
Cu Chi
Cu De River
Cubi Point, Philippines
Cui, Nguyen Duc
Cuong, Bach Thi-Kim
Cuong, Tu
Cushman, Robert E.
Da Lat
Da Nang
collapse of
escape from
surrender of
Da Nang Air Base
Da Nang Bay
Dai, Bao, Emperor
Daly, Ed
Dan, Phan Quang
Dang, Tra Bach
Dao, Le Minh
Darlac Province
Davis, Neil
Dawson, Alan
Dean, John Gunther
Defense Attaché’s Office compound
Demilitarized Zone
Democratic Republic of Vietnam
Diem, Ngo Dinh
Dien Bien Phu
Disraeli, Benjamin
Don Luan
Don, Tran Van
Donelson, Twila
Dong Ha
Dong Nai River
Dong, Tran Van
Dong Zu Base
Drye, Helen
Drye, Theresa
Duan, Le
Dubuque, USS
Duc Co
Dung, Van Tien
Durham, USS
Ea Pa River
East, William
Ebert, Carl
Eglin Air Force Base
Egypt
Ellis, Jim
Enterprise, USS
Evacuation plan
FANK. See Force Armee Nationale Khmer
Felce, Colin and Diane
Felce, Safi Thi-Kim
Fonda, Jane
Force Armee Nationale Khmer (FANK)
Ford, Gerald R.
Ford, Glenn
Forseth, Leonard A.
Fort Chaffee
Frain, Bobby
Francis, Albert A.
Frederick, USS
Freedom Hill
Freedom Hill Brig
French Indochina
Japanese invasion of
French Union Army
Fugino, Elizabeth
Futima, Okinawa
Garcia, David A.
Gasper, Ruthanne
Gayler, Noel A. M.
Gaza Strip
Geneva Peace Accords
Gevers, Duane
Giang, Vo Dong
Giap, Vo Nguyen Gilbert, Don
Gilmartin, Joe
Gold
South Vietnam’s treasury of
Gray, Alfred M.
Greenville Victory
Guam
Habib, Phillip
Hai Van Pass
Halstead, Dirck
Han River
Hancock, USS
Hanoi
Hanoi Hilton
Hanson, Camp
Hargis, Gregory E.
Harp, Tilford
Hasty, Boyett
e S.
Healy, Ken
Hedren, Tippi
Herbert, Beverly
Hester, Charles E.
Hill
Ho Chi Minh
Ho Chi Minh City
birth of
Ho Chi Minh Trail
Hoc Mon
Hoffman, Carl W.
Hoi An
Holden, Tom
Holden, William
Hollibaugh, Vera
Honolulu
Houghton, Kenneth J.
Howard, Dorothy
Hue atrocities at
Hughes, Stan
Hung, Pham
Hungarian Revolution of
Huong, Tran Van resignation of
International Commmission of Control and Supervision
Ishikawa
Israel
Jacobson, George
J.J. Carroll, Camp
Johnson, John M.
Johnson, Lee J.
Joint Chiefs of Staff
Joint Military Commission and International Oversight Committee
Judge, Darwin .
Kadina Air Force Base
Kean, Jim
Kempner, Sandy
Kennedy, Edward
Kennedy, John F.
Kennerly, David Hume
Kerouac, Jack
Khanh Hoa
Khanh Hung Orphanage
Khe Sanh
Khiem, Tran Thien
Khmer Republic
Khmer Rouge
Kieu, Nguyen Van
Killens, Lawrence B.
Kirchner, John W.
Kissinger, Henry