On April 30, 1975, the South Vietnamese capital of Saigon fell to the Army of North Vietnam.
The fall of Saigon ended the Vietnam War; the government of South Vietnam surrendered that same day, and Vietnam became a unified Communist country.
The US Embassy famously had to evacuate its staff from the roof via helicopter. US troops had left the country in March 1973, leaving the South Vietnamese army to fight on its own for the final two years of the war.
Photo of South Vietnamese family fleeing Saigon after the fall, April 1975, by Jean-Claude Francolon / Liason via Getty Images.
Comments
Nothing worthier than PEACE. Vietnam war was not only happening in Vietnam, but it drew its neighboring countries Laos and Cambodia involving the war as well until Cambodians “Living with a nightmare of the Killing Field by Pol Pot”.
The people of Vietnam just wanted to be free and independent – it’s hard for me to really understand why the United States felt so threatened by communism that we opposed freedom and independence.
The repercussions were absolutely tragic for Vietnam, for the US, for Cambodia and Laos. You may well be right, Khieu Thy, that Cambodia ended up getting the worst of it, because of the accident of its location next to Vietnam!