On April 30, 1975, Saigon fell to communist forces and the North Vietnamese declared “giai phong” – liberation. Veteran journalist and cameraman Neil Davis and I watched as T-54 tanks smoked their way down the city’s main thoroughfares to the Presidential Palace.
My return to Saigon on April 26, 1975 was born of anger, sorrow, impulsiveness and a compulsion to see the end of what arguably had been America's most divisive war since the mid 1860's.
Davis and I flew out of Phnom Penh on a U-S Marine helicopter on April 12th; the Cambodian capital about to return to 'Year Zero,' as Khmer Rouge forces completed their final push five days later.
Davis was crushed. Phnom Penh had been his home since moving from Saigon in 1973. He had left everything behind including his closest Cambodian friends. In the five years I had known him, I had never seen Davis seemingly defeated. He sat on the helicopter, head hung low, his CP-16 camera in his lap. He never shot a frame.
I had my own personal reasons for being both angry and distraught about Cambodia. I had failed to evacuate Sinan, a Cambodian woman with whom I had been deeply involved since my first visit to Cambodia in May 1970. The story of Sinan is that for another place.
The ten days after my Phnom Penh exit were a constant whir of fast moving events and jumbled emotions. The helicopter took us to the USS Okinawa in the Gulf of Thailand. Then on to Bangkok. NBC News sent us then to Hong Kong, and on to refugee camps in the Philippines where thousands of Vietnamese were being settled as the panicky evacuation of Vietnam was just beginning.
Vietnam was in chaos. In January 1975, North Vietnam's politburo approved plans for a massive invasion of the South with twenty well armed, well prepared divisions.
By the time I fled Phnom Penh, Hanoi's troops had overrun Quang Tri, Hue, Chu Lai, and Da Nang often without a fight. Hundreds of thousands of demoralized, poorly led, South Vietnamese troops had surrendered.
On March 31st, General Van Tien Dung [whom I interviewed in April 2000] was ordered to launch a final thrust towards Saigon: "The Ho Chi Minh Campaign."
On April 21st, South Vietnam's President Nguyen Van Thieu after an emotional speech condemning the United States for abandoning its long time ally, was flown out of the country to Taiwan and into exile.
On April 23rd, U-S President Gerald Ford delivered a final American blow - telling the nation that "the war is finished as far as America is concerned."
On April 25th, now in Hong Kong, Davis and I made a pact. We would return to Saigon to cover the inevitable fall of Saigon which Davis judged was only days away. We vowed to stay no matter what happened. We pledged not to tell anyone of our plan. We were determined not to repeat the miserable helcopter ride we had out of Phnom Penh.
On April 26th, I wrote in my diary: "There aren't many on the Air Vietnam flight from Hong Kong to Saigon today. Everyone seems to know the end is near. There is Davis and I and another old friend. Diep Brady, wife of an NBC correspondent, is here... fighting back fear. She is determined to find her brother and get him out of Vietnam before it is too late."
Four days after I wrote those words, the final evacuation of the Americans and their friends from Saigon began. Panic gripped the streets. Everyone wanted to get out at once. Many didn't make it.
Davis and I prepared to welcome the victorious North Vietnamese.
I remained in Vietnam for a month; Davis for three -- following what the North Vietnamese called "Giai phong" or "Liberation."
For a look back at that time from the perspective of the year 2000, watch this report posted on YouTube. The report was broadcast to mark the 25th anniversary of the communist takeover.
http://www.youtube.com/user/jimlaurie1#p/a/u/5/DzSF3K94KeE
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