The Fall of Saigon (1975): The Bravery of American Diplomats and Refugees

 

On April 30, 1975, the South Vietnamese capital of Saigon fell to the North Vietnamese Army, effectively ending the Vietnam War. In the days before, U.S. forces evacuated thousands of Americans and South Vietnamese. American diplomats were on the frontlines, organizing what would be the most ambitious helicopter evacuation in history.

The logistics of issuing visas and evacuating these Vietnamese and American citizens were not glamorous but were essential. American diplomats were behind every detail. Some diplomats showed exceptional bravery saving Vietnamese citizens who would have faced persecution under the new regime.

These artifacts and photos in our collection offer a glimpse of what diplomats and refugees experienced during the Fall of Saigon. More broadly, they show the challenging and dangerous circumstances diplomats may encounter while performing their work.

Saigon in April 1975

Although the United States had withdrawn its military forces from Vietnam after the signing of the Paris Peace Accords in 1973, approximately 5,000 Americans remained–including diplomats still working in the U.S. embassy in Saigon. While President Nixon threatened a forceful response to a violation of the treaty, many factors, including lack of domestic support and the distraction of the Watergate scandal, provided an opportunity for the NVA to launch an offensive.

Throughout March and April 1975, the North Vietnamese Army captured more and more Southern cities. South Vietnamese citizens began to flee in mass numbers. The fall of the second-largest city, Da Nang, sparked even more refugees to depart.

In Saigon, South Vietnamese lined up at the embassy to gain entry to the United States. Patti Morton, a trailblazing Diplomatic Security Special Agent serving as a Regional Security Officer in Saigon—the first woman in such a role—documented the scene on the embassy grounds in the footage below, taken on an unknown day in April.

The Final Days: The Fall of Saigon

On April 29, 1975, North Vietnamese troops shelled Saigon’s Tan Son Nhut Air Base. U.S. Ambassador Graham Martin then ordered the evacuation of Saigon. As a signal to Americans in Saigon that the evacuation had begun, Armed Forces Radio started to play “White Christmas” on repeat.

By this point, sea lanes were blocked and planes could not land in Saigon, leaving only one option for an evacuation: a helicopter airlift.

After the defense attaché compound was attacked, the U.S. embassy became the sole departure point for helicopters. The original plans called to only evacuate Americans, but Ambassador Martin insisted on evacuating South Vietnamese government officials and the embassy’s local staff.

Meanwhile, 10,000 South Vietnamese waited at the embassy gates, hoping to make it onto a helicopter.

From April 29th to April 30th, helicopters landed at 10-minute intervals in the embassy, including landing on the embassy roof. With some pilots flying for 19 hours straight, over 7,000 people were evacuated, including 5,500 Vietnamese, in less than 24 hours.

Diplomat Wolfgang J. Lehmann and the Final Hour at the Embassy

Passport photo of Wolfgang J. Lehmann, 1973. Gift of the estate of Wolfgang J. Lehmann.

One diplomat working to facilitate the evacuation was Wolfgang J. Lehmann, who served as the Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. embassy in Saigon. Lehmann was one of the last people to leave the embassy on April 30th.

After witnessing Ambassador Martin depart on a helicopter and then departing on the next one along with about six other embassy staff members, Lehmann recalled the flight to a waiting evacuation ship:

Wolfgang Lehmann’s day planner that he used during his time as Deputy Chief of Mission. Gift of the estate of Wolfgang O. Lehmann.

This day planner was used by Wolfgang Lehmann, the Deputy Chief of Mission in Saigon. The planner was donated to the museum in 2019 by Wolfgang’s nephew, Walter Lehmann.

On the page documenting the day of April 30, 1975, you can see that Lehmann made two notes:  “05:20 left Saigon” and “06:10 arrived USS Denver.”

President Ford Thanks Diplomats for Historic Evacuation

A framed copy of this personal message sent on May 5, 1975 from President Ford to Ambassador Graham Martin. Gift of the estate of Wolfgang J. Lehmann.

Lehmann kept and framed a copy of this personal message sent on May 5, 1975 from President Ford to Ambassador Graham Martin, thanking him and the entire embassy staff for the successful evacuation effort. The telegram reads:

“Dear Graham: I want to express my deep appreciation to you and your entire staff for the successful evacuation of Americans and Vietnamese from Saigon. The tireless dedication of your mission and its skillful performance under the most severe pressure was vital to the accomplishment of this most difficult and delicate operation. Please accept as well my sincere personal compliments. Your courage and steadiness at this critical period enabled us to evacuate our own citizens and a very large number of endangered Vietnamese. I hope you will convey to your entire staff my deep gratitude and that of the American people for a job well done. Sincerely, Gerald R. Ford”

Diplomat Evacuates Hundreds of Vietnamese Refugees in Cần Thơ

While Saigon was falling, the rest of South Vietnam was also evacuating as quickly as possible. Approximately 100 miles away In Cần Thơ, one diplomat saved hundreds of Vietnamese refugees by devising and leading a risky evacuation.

Francis Terry McNamara served as Consul General in Cần Thơ, Vietnam at the time of the U.S. evacuation. In the hectic days prior to the final pull-out, McNamara’s orders from the U.S. Embassy were to evacuate only the Americans; they were only going to provide helicopters with enough room to evacuate the 18 or so American employees — for expediency and security reasons.

McNamara knew that he could not leave his loyal Vietnamese employees or their families behind, as they would likely face detention or even death for working for the Americans.

McNamara refused to evacuate just the Americans from the consulate, as were the instructions from the evacuation coordinator in Saigon. Saigon desperately needed Cần Thơ’s helicopters, the coordinator relayed.

Using his negotiation skills, McNamara said they could have the consulate’s helicopters now, rather than in six hours after evacuating Americans, if McNamara could evacuate everyone, including Vietnamese staff, by boat.

After they got disconnected, McNamara was able to get Jacobsen back on the phone. He recalls,

“Reluctantly, he agreed, “You’ve got your permission to go by water,” he granted. “Just get the hell out of there.” I had finally worn him down. The whole world was ending around him, and he could not get me off the telephone.”

– Consul General Francis Terry McNamara

Utilizing his skills as a former sailor, McNamara commandeered some barges with help from a USAID colleague and quickly loaded the remaining Americans, Vietnamese employees, and their families for evacuation.