Operation Frequent Wind and the evacuation from Saigon #shorts

On 29th April 1975, America began Operation Frequent Wind that evacuated over 1,000 American civilians and 6,000 "at-risk" Vietnamese from Saigon.
As Communist North Vietnamese troops closed in on the capital, US Ambassador Graham Martin ordered American Forces Radio to broadcast their pre-arranged signal “The temperature in Saigon is 105 degrees and rising”, followed Bing Crosby’s White Christmas.

Thousands of people were airlifted from the Defense Attaché Office, but thousands more had gathered at the US Embassy. President Ford ordered Ambassador Martin to stop evacuating anyone other than American personnel at 3.27am. The last of the Marines were flown out at 7.53am, leaving approximately 400 evacuees still inside the Embassy when it fell to the Communists.

The largest ever helicopter evacuation had lasted for 19 hours and saw 81 helicopters shuttle the evacuees to US Navy ships moored in the South China Sea.

#shots

[markrowland]

Two months after, I met a pilot of a Jolly Green Gian, helicopter, who had evacuated 116, Vietnamese on a single flight to the Taicondiroga.

[USMC-Veteran-]

Remember it well, I helped load out the USS Blue Ridge at White Beach Okinawa. Then I was TAD to H&S Co, 1st Bn, 9th Marines, total chaos. Semper Fi

[aotoda]

I don't suppose any of the remaining evacuees were American, right?