25 years ago this April the fight that had cost us all so much finally came to an end. With the surrender of the South Vietnamese Government to forces of the Peoples Army of Vietnam, the changes that so many gave so much to prevent began.

 The momentous changes in the political and military situation in North and South Vietnam set the stage for this day.  The failure of peacekeeping efforts, the inability to force a coalition government on the GVN, the weakness of the Republic of Vietnam's Armed Forces, and the reduction of promised aid from the US government.  This reduction compounded by inflation, increasing world prices, created a situation that destroyed the ability  of the average soldier to produce even a subsistence living for his family.  Predictably, desertions soared and morale plummeted.

It was this state of affairs that prompted Hanoi to renew its military offensive against the South.  The fiscal restraints on the GVN led the North to believe that they would have to resort to fighting a poor mans war. The General staff figured that although the South could defend its positions it lacked the ability to aggressively patrol or launch counterattacks.  The decision was made to begin a two year offensive to either force the South into a coalition government of for a complete communist victory.

In preparation and to support this offensive the PAVN began construction of corridor 613 which paralleled the Ho Chi Minh trail but followed the Truong Son Mountains in western South Vietnam.  This road system allowed the movement of trucks and tanks to concentrate overwhelming numbers against the South Vietnamese defenders.  True to their dictum of preparing the battlefield the PAVN forces began the march to the end game.

1. 19 March 1975- Quang Tri City and Province abandoned as the general retreat from Military Region I begins.

2. 24 March 1975- Quang Nai and Tam Ky fall.

3. 25 March 1975- Hue and Hoi An fall.

4. 26 March 1975- Chu Lai falls.

5. 30 March 1975- Da Nang falls.

EAGLE PULL/FREQUENT WINDS

The USS HANCOCK steams for the South China Sea and the evacuation of Phnom Penh and eventually Saigon.

As the last American helicopter disappeared over the eastern horizon on the morning of April 30, 1975, am eerie quiet settled over Saigon. With the exception of the docks, where crowds still converged in a last attempt to board a few small coastal freighters heading out to sea, and the streets around the U.S. Embassy, which were filled with looters, there was little activity. In the distance, random artillery sounds seemed not out of place in a country that for so long had known only war. Tan Son Nhut was relatively quiet, too. On the sides of the runways, lay wrecked or abandoned planes, twisted into useless, hulking heaps of metal. Fires crackled in the fuel and munitions dumps.

At 10:24 A.M. the voice of President Duong Van Minh reached out to the defeated country over the airwaves. Expressing his commitment to "national reconciliation and concord to save the lives of our compatriots," he called "on all (Republic of Vietnam) soldiers to remain calm, to stop fighting, and stay put." He then made the same plea to our brother combatants" of the PRGRSV (Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Republic of South Vietnam). "We are waiting to meet the PRGRSV in order to discuss the formal handing over of power in an orderly manner, with a view to avoiding useless bloodshed." After Minh finished, General Nguyen Huu Hanh, the acting chief of the JGS, directed "all generals and military men of all ranks" to obey the order "absolutely."

Across the nation, the last vestiges of resistance wilted. The Army of the Republic of Vietnam began to disappear, and with it died the last strains of South Vietnam's national anthem, "Tieng Goi Thanh Nien" ("Young People Stand Up for Your Country"). Originally, it had been a rallying song against the French. In the streets, without shame, thousands of soldiers discarded their weapons and uniforms, transforming themselves into taxi drivers and peasants to avoid retribution from the victors. Others chose honor in death over defeat. In Lam Son Square, shortly after Minh's speech, a South Vietnamese colonel walked up to the huge soldier's monument facing the National Assembly and saluted. For several moments, he stood at attention before the memorial commemorating South Vietnam's war dead and then reached for his holster. As Associated Press newsmen George Esper and Matt Franjola watched in horror, the officer pointed his .45 automatic directly at his head and pulled the trigger.

At midday, General Dung's II Corps tanks appeared on the edge of Saigon. Dusty roads into the capital had opened up before them; no one had even bothered to blow up the bridges. The convoy rolled past the ravaged American embassy and proceeded from Thong Nhut Avenue across Cong Ly Boulevard toward Independence Palace. Fluttering atop tall radio aerials, a bright Liberation star signified to 3 million Saigonese a new and uncertain future. Open trucks rolled alongside the caravan, jammed with young soldiers in green uniforms. A harsh sunlight glinted off steel AK47s as victorious troops advanced into the heart of the city.

Without slowing down, the lead tank roared straight into the high steel front gate, which buckled and collapsed under the powerful impact. Close behind, a second tank crashed through, then swerved around to guard the rear while the rest of the tanks swarmed onto the lawn. As the tanks formed a huge semicircle facing the steps, a lone pith-helmeted soldier, carrying a large blue-and-red flag with the yellow star of the National Liberation Front, raced across the lawn toward the steps. As he sprinted, he waved the huge flag violently above his head in a gesture of triumph. Neil Davis of Reuters asked the soldier his name. The young man looked embarrassed, then replied, "Nguyen Van Thieu." At that moment of singular irony, thirty years' war in Vietnam was over.

Lest we ever wonder what it was all for, the following may allow some of us to remember.

Tales from the Aftermath

It seems fitting that with the twenty-year anniversary of the fall of Saigon to the Viet Cong, special recognition of the memories, feelings, and introspections regarding April 30, 1975 is in order. Many of our Vietnamese students at Mission College experienced first hand the deprivation, humiliation, and fear associated with losing their government, their way of life, and their freedom. Many were children and perceived these devastations through their caretakers, but clearly as can be seen from their stories a shadow lives in their hearts as well. But all who left their Vietnamese homeland to come to the United States chose a life filled with uncertainty, change, and struggle over a life in their homeland under a Communist thumb.

I have a personal interest in this subject because I have many Vietnamese students in my classes and I'm constantly amazed at the stories they write in their journals and other assignments about their past lives. It is often difficult to fully appreciate the extent to which these diligent quiet people have survived all manner of disasters and trauma and have gone on to lead civil productive lives.

The following are the stories as well as excerpts from stories written by many Vietnamese students attending Mission College during the spring semester of 1995.

Tran Ngoc De

As a pastor in Saigon, I was working for the Seventh Day Adventist Mission at the central office. Usually, I went to my office early in the morning. On April 25, 1975 when I arrived at my office to my surprise nobody was there. Instantly, I was freezing and my heart was empty and I felt awfully lonely and abandoned. I stepped towards my desk, sat down, and cried. I cried too much, like a baby who lost his mother. Then I prayed for a long time. After that, I stood up, walked around the office building hoping to find someone with me. No one showed up to work. Finally, I realized that all the employees had fled, trying to look for refuge abroad.

I hurried home to report the alarming situation to my wife and two children. The kids did not understand what would happen to our country; to our people in the South. But, my wife who was a refugee from the North in 1954 knows the Communist regime very well. She calmed me down and consoled me.

The night of April 29 was very scary. Cannons, machine guns, grenades, AK-37s, and rockets opened fire all around the capital, especially at the Tan Son Nhat airport. I could not close my eyes. I lived close to two strategic spots; the Headquarter General of the Armed Forces and the TSN Airport. These were the most important bases that the enemy tried to occupy at any cost. At 7:00AM on April 30, I went to the church to pray. Then at 9:00AM I went home. On my way home I passed the Headquarter General. For the first time, I saw a lot of high officers, particularly the majors and colonels talking to one another. When they saw me, they urged me to go home because the Communists were approaching the airport.

At 11:30AM, Duong Van Minh, acting president of the Republic of South Vietnam, announced over Saigon Radio that all the officers and G.I's. of the Republic of South Vietnam should put down their weapons and not fight anymore. The two colonels who were talking two minutes ago began to cry. I also cried and did not know why.

Then the Communist tanks headed downtown Saigon in the direction of the President's Palace. The huge door of the palace slowly opened, letting those Russian tanks run victoriously and proudly to the porch. Can you imagine the deep sorrow of the people in the South? The Communists themselves did not believe that they took over the South easily without any resistance. The people in the North cried because they had always hoped that some day the Southerners would liberate them bringing a better life, but the flag of the Republic was pulled down giving way to the Communist flag with the yellow star in the center.

I got home the same day at noon and told the whole story to my wife and two children. I loved them very much and I did not know what would happen tomorrow when we lived under Communist control.

In the afternoon of April 30, I rode my bike downtown. Saigon was full of Communist soldiers and red flags along the streets. I was very surprised to see some friends of mine who had gone to my church and worked for the former government sitting in the military jeeps circulating around the city making Communist propaganda. President Thieu was right when he said, "They eat National rice, but they worship the Communist devils."

Nga Nguyen

Vietnamese people call April 3 "National Hatred Day" and in our community books, magazines, newspapers, brochures, pictures, and diaries are published that catch at least some of the memories under the Communist administration.

I was only eight years old in 1975, but I still remember clearly what it was like. My family lived in Thu Duc (a suburb of Saigon). On that day, my father drove my family to the capital and found a friend's house to stay at temporarily. On the way there I saw Communist tanks and troops in the distance. They were moving slowly and didn't fire at civilians and non-protesting military forces. At noon the ex-president Duong Van Minh officially ordered all military divisions, police, and semi-military forces to give up and put down all arms and munitions and he was waiting in the presidential palace to pass the political power over to the Communist officers.

I think the reason there wasn't any battle between the two armies might be because they had a secret agreement to avoid blood between "same skin" soldiers (even though they had different ideologies).

Then our National flag (yellow with three red stripes) was dragged down abolishing the freedom and liberty of the government of the Republic and a new red flag with a yellow star in the center went up; a Communist flag which people were scared of and tried to escape from because it represented a government administered mainly by police.

Huu Tran

In Vietnam, most families are used to reserving three days at the New Year to invite their ancestors to their homes. This is called the Tet and is the greatest festival of the year. During the war, every year the Communists used to sign a one-week cease fire agreement, but they often violated it. During the Tet in 1968, they opened an attack on all cities in South Vietnam.

At that time I was a field radio operator in the army of the Republic of Vietnam. When the attack happened, I was enjoying the Tet at home with my wife and three children, but, I immediately left home for my duty. However, I didn't think that I would leave my wife and children forever because I thought that the enemy could not violate the cease fire and everything would be over very quickly.

But the attack lasted for three days. The Communists took over three fourths of my city including the area where I lived. After three days, my battalion along with some American troops pushed them out of the city. When I got home I saw the bodies of my wife and three children killed in a terrible way.

I will never be able to forget this terrible disaster. The pictures of my wife and three children always appear in my heart.

With permission Marianne Brems Mission College