Operation Frequent Wind

Operation Frequent Wind was the final phase in the evacuation of American civilians and "at-risk" Vietnamese from Saigon, South Vietnam, before the takeover of the city by the North Vietnamese People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) in the Fall of Saigon. It was carried out on 29–30 April 1975, during the last days of the Vietnam War. More than 7,000 people were evacuated by helicopter from various points in Saigon. The airlift resulted in several enduring images.

Evacuation plans already existed as a standard procedure for American embassies. At the beginning of March, fixed-wing aircraft began evacuating civilians from Tan Son Nhat Airport through neighboring countries. By mid-April, contingency plans were in place and preparations were underway for a possible helicopter evacuation. As the imminent collapse of Saigon became evident, the U.S. Navy assembled Task Force 76 off the coast near Vũng Tàu to support a helicopter evacuation and provide air support if required. In the event, air support was not needed as the North Vietnamese paused for a week at the outskirts of Saigon, possibly waiting for the South Vietnamese government to collapse and avoiding a confrontation with the U.S. by allowing the mostly-unopposed evacuation of Americans from Saigon.

On 28 April, Tan Son Nhut Air Base (next to the airport) came under artillery fire and attack from Vietnamese People's Air Force aircraft. The fixed-wing evacuation was terminated and Operation Frequent Wind began. During the fixed-wing evacuation 50,493 people (including 2,678 Vietnamese orphans) were evacuated from Tan Son Nhut. The evacuation took place primarily from the Defense Attaché Office compound, beginning around 14:00 on 29 April, and ending that night with only limited small arms damage to the helicopters. The U.S. Embassy in Saigon was intended to be only a secondary evacuation point for embassy staff, but it was soon overwhelmed with evacuees and desperate South Vietnamese. The evacuation of the embassy was completed at 07:53 on 30 April, but some Americans chose to stay or were left behind and some 400 third-country nationals were left at the embassy.

Tens of thousands of Vietnamese evacuated themselves by sea or air. With the collapse of South Vietnam, numerous boats and ships, Republic of Vietnam Air Force (RVNAF) helicopters and some fixed-wing aircraft sailed or flew out to the evacuation fleet. Helicopters began to clog ship decks and eventually, some were pushed overboard to allow others to land. Pilots of other helicopters were told to drop off their passengers and then take off and ditch in the sea, from where they would be rescued. In Operation Frequent Wind a total of 1,373 Americans and 5,595 Vietnamese and third-country nationals were evacuated by helicopter.

Although American officials at the highest levels of the intelligence community (e.g. CIA Director William Colby) were certain that the South Vietnamese government would collapse, the U.S. government underestimated the speed of the North Vietnamese advance during the 1975 Spring Offensive and how quickly the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) would collapse. The Saigon plan had been developed over several years. Originally codenamed "Talon Vise", the operation was renamed "Frequent Wind" when the original codename was compromised.

By 1975, the Frequent Wind plan aimed to evacuate about 8,000 U.S. citizens and third-country nationals, but it was never able to estimate the number of South Vietnamese to include.

Preparations on the ground

On 1 April an evacuation control center manned by U.S. Army, U.S. Navy, U.S. Air Force (USAF) and U.S. Marine Corps (USMC) personnel began operating at the Defense Attaché Office (DAO) compound on 12-hour shifts, increasing to 24-hour shifts the next day. Workers from Pacific Architects and Engineers visited each of the 13 LZs to remove obstructions and paint Hs the size of a UH-1 Huey helicopter's skids. In late April, the MSG Marines were ordered to abandon Marshall Hall/Marine House, their billet at 204 Hong Thap Tu Street (now 204 Nguyen Thi Minh Khai Street), and move into the recreation area in the embassy compound.) helicopters.

Amphibious ships:

A guided missile frigate:

and eight destroyer types for naval gunfire, escort, and area defense, including:

The and carrier attack groups of Task Force 77 in the South China Sea provided air cover while Task Force 73 ensured logistic support.

The Marine evacuation contingent, the 9th Marine Amphibious Brigade (Task Group 79.1), consisted of three Battalion Landing Teams (BLT); 2nd Battalion, 4th Marines (2/4), 1st Battalion 9th Marines (1/9), 3rd Battalion 9th Marines (3/9) and three helicopter squadrons HMH-462, HMH-463, HMM-165 along with other support units from Marine Aircraft Group 39 (MAG-39).

In addition, a flotilla of Military Sealift Command (MSC) ships were assembled and these carried out seaborne evacuations from Saigon Port, this fleet comprised:

Tugboats:

Asiatic Stamina
Chitose Maru
Haruma
Osceola
Shibaura Maru

and the following large transport ships:

SS American Challenger
SS Boo Heung Pioneer
SS Green Forest
SS Green Port
SS Pioneer Contender
SS Pioneer Commander

Tan Son Nhut under attack

thumb|right|250px|RVNAF C-130A burns at Tan Son Nhut after rocket attack on 29 April

On 28 April at 18:06, three A-37 Dragonflies piloted by former RVNAF pilots, who had defected to the Vietnamese People's Air Force at the fall of Da Nang, dropped six Mk81 250 lb bombs on Tan Son Nhut Air Base, destroying several aircraft. RVNAF F-5s took off in pursuit, but they were unable to intercept the .

At 03:58, C-130E, #72-1297, flown by a crew from the 776th Tactical Airlift Squadron, was destroyed by a 122 mm rocket while taxiing to pick up refugees after offloading a BLU-82 at Tan Son Nhut Air Base. The crew evacuated the burning aircraft on the taxiway and departed the airfield on another C-130 that had previously landed. Frank Snepp later recalled the arrival of helicopters at the embassy while the song was playing over the radio as a "bizarre Kafkaesque time". Japanese journalists, concerned that they would not recognize the tune, had to get someone to sing it to them.

After the evacuation signal was given, the buses began to pick up passengers and head to the DAO Compound. The system worked so efficiently that the buses were able to make three return journeys rather than the expected one. The biggest problem occurred when the ARVN unit guarding the main gate at Tan Son Nhut refused to allow the last convoy of buses into the DAO Compound at about 17:45. As this was happening, a firefight between two ARVN units broke out and caught the rearmost buses in the crossfire, disabling two of the vehicles. Eventually the ARVN commander controlling the gates agreed to permit the remaining buses to enter the compound. General Carey's threat to use the AH-1J SeaCobra helicopter gunships flying overhead may have played a role in the ARVN commander's decision. Members of the police in Saigon had been promised evacuation in exchange for protecting the American evacuation buses and control of the crowds in the city during the evacuation. Disgruntled ARVN troops repeatedly hit American helicopters with small arms fire throughout the evacuation, without causing serious damage. Despite receiving sporadic PAVN AAA fire, USAF and USN aircraft made no attacks on AAA or SAM sites during the evacuation.

Despite all the concern over these military threats, the weather presented the gravest danger. At the beginning of the operation, pilots in the first wave reported the weather as scattered, overcast with visibility, except in haze over Saigon, where visibility decreased to one mile. This meant that scattered clouds existed below their flight path while a solid layer of clouds more than two miles above their heads obscured the sun. The curtain of haze over Saigon so altered the diminished daylight that line of sight visibility was only a mile. The weather conditions deteriorated as the operation continued. Air America helicopters started flying to the rooftop LZs in Saigon and either shuttled the evacuees back to the DAO Compound or flew out to the ships of TF76.

By the morning of 29 April, it was estimated that approximately 10,000 people had gathered around the embassy, while some 2,500 evacuees were in the embassy and consular compounds. The crowds prevented the use of buses for transporting evacuees from the embassy to the DAO Compound for evacuation, and the embassy gates were closed to prevent the crowd from surging through. Eligible evacuees now had to make themselves known to the Marine guards or embassy staff manning the walls and were then lifted over the walls and into the embassy compound. Among those arriving at the embassy were Phan Quang Đán, former Deputy Prime Minister and Minister responsible for social welfare and refugee resettlement, CH-46s evacuated the Battalion Landing Team by 07:00 and after an anxious wait a lone CH-46 Swift 2-2 of HMM-164 A CH-47 Chinook, too large to land aboard the destroyer escort Kirk, hovered over the fantail as 20 evacuees jumped and one baby dropped into the arms of Navy sailors below. The pilot then moved away from the ship and jumped out himself just before ditching the Chinook in the ocean.

File:Sea Stallions approach USS Midway.jpg|Sea Stallions returning from the DAO Compound approach USS Midway

File:Evacuees offloaded onto the USS Midway.jpg|Evacuees offloaded onto USS Midway

File:VNAF arrives at USS Midway.jpg|RVNAF Hueys and a CH-47 Chinook arrive at USS Midway

File:VNAF Huey full with evacuees.jpg|RVNAF Huey full of evacuees on the deck of USS Midway

File:Vietnamese UH-1 pushed over board, Operation Frequent Wind.jpg|RVNAF Huey is pushed overboard from USS Midway

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One of the more notable events occurred on Midway when the pilot of an RVNAF Cessna O-1 dropped a note on the deck of the carrier. The note read "Can you move these helicopter to the other side, I can land on your runway, I can fly 1 hour more, we have enough time to move. Please rescue me. Major Buang, Wife and 5 child." Midways commanding officer, Captain L.C. Chambers ordered the flight deck crew to clear the landing area; in the process an estimated US$10 million worth of UH-1 Huey helicopters were pushed overboard into the South China Sea. Once the deck was clear Major Buang approached the deck, bounced once and then touched down and taxied to a halt with room to spare. Major Buang became the first RVNAF fixed-wing pilot to ever land on a carrier. A second Cessna O-1 was also recovered by USS Midway that afternoon. The RVNN ships included:

RVNS Tran Hung Dao (former USS Camp (DE-251))
RVNS Trần Quang Khải (former USS Bering Strait (AVP-34)/USCGC Bering Strait (WHEC-382))
RVNS Trần Nhật Duật (former USS Yakutat (AVP-32)/USCGC Yakutat (WHEC-380))
RVNS Trần Bình Trọng (former USS Castle Rock (AVP-35)/USCGC Castle Rock (WHEC-383))
RVNS Trần Quốc Toản (former USS Cook Inlet (AVP-36)/USCGC Cook Inlet (WHEC-384))
RVNS Đống Đa II (former USS Crestview PCE-895)
RVNS Chi Lang II (former USS Gayety AM-239)
RVNS Chi Linh (former USS Shelter (AM-301))
RVNS Ngọc Hồi (former USS Brattleboro PCE(R)-852)
RVNS Vạn Kiếp II (former USS Amherst PCE(R)-853)
RVNS Lý Thường Kiệt (former USS USS Chincoteague (AVP-24)/USCGC Chincoteague (WHEC-375))
RVNS Ngô Quyền (former USS Wachapreague (AGP-8)/USCGC McCulloch (WHEC-386))
RVNS Huong Giang (former USS Oceanside (LSM-175))
RVNS Cam Ranh (former USS Marion County (LST-975))
RVNS Thi Nai (former USS Cayuga County (LST-529))
RVNS Nha Trang (former USS Jerome County (LST-848))
RVNS Huỳnh Văn Đức (former USCGC Point Clear (WPB-82315))
RVNS My Tho (former Harnett County (LST-821))
RVNS Can Tho (former USS Garrett County (LST-786))
RVNS Vinh Long (former USS Satyr (ARL-23))

By the time they reached the Philippines, the Filipino government had recognized the legitimacy of the North Vietnamese government and the ships were technically North Vietnamese property. Kirk and Cook sent two U.S. sailors to each of the 32 RVNN ships to officially take command of the ships as they entered Philippine territorial waters, effectively repatriating the ships back into the U.S. Navy. Many of the ships would eventually be turned over to the Philippine Navy.

On 2 May, Task Force 76, carrying the Operation Frequent Wind evacuees and 44,000 seaborne evacuees and the RVNN group set sail for reception centers in the Philippines and Guam. The South Korean civilians were evacuated in 1976, while General Lee and two other diplomats were held captive until April 1980. Forty-nine Americans, including dependents, were also left behind or chose to remain in Saigon. They were evacuated to Bangkok on 1 August 1976.

While the operation itself was a success, the images of the evacuation symbolized the wastefulness and ultimate futility of American involvement in Vietnam. President Ford later called it "a sad and tragic period in America's history" but argued that "you couldn't help but be very proud of those pilots and others who were conducting the evacuation". Nixon's pledge of Peace with Honour in Vietnam had become a humiliating defeat, which together with Watergate contributed to the crisis of confidence that affected America throughout the 1970s.

Casualties

For an operation of the size and complexity of Frequent Wind, casualties were relatively light. Marine corporals Charles McMahon and Darwin Judge, killed at the DAO compound, were the only members of US forces killed in action during the operation and they were the last US ground casualties in Vietnam. and First Lieutenant Michael J. Shea crashed into the sea on its approach to the ship after having flown a night sea and air rescue mission. The two enlisted crewmen survived, but the bodies of the pilots were not recovered. The cause of the crash was never determined.

Memorials

thumb|right|Major Buang's Cessna O-1, on display at the [[National Museum of Naval Aviation, Pensacola, FL]]

During the demolition of the embassy, the metal staircase leading from the rooftop to the helipad was removed and sent back to the United States, where it is now on display at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum.

The Cessna O-1 Bird Dog that Major Buang landed on USS Midway is now on display at the National Museum of Naval Aviation at Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida. The USS Midway is a museum ship in San Diego. Lady Ace 09, CH-46 serial number 154803, is now on display at the Flying Leatherneck Aviation Museum in San Diego, California.

In popular culture

thumb|right|220px|Rooftop of [[22 Gia Long Street in 2002]]

On the afternoon of 29 April 1975, Hubert van Es, a Saigon-based photographer for United Press International, took the iconic photo of Operation Frequent Wind of an Air America UH-1 on a rooftop picking up Vietnamese evacuees. The building in the photo was the Pittman Apartment building at 22 Gia Long Street (now 22 Lý Tự Trọng Street), which was used as a residence by various embassy, CIA, and USAID employees. It has often been misidentified as the US Embassy. Hubert van Es' photo is frequently used in political cartoons commenting on US foreign policy.

The second act of the stage musical Miss Saigon depicts events leading up to, and during Operation Frequent Wind, with the main protagonists (Chris and Kim) becoming separated as a result of the evacuation. Writer Claude-Michel Schönberg has acknowledged that the musical was inspired by pictures of the evacuation. Hugh van Es believed that Miss Saigon misappropriated his photo and considered legal action against the show but decided against it.

In The Simpsons at the end of Episode 16 of Season 6, "Bart vs. Australia", the Simpsons are evacuated from the American Embassy as angry Australians gather outside in a scene reminiscent of Hubert van Es's famous photo. Homer asks the helicopter pilot if they are being taken to an aircraft carrier and is told that "the closest vessel is the USS Walter Mondale. It's a laundry ship".

The 2007 PBS documentary Oh, Saigon by DAO Compound evacuee, film director Doan Hoang, tells the story of her family's escape and resettlement.

In 2010, under the direction of VADM Adam Robinson, then Surgeon General of the U.S. Navy, the Navy Medical Education and Training Command created a documentary entitled The Lucky Few: The Story of USS Kirk, Providing Humanitarian & Medical Care at Sea. It has since been translated into Vietnamese.

The operation was the subject of the 2014 PBS documentary Last Days in Vietnam.

References

External links

Archival collections

Guide to the Khanh Van Thi Nguyen Narrative on Operation Frequent Wind. Special Collections and Archives, The UC Irvine Libraries, Irvine, California.