The Fall of Saigon | The Last Helicopter Leaves Vietnam

April 30th, 1975 — the day Saigon fell.

North Vietnamese troops were closing in, and America’s long war in Vietnam was ending in chaos. Across the city, desperate crowds flooded rooftops, clutching children, waving papers, begging to escape.

Helicopters became the only lifeline. U.S. Marines lifted people out in frantic waves, landing on rooftops and embassy pads packed beyond capacity. Thousands were left behind, pounding on locked gates as explosions echoed across the city.

At 7:53 a.m., the last helicopter lifted from the U.S. Embassy roof. The war was over.

That image — a single helicopter rising above a desperate crowd — came to define the end of the Vietnam War. For some, it meant freedom. For others, abandonment. For the world, it was history’s most haunting farewell.

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