51 years ago today April 30, 1975, was the fall of Saigon to the forces of the communist North. 70 American helicopters evacuated 1,373 Americans, 5,595 South Vietnamese, and 815 foreign nationals in the span of 18 hours. Thank you to all the Veterans who served, and in case no one has said it before, "Welcome Home."

You'd think we would have learned our lesson.
Just too much money to be made at doing war I guess.

We could of won that thing in short order if the big brass would of let us do or jobs we were sent over there for. But NO,, they have to play there stupid games.

I wept the day Saigon fell, when the berlin Wall came down, when the US broke off relations with Taiwan, (free China).

Here was the last transmission from the CIA Station Chief in Saigon, Thomas Polgar, hours before the last Americans were airlifted from the US Embassy rooftop….

IT HAS BEEN A LONG FIGHT AND WE HAVE LOST. THIS EXPERIENCE UNIQUE IN THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES DOES NOT SIGNAL NECESSARILY THE DEMISE OF THE UNITED STATES AS A WORLD POWER. THE SEVERITY OF THE DEFEAT AND THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF IT, HOWEVER, WOULD SEEM TO CALL FOR A REASSESSMENT OF THE POLICIES OF NIGGARDLY HALF MEASURES WHICH HAVE CHARACTERIZED MUCH OF OUR PARTICIPATiON HERE DESPITE THE COMMITMENT OF MANPOWER AND RESOURCES WHICH WERE CERTAINLY GENEROUS. THOSE WHO FAIL TO LEARN FROM HISTORY ARE FORCED TO REPEAT IT. LET US HOPE THAT WE WILL NOT HAVE ANOTHER VIETNAM EXPERIENCE AND THAT WE HAVE LEARNED OUR LESSON.

SAIGON SIGNING OFF.

What were we over there for?

I didn't realize you were over there WI Outdoors. Thank you for your service.

Before I left country we were still winning//// Skippy1, your dead on stupid games

We would've had to outright conquer the North and hope the Soviets didn't escalate, or else commit to supporting the South for the long haul. While we were funding the South the Soviets (and Chinese) were funding the North, and after the Case-Church Amendment essentially ended our funding of the war effort, the communist support did not stop. Would it have been worth it? Current-day Vietnam is not our enemy.

I didn't think women were allowed in combat zones in that era.

Thank you for your service as well.

I never went to Vietnam in the military, but I did spend two weeks there about three years ago. Beautiful land and friendly people. They worship Americans, especially our fair shinned women folk. They do not prefer Communism but are powerless to throw out the Chinese.

We were there during a military holiday and met a small group of North Vietnamese officers in uniform. We asked our guide it we could speak with them. They agreed. They hugged our group and said “nobody wins in war”. They said they had two choices. Serve or be shot.

Our guide’s mother was a medical student in Saigon. She was captured and sent to an underground hospital as a surgical assistant. She eventually escaped and got back to Saigon. She became a doctor but because she had helped the North, nobody in her community would visit her practice. She had to change her profession.

I've always been a civilian. Plenty in my family have served and I have tremendous respect for them.

Women who served there Saigon, never saw females in any firebase I went in and out of