30 April 75 Fall of Saigon

Forty-five years ago on April 30, 1975, North Vietnamese tanks rolled into Saigon, smashed through the gates of the Presidential Palace and hoisted the communist flag. It was an incredible victory for the revolutionary forces that had waged guerrilla warfare for more than two decades against the better equipped U.S. forces, and before that, against the French colonialists. Known as "national liberation and unification" day, it been celebrated on its anniversary ever since.

For the U.S. and its South Vietnamese allies, however, the day was one of panic, chaos and defeat known simply as the fall of Saigon. The familiar news footage of refugees pouring over the U.S. Embassy gates, helicopters lifting off from the roof and the Navy pushing them off carriers so more can land is etched in my memory and many others.

For I had shortly arrived at Wiesbaden AB when most in my squadron heard the news on the Armed Forces Radio about the fall of Saigon that morning. Many of the older personal had served in Vietnam and that morning it was a very solemn place rest of the day...

 

Gosh...you forgot a few militaries...wasn't just the US

 

Years ago I did a paper on the Australian Canberra No. 2 Squadron, who flew the B.20, which was a version of the B-57. These license-built B.20s had a glass nose through which a third crewmember used a World War II-era bombsight to drop bombs while flying combat missions. This method proved surprisingly accurate. The squadron first flew throughout South Vietnam from April 1967 before being withdrawn in June 1971. They flew 11,963 combat missions, with the loss of only two aircraft and high praise from the USAF for their critical role during the war.

RAAF No. 2 Squadron History | Vietnam Veterans Association of Australia

 

Here is some interesting footage from the attack on Saigon in 68.

It Feels So Right (Saigon 1968) - YouTube

 

I was not able to access the link; do you know if the WWII-era bombsight installation included Automatic Flight Control Equipment which allowed the bombardier to control the aircraft during the bomb run? That would certainly help accuracy.