Well, as it turned out, the guys yelling down were Marines. Content is available under CC BY-SA 3.0 unless otherwise noted. Ted Hayash But it was understood the party meant I was going to get them out. Domenic Mastrippolito Kathryn and Richard Kimball And then the mother jumped out and he caught her too. ... 1 hr 37 mins. Stuart Herrington, Army Captain: All I know is that in Washington, there was confusion about the numbers on the ground. But I had a job to do, and it was an important job to do, I thought, to deny the enemy the South Vietnamese Naval ships. My dad was afraid for not having enough fuel. Juan Valdez, Marine Embassy Guard: There were no helicopters. And I remember very distinctly that every time a helicopter coming down, it just blew us away. And it was understood that General Smith was not being premature with recommendation for Option Four. And the first thing in my sight, was, I didn't see that soldier there anymore, on that wall. So, I looked at the Vietnamese and I said, (speaks Vietnamese) "I gotta take a leak". It was a terrible, terrible, terrible moral dilemma for everybody. The President commends the personnel of the Armed Forces who accomplished it, as well as Ambassador Graham Martin and the staff of his mission who served so well under difficult conditions. Mike Sullivan, Marine Embassy Guard: He was upset. My mom was just, you know, wow. And I said, "Oh no, of course not." Beth Karmin ITN Source My mom grabbed my little sister, who was about six months at that time and a little brother who was about three or four years old and myself. Binh Pho, College Student: I kind of fall asleep off and on, but what gets me woke up is the noise. From award winning director Rory Kennedy, Last Days in Vietnam chronicles the chaotic final days of the Vietnam War, as time ran out in a city under fire, and an unlikely group of heroes emerged. During the chaotic final days of the American involvement in the Vietnam War, as the North Vietnamese Army closed in on Saigon, South Vietnamese resistance crumbled. When the North Vietnamese surged south, a dangerous situation unfolded. And I left into the shadows. Most of the Vietnamese navy ships were dead in the water. So that starts the lift. And Ambassador Martin wouldn't tolerate or countenance such thought. (Speaks Vietnamese). In the city, when President Duong Van Minh went on the radio and told the Viet Cong that his country would surrender unconditionally, and that he had told its army to lay down its arms. For example when the city of Hue was taken over by the North Vietnamese, several thousand people on a long blacklist were rounded up, schoolteachers, government civil servants, people who were known anti-Communists, and they were executed, in some cases even buried alive, so panic was but a millimeter away. I was the last one out. Joseph McBride, State Department Officer: You couldn't have gotten to the airfield if you wanted to. We don't need helicopters. Katharine Duffy, Contracts & Rights Manager It was a good plan, they had good facilities, they had good security. We thought, "We're going to get ordered to leave." At 1am, there were 1,100 people left to evacuate. That being said, providing students with context for the Vietnam conflict will greatly enhance their experience viewing The Last Days of Vietnam. But there were other independent efforts to get people out. Binh Pho, College Student: It's time to get out. "Last Days in Vietnam" isn't just about the horrific mistakes that were made by the U.S. government. So about six months after the ceasefire. The fighting was close to Saigon but hadn't shown up in the streets of Saigon. Ron Nessen, White House Press Secretary (archival): The briefing was delayed until the evacuation was completed and the last helicopters are now in the air. You want to go? The schools not closing but... it seem like nobody interested in school anymore. Reporter, CBS News (archival): Our plane is surrounded here, I don't know how the hell we're going to get out. Allison Huynh Hassan I said, "I'm sorry, no more." John Jenkins And of course, no more helicopters were gonna to come. It was very emotional for them to lose their country, their flag, their ship. When suddenly, whoosh, bam! They were so close the shrapnel was plinking against the fence behind us. Stuart Herrington, Army Captain: Back at the Embassy under the Ambassador's direction we of course were taking advantage of the presence of the aircraft to evacuate threatened folks. One of the boats had been hit and sinking, so it went alongside one of the other Vietnamese Navy ships. We have objected to that violation. The sun is beating down, it's hotter than hell. I made my way around in a circuitous route and went into the embassy. The Paris Peace Accord had ended the fighting two years earlier, and most of the American soldiers had gone home. Paul Jacobs, Commanding Officer, USS Kirk: They lowered their Vietnamese flag, people crying. Henry Kissinger, Secretary of State: So we held a briefing. But did the right mix of people get out? T3 Media So, then we started an operation basically to get out the Americans and their Vietnamese dependents. It was long enough to get us through the most dangerous part of the trip. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend With the specter of a Communist victory looming and only a skeleton crew of diplomats and military operatives still in the country, the United States prepared to withdraw. Graham Martin, U.S. I had gotten very attached to Vietnam. The final weeks of the Vietnam War are displayed in this documentary, showing the panic and despair felt by the South Vietnamese people when the North Vietnamese Army closed in on Saigon Bau Hoang Stuart Herrington, Army Captain: Ambassador Martin still hoped that somehow this thing would not end with the North Vietnamese humiliating the United States by attacking Saigon. I served as a naval officer and three and a half tours in Vietnam. They'd forced the buses to come back. Last Days in Vietnam - VO. Reporter (archival audio): Rockets exploded all over the base, touching off three major fires. Ambassador to South Vietnam (archival): I have no... that, that again you see is a judgment that, that I can't possibly make at this time. Young officers in the embassy began to mobilize a black operation. Armitage International So I kind of look up. The roads were totally blocked. So, we sent over engineering, technical people to see what we could do to help them, and get em underway. 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