Fall of Saigon | Rare Footage of US Embassy Airlift and NVA Takeover (1975)

Video Description

In the last week of April 1975, the US-backed Republic of Vietnam collapsed in the face of advancing North Vietnamese troops. Amid the turmoil, ITN journalists and an international crew documented the chaos engulfing the South Vietnamese capital, Saigon. One team escaped on an American helicopter before the city fell. Another was left behind to film the moment Communist forces entered the city. Journalist Michael Nicholson, camera operator Peter Wilkinson, and sound recordist Hugh Thomson documented the human tragedy as thousands of South Vietnamese refugees sought safe passage out of Saigon during Operation Frequent Wind, the US evacuation of the city. ITN’s Sandy Gall, after acting as an ‘evacuation warden’ for the Third Country Nationals (TCN) press, found himself left behind. On the morning of 30 April, Gall watched from the streets of Saigon as the final American helicopter lifted off from the US embassy compound. Teaming up with UPITN camera operator Lucien Botras and sound recordist Jacques Chaudenson, Gall spent the following days documenting the North Vietnamese capture of the city. 00:00 Introduction 01:28 1. Battle for Newport Bridge (28 April 1975) 05:37 2. US Embassy Airlift / Operation Frequent Wind (29 April 1975) 11:33 3. North Vietnamese Army enters Saigon (30 April 1975) #Vietnam #VietnamWar #Saigon #ColdWar #VietCong #VietMinh #NorthVietnameseArmy #ARVN #NVA #Communist #Communism #Communists #WorldHistory #Saigon50 To license the footage featured in this clip, follow the link below: https://www.gettyimages.co.uk/search/2/film?family=editorial&phrase=SAIGON%20ITN&sort=best&recency=daterange&begindate=1975-04-27&enddate=1975-05-29 To search the ITN Archive collection on Getty Images, follow the link below: https://www.gettyimages.co.uk/footage/itn 🎥 Subscribe to our YouTube channel (tap the bell icon and stay up to date with all the latest ITN Archive videos!) - https://www.youtube.com/@ITNArchive 🎥 Follow us on Twitter - https://twitter.com/ITNArchive 🎥 Like us on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/ITNArchiveITNP 🎥 Check out our TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@itnarchive1955