29 April 1975 Operation Frequent Wind

[bd popeye]

35 years ago Operation Frequent Wind took place on 29th April 1975. For those of you historically impaired Operation Frequent Wind was the evacuation of Americans, Vietnamese and third country nationals by helicopter to the US 7th fleet in the Gulf of Tonkin from South Vietnam on 29 April 1975.


Operation Frequent Wind

Operation Frequent Wind, the evacuation of Vietnam in April 1975, moved over 50,000 people. The initial decision to depart Saigon was made to evacuate the Defense Attaché's office by fixed-wing aircraft. This fixed-wing evacuation was determined impossible when hostile artillery and rocket fire closed the air base at Tan Son Nhut. The decision to evacuate the entire US presence by helicopter under Operation Frequent Wind was made late morning, 29 April 1975, Saigon time. Due to the delayed timing of the order, the capability for rapid response to such an order was imperative. The deteriorating situation at the Defense Attaché location required the Embassy to become a major site.
The evacuation of the Defense Attaché people proceeded smoothly. Total casualties were relatively light: two USMC Embassy Security Guards killed in an attack by ground fire, and two USMC CH-46 search and rescue helicopter aircrews presumed dead following a crash at sea. Total evacuation helicopter sorties from the US Defense Attaché compound numbered 122. The sorties from the US Embassy numbered 72. The evacuation of 7,806 US citizens and foreign nationals from these two places by the US Air Force and Marine Corps helicopters was supported by a major air effort by the Air Force and Navy. This effort consisted of: 444 USAF/USMC helicopter sorties; 204 TACAIR sorties; 24 AH-1J (Cobra) combat escort sorties; 8 AC-130 gunship sorties; 5 EC-130 (ABCCC) sorties; 44 KC-135 tanker sorties; and 2 HC-130 search and rescue support sorties.


The 9th Marine Amphibious Brigade, a task force of the III MEF successfully extracted by helicopter more than 7,000 Americans and Vietnamese from Saigon, Vietnam, in Operation Frequent Wind. In conjunction with this operation, Marine detachments from III MEF provided security of U.S. ships engaged in carrying Vietnamese refugees to Subic Bay RP & Guam.
USMC helos were deployed on USN ships, Hanco*k, Okinawa & LPD/LSDs. The Midway carried eight USAF H-53s instead of USMC helos.

http://www.midwaysailor.com/midway1970/frequentwind.html

By the way..I was there....


I, Big Daddy Popeye was there..35 years ago. I was stationed onboard the USS Hanco*k CVA-19. An old WWll Essex class CV.

This is what occurred on the flight deck of the USS ******* CVA-19 during Operation Frequent Wind. I was assigned to "G" Division flight deck crew. "G" division is comprised of Avation Ordanceman. We handle Aviation ammo. This story is written as best as I can remember...

29 April 1975 of that day my friend one Mr Jimmy Bishop said.."Was that ever one of the sadist days of my life.. Remember seeing{on Tv}
them shove UH-1B's over the side of one of the carriers because they
were running out of room to operate.I was having a cold brewski at
this little Irish Pub named McGoo's in Virgina Beach...seems like yesterday"

About 0530 on board the USS Hanco*k CVA-19 on 29 April 1975 AO2 Harry Depaw awoke me and told me it's time to get to work. Oh joy,oh joy!! Another day of loading .50 cal ammo and waiting. It had been more than 10 days since we left Singapore. All old Hanna was doing was cutting doughnuts in the Tonkin Gulf and waiting for Saigon to fall.

Meanwhile in Saigon US Ambassador Martin knew the end was near.The North Vietnamese forces were getting closer to Saigon. It was just a matter of time before he would have to tell Washington to order the evacuation of Saigon. That occurred at 1000 that morning when he called Sec. Of state Henry Kessinger..

Deep Purple !! Deep Purple!! Was called away on the USS Hanco*k CVA-19 at about 1100. ..Operation Frequent wind was under way! Fightin' Hanna would answer the call one more time.

My job was to load up the USMC helos with .50 cal ammo. Then I was to man the deck edge bomb elevator forward of the island and place evacuee luggage on it after it had been inspected. Well WE all did more than that that day.

The sky was soon filled with USMC helos, some filled with "Grunt" Marines to secure & establish landing zones in designated areas "in country". I will not ever forget the sight of all those ships..48..and all those helos.

Jimmy mentioned seeing helo's being pushed overboard. That was on the USS Hanco*k CVA-19 and the USS Midway CVA-41. We had to push 19 of the Republic of South Vietnam(RVN) helo's overboard. 2 Chinook's and 17 Huey's. They were clogging the deck. Plus they had no landing gear{wheels}. Just skids. When the first RVN Huey's landed they were dragged to the bow and spotted there. As more and more helos arrived it became apparent that we could not keep the RVN helos and recover our own USMC helos. So when a RVN CH-47 Chinook landed with its non-folding blades we pushed it off the fantail. It ripped the safety netting off the round down on the fantail. It made a big splash when it hit the water. That helo's starboard engine was on fire. When that helo was circling ole Hanna' there was a 50 cal machine gun that was manned and ready pointing out of the starboard forward door. Smoke was bellowing out of that starboard engine. Capt. "Field Day" Fred Fellows called the ship to GQ over that.

I once read another internet account that claimed that these helos were salvaged first for parts. This is not true. We did not have the time. We simply pushed many of the RVN helos into the Tonkin Gulf. Period. Another account claims a Cessna landed on the *******. Not true. The Cessna actually landed on the USS Midway CVA-41. I know. I was on that flight deck for 29 straight hours.

But when the nice pretty silver and blue Air America Huey's started coming aboard they were dragged to the bow and spotted there. A lot of those Air America pilots were drunk. It is a wonder that none of their helos crashed. We could not souvenir hunt in those birds like we did the RVN helos that we did keep.

When the RVN officers & families & Civilians etc starting really arriving in droves. Many were ARMED. You name it.. they had it!! A lot of 45's,38's,9mm,22's.. sawed offed Remington shot guns. I saw a so sweet .357 Colt Python with a six in barrel. I saw a lot Of knives. The Jar heads..OOPPSS I mean the Marines were in charge of searching the evacuees. They had this box to put the weapons in. Well you know Marines & sailors. Some marine "Confiscated" that Colt Python. Most of the weapons were thrown overboard.{Sic} I did not get any weapons because I was being stationed in Cubi Pt. And did not want to take a chance on getting busted. Most of the RVN military,civilians and American evacuees had large sum of cash and gold. After the evacuees were searched they were sent down to the Hangar deck were they were deloused and quartered. Some were placed in vacated berthing spaces.

Later that evening after the dust had settled a USMC CH-46 flying plane guard crashed just off the port side of the Hanco*k. Two crewman were lost. A Memorial service was held for the lost crewman on our way back to Subic.

All in all we wound up with over 2000 evacuees on the Hanco*k. One child was born to a Vietnamese woman on the Hanco*k. What was he named? John Hanco*k...

Big Daddy Popeye USN/retired USS Hanco*k CVA-19 AUG'74 'til Aug '75

[bd popeye]

This is a list of most of the ships involved in the operation..

USS ENTERPRISE (CVAN-65)
USS Hanco*k (CVA-19)
USS ROWAN (DD-782)
USS HENRY B. WILSON (DD-782)
USS WORDEN (DLG-18)
USS RATHBURNE (DE- 1057)
USS COOK (DE-1083)
USS BAUSELL (DD-845)
USS JOHN PAUL JONES (DDG-32)
USS KNOW (DE-1052)
USS REASONER (DE- 1063)
USS RAMSEY (DEG-2)
USS BLUE RIDGE (LCC-19)
USS DULUTH (LPD-6)
USS THOMASTON (LSK-28)
USS FREDERICK (LST-1 184)
USS DURHAM (LKA-114)
USS DUBUQUE (LPD-8)
USS ANCHORAGE (LSD-36)
USS TUSCALOOSA (LST- 1187)
USS FLINT (AE-32)
USS ABNAKI (ATF-96)
USS PRAIRIE (AD-15)
USS VEGA (AF-59)
USS QUAPAW (ATF-110)
USS CORAL SEA (CV-43)
USS MIDWAY (CV-41)
USS RICHARD B. ANDERSON (DD-786)
USS BENJAMIN STODDARD (DDG-22)
USS BRONSTEIN (DE-1037)
USS LANG (DE-1060)
USS GURKE (DD-783)
USS COCHRANE (DDG-21)
USS GRIDLEY (DLG-21)
USS MEYERKORD (DE-1058)
USS KIRK (DE-1087)
USS OKLAHOMA CITY (CLG-5)
USS MOBILE (LKA-115)
USS DENVER (LPD-9)
USS MOUNT VERNON (LSD-39)
USS BARBOUR COUNTY (LST-1195)
USS VANCOUVER (LPD-2)
USS OKINAWA (LPH-3)
USS PEORIA (LST-1183)
USS HAKEAKALA (AE-25)
USS MARS (AFS-1)
USS ASHTABULA (AO-15)
USS MOUNT HOOD (AE-29)
USS WHITE PLAINS (AFS-4)
USS KAWISHIWI (AO-146) (http://navy.memorieshop.com/Kawishiwi/index.html)
USS Blue Ridge LCC-19

Of all those ships only Blue Ridge, Enterprise and Anchorage remain in service.

USMC CH-53 of HMH 463 on the ******* 29 April 1975 unloading evacuees.
http://img86.imageshack.us/img86/3655/cva19evac12dd.jpg

More refugees on the USS Midway CVA-41
http://lark.cc.ku.edu/%7Elance/Family/Julia/5128te3.jpg

Midways flight deck crowded with USAF and USMC CH-53 ready to launch.
http://www.midwaysailor.com/midwayfreqwind/midway-079b.jpg

Republic of S. Veitnam "Huey" being pushed over the side on the USS *******. I was standing behind the forklit driver.
We pushed 17 Hueys and 2 CH-47 "Chinooks" over the side because there was not enough room on the flight deck.
http://img212.imageshack.us/img212/2514/uh1hover23qx.jpg

[bd popeye]

The USMC helo squadrons involved were.


APR 1975
PROVMAG-39
(OPERATION EAGLE PULL, OPERATION FREQUENT WIND)

HMM-164, CH-46D, LPH-3 [USS OKINAWA]
HMM-165, CH-46D, LPH-3 [USS HANCO*K]
HMH-462, CH-53D, LPH-3 [USS OKINAWA]
HMH-463, CH-53D, CVA-19 [USS HANCO*K]
HML-367, UH-1E LPD-8 [USS DUBUQUE]
HMA-369, AH-1J , LPD-9 [USS DENVER]
http://img129.imageshack.us/img129/3196/helipade9ob.jpg


This is a rare pic! This is a pic of Air America(CIA) helos that were recovered from Vietnam on the helo flight line in NAS Cubi Pt. Philippines. I was stationed in Cubi from 8-'75 til 9-'77. These helos stayed on the helo flight line until early '76 if memory serves me correctly. Note the silver and blue paint scheme.We had to shove those ARVN Hueys over the side. We had to keep enough deck space to recover our USMC helos after the operation. Plus they did not thave wheels and they were tearing up the deck. We did save quite a few and packed them on board. Mostly Air America Huey's....As for the Tomcat.... Yes the flew Captive Air Patrol over the massive battle group assembled in the Gulf of Tonkin. They were assigned to VF-1 and VF-2 as part of CVW-14 on board the USS Enterprise CVN-65

http://www.lemoore.navy.mil/cvw-14/HISTORY.htm

http://img50.imageshack.us/img50/7188/ch47over21kk.jpg


An ARVN(Army of the Republic of Vietnam) CH-47 is headed to a watery grave in the Tonkin Gulf. This pic was taken on the Hanco*k. I helped give it a shove.http://img128.imageshack.us/img128/3073/grdsplts7tt.jpg


Vietnamese refugees being searched on the Hanco*k. Many of the Vietnamese that escaped were Army pilots fleeing with their families in helos they "procurred"

[skyeye]

Thanx much bd popeye. Great addition to the history files.

[MN_Air]

Thanks for another awesome story BD. Absolutely amazing!

[bd popeye]

Thanks Gents for the kind words.. I'll be posting some other accounts of what happened tomorrow., For now some pix!!

Last June I found some more photos at NAVSOURCE of "Operation Frequent Wind" aboard Hanco*k on 29/30 April 1975.

http://i41.tinypic.com/15qexpu.jpg


The sailor in the lower right of the photo with a red jersey and helmet^^ on is me..Popeye http://i39.tinypic.com/2jb1bvt.jpg

http://i44.tinypic.com/zkr5nm.jpg

http://i42.tinypic.com/e0sxf8.jpg

http://i40.tinypic.com/2ufy5hd.jpg

http://i40.tinypic.com/2zrhqi9.jpg

http://i43.tinypic.com/2ujr0y8.jpg

http://i43.tinypic.com/303k6xd.jpg

http://i39.tinypic.com/30ufrle.jpg



Caption & photos by Arthur Ritchie RMCM USN Ret. Hanco*k Command Master Chief in 1975.

In April and May 1975, while on her final WestPac tour, Hanco*k was one of the ships that conducted the evacuation of South Vietnam when that long-suffering country was overrun by North Vietnamese forces.

Art Ritchie recalls:
"[These are] some photos of the ******* during the evacuation of Saigon in April of 1975. All of the fixed wing aircraft had been replaced with Marine Corps helicopters for that operation. [The photos show] some of the people we evacuated from Saigon. In all we took on board about 2,500. The two showing the helicopter going into the water was one of several we had to push overboard. The South Vietnamese military would fly their helicopters, often loaded with friends and family, out to our ship and land on our flight deck. We didn't have room to stow the aircraft plus they were in terrible shape, missing lots of instruments and parts. So we pushed them overboard."

[JUNKHO]

Thanks Gents for the kind words.. I'll be posting some other accounts of what happened tomorrow., For now some pix!!

Last June I found some more photos at NAVSOURCE of "Operation Frequent Wind" aboard Hanco*k on 29/30 April 1975.

http://i41.tinypic.com/15qexpu.jpgThe sailor in the lower right of the photo with a red jersey and helmet^^ on is me..Popeye



@ Member Popeye - Thank you for the thread and thank you for being a part of this history!

[Winger]

If you ask popeye to pass the salt he will look at you funny, then lean over your plate and brush off his shoulder.

[Ordie]

Hey Shipmate

Thanks for the photos and for making USN history.

You deserve several 'hand' medals.

It would be a wonderful idea to reunite both the crew and the refugees on the USS Midway in San Diego someday.

Bravo Zulu

IYAOYAS!

[pocoloco]

Thank you very much for posting these bd popeye, very interesting to know about this through your experiences.

[bd popeye]

Gents I'm very touched by your words..Thanks so much!


Winger sez;
If you ask popeye to pass the salt he will look at you funny, then lean over your plate and brush off his shoulder. Naw..I usually just rub my hands together!;-)


It would be a wonderful idea to reunite both the crew and the refugees on the USS Midway in San Diego someday.
I think there was a call out for that..I found a link about a FW reunion but it is dead..Hopefully by the 40th anniversary a reunion will occur..

The photos below are from the USS Midway..and the bow shots are from the "Fightin' Hanna".

http://i41.tinypic.com/3480mds.jpg

http://i43.tinypic.com/akz9s5.jpg

http://i42.tinypic.com/25urtr7.jpg

http://i42.tinypic.com/2hev9eb.jpg

We got a bunch of Air America helos on the Hanna...

http://i39.tinypic.com/opzmc.jpg


Best pic of an Air America helo I can find. We were not permitted to push these helos into the Tonkin Gulf. The paint scheme was quite striking. Many of the Air America pilots were drunk or stoned when they landed on the Hanna. No kidding. But what could ya' do? They were the friggin' CIA. This link will give you much info on the real "Air America".

http://www.air-america.org/About/History.shtml

[valtrex]

bd popeye why don't you post it here too:
http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/showthread.php?177957-On-this-day-in-Military-History/page2

so that it doesn't get lost? Just a suggestion.
Thanks

[LineDoggie]

Remember it well, watching the fall on TV as a Kid.

Watching a truck loaded with ARVN Marines in Tigersuits trying to flee Quang Tri? and the ARVN Helo pilot who took off in his Huey from the deck and jumped out.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bV7ccOdonCo

[Maj C]

BZ BD Popeye...

Some might be interested in this book. http://www.quangpham.net/books.html "sense of duty" I served with him back in MCAS Tustin. One of the kids evacuated during Frequent Wind who later became a phrog pilot.

[USMCRTop]

I was on active duty at the time-on the East Coast-we watched on TV-everybody in our unit who had been there felt like crap-had my chance to be part of History a year earlier-no thanks--Adventure is weird crap happening to other people far away....Anyway, BD Popeye , only man in the Arena can truly know...thanks for you service

[AL-Khalid]

why did you wasted so many expensive helicopters or is there any way they can be saved.

[LineDoggie]

No room for them.

[bd popeye]

I was on active duty at the time-on the East Coast-we watched on TV-everybody in our unit who had been there felt like crap-had my chance to be part of History a year earlier-no thanks--Adventure is weird crap happening to other people far away....Anyway, BD Popeye , only man in the Arena can truly know...thanks for you service

Thanks you sir! Thanks you and all who have served.

One of the things that bothered me about the news reports of that time the media made it sound like it was total chaos. That is a lie from the pit of hell. Operation Frequent Wind was long planned out and was excuted in an most outstanding manner by all.

If you have some time read the accounts below.

http://ehistory.osu.edu/vietnam/books/end/0160.cfm

http://www.historynet.com/americas-bitter-end-in-vietnam.htm

As I mentioned eight USAF CH-53's were deployed on Midway. Here's a zoomies account of the action.


About a week after Eagle Pull we departed NKP for U-tapao, AB, Thailand we didn't know what was going on until we got to U-tapao. Of course we heard of the events in Viet Nam from our Armed Forces Radio. At any rate we got the aircraft bedded down at U-tapao and we got the word of where we were headed, the aircraft carrier group off the coast of Viet Nam. Just about everyone made a trip to the class 6 store to stock up for the TDY.

We left U-tapao the next morning this must have been around the 18th of April 75, We flew direct to the USS Midway seems to me it took about 8 hours of flying time. We of the 56 SOW had 650 gallon drop tanks versus the 450 on the 40th aircraft so they had to refuel in flight to the Midway.

I flew on the CH-53 with the CO of the 21st Lt. Col John Denham (who incidentally was the wing Stan Eval pilot when I was in 43's at Zaragoza Spain and Bitburg Germany, got a couple check rides with him). When we got on the Midway we found out the Navy was a whole different world than that of the Air Force. They treated us well and we were all assigned to different organizations on the ship that were compatible with our AFSCs.

However we did screw up there whole operation and about ran them out of fresh water the first day we were there. When they had a drill we mostly went the wrong way through the passages and up and down the ladders. It was a great experience and I think just about everyone appreciated the AF a little more after our stay there.

I think we were out there about 12 days before the American ambassador gave us the ok to launch into Viet Nam. Until that day we had a few training flights but mostly sat around after inspecting and re-inspecting and running up the aircraft every few days. Oh the Navy liked us to move the helicopters a lot. We would tow them to the bow, then to the canted deck, then the fantail, then start over again.

And any time there was a black cloud out there in the Gulf they would sail the ship right under it and we would all get wet. We first took 6 CH-53's from the 21st and 4 HH-53's from the 40th. After the 56th got two more aircraft operational they came to the Midway and 2 of the HHs went back to Thailand. The Admiral made the decision after he found out how much more the CH could carry, after all we didn't have PJ's and all their luggage.

I think we stared Frequent Wind on around the 29th, Saigon fell on the 30th. We carried over 2000 people out and my aircraft, with Maj. Carson flying it, flew 20 hours straight. We did hot refueling and running crew changes. One time it landed with 91 or 92 people on it. We didn’t have troop seats and everyone was standing.

We even carried the last of the Marines out, they even had the Embassy shield off the Embassy. Told us they shredded over 6 million in US currency. The civilians were handing out Dong (Vietnam currency) as it was now worthless.

It was a time to be proud to be part of this but at the same time it was sad seeing all these people fleeing for their lives with little or nothing. After the evacuation was over we put all our aircraft towards the bow and the Hueys and Chinooks started coming in. You could not believe it, there were helicopters everywhere.

General Key landed there and one of his Generals walked up to me and asked Air Force? U S Air Force? as I was wearing Jungle fatigues. He just couldn't believe the Air Force was out there.

We even had a Vietnamese 0-2 land on the deck with pilot, wife and 3 or 4 kids in it. It is now at the Pensacola Naval museum. The Midway is a floating Museum in San Diego now and I need to go see her.

The ship sailed to off the coast of Thailand and all told we were on it 18 days. We flew into U-tapao once again and could see the ship sitting off the coast, it was big.

There were planes everywhere at U-tapao, from Viet Nam they flew anything out they could get their hands on. They were on the ramps, in the grass everywhere, have never seen anything like it, C-46, C-47, C-119, C-123’s, commercial aircraft, T-37 and T-38's and many more. There were a lot of Hueys and as soon as a Huey landed painters were out there painting Thai markings on them and flying them out to other bases.

We got the job of slinging T-37 and 38's to the Midway to return to US. After we dropped two in the Gulf they trucked them to Sattihip and hoisted them aboard with cranes. We punched one when the 53 blew a damper and one had the sling break. This was really neat being part of history. Every once in a while I see videos of our helicopters on TV.

The Mayaguez was next. It is hard to believe these same helicopters now called Pave Low are still flying, 32 years later. I hope every one of them gets a reprieve and a home in a museum with the honor they deserve. (Jim Duffy)



why did you wasted so many expensive helicopters or is there any way they can be saved.

Did you read my first post?? The RVN helos were pushed over board so the ships involved could recover their own aircraft. We could not put any RVN helos in the hangar because it was where many of the refugees were quartered. By the way many of the RVN helos were saved..many.

[Ordie]

I recall a photo of a RVN OV-1 Birddog aircraft landing on a carrier.

[bd popeye]

I recall a photo of a RVN OV-1 Birddog aircraft landing on a carrier.

Oh yea.. That was on the Midway..

http://i39.tinypic.com/2hs224g.jpg

http://i42.tinypic.com/2vaz3ft.jpg

http://i41.tinypic.com/se4v2p.jpg

http://i42.tinypic.com/2iuutxe.jpg

[diw]

Excellent photos of the landing.
Thanks popeye.


Of all of the aircraft on display in the museum, few have as inspiring a background as the OE-1/O-1 Bird Dog. During the evacuation of all United States military forces from Saigon in 1975, South Vietnamese Air Force major Bung-Ly took off from Con Son Island in the museum's aircraft with his wife and five children crammed in the small cabin. With enough gas to remain in the air for only one more hour, the pilot spotted the aircraft carrier Midway (CVA 41) and by means of a dropped note requested permission to land on board. The ship's commanding officer ordered the deck to be cleared and brought a Vietnamese interpreter to the island to communicate with the pilot by radio. Without the benefit of a tailhook or barrier, the pilot made a slow approach to a successful landing despite the fact that he had never seen an aircraft carrier before let alone landed on one. Inspired by the event, the Midway crew adopted the pilot and his family, establishing a fund to help them settle in the United States.
http://collections.naval.aviation.museum/emuwebdoncoms/pages/doncoms/Display.php?irn=16007419

http://collections.naval.aviation.museum/emuwebdoncoms/objects/common/webmedia.php?irn=25358&reftable=ecatalogue&refirn=16007419

They also have a scan of the note (in Viet).

http://www.youtube.com/watch/v/so9XRUbBGj8

Best wishes.

[Ordie]

USS Midway site of Saigon refugee reunion today
By DEEPA BHARATH
THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Story Highlights
Thousands of Vietnamese refugees rescued by American sailors and brought aboard to the Midway will reunite at the opening of an exhibit honoring them.

The USS Midway on Friday morning will be witness to a historic reunion between former crew members and hundreds of Vietnamese refugees who were plucked to safety by the ship's rescue helicopters immediately after the fall of Saigon on April 30, 1975.

Operation Frequent Wind went down in history as the largest helicopter evacuation, which marked the end of the Vietnam War.


Refugees reach safely aboard the USS Midway in 1975. These refugees were among the nearly 6,000 airlifted from Saigon before the North Vietnamese took over and the Vietnam War ended.
PHOTO COURTESY OF THE USS MIDWAY MUSEUM
MORE PHOTOS »
If you go:

The USS Midway's public ceremony to honor the sailors and refugees involving in Operation Frequent Wind will begin at noon. The ceremony is free to the public with paid admission to the USS Midway Museum, at 910 N. Harbor Drive in San Diego, alongside the Navy Pier. Tickets are $18 for general admission, $15 for seniors and students and $10 for retired military. Information: 619-544-9600 or visit midway.org.


"This is the biggest event in the Midway Museum's six-year history," said Scott McGaugh, spokesman for the San Diego museum.

As the refugee community in Orange County's Little Saigon commemorates their flight from home 35 years ago Friday, the museum will hold its own commemoration by opening a permanent Operation Frequent Wind exhibit to honor the refugees and sailors who were involved in the mission.

In 19 hours, 81 helicopters lifted nearly 6,000 Vietnamese and more than 1,000 Americans from various locations in Saigon, including the U.S. Embassy and city parks, and took them to U.S. aircraft carriers waiting offshore. More than half of the refugees were taken to the USS Midway, officials said. The final evacuation lifted off from the U.S. Embassy at 7:53 a.m. on April 30, 1975.

McGaugh said the Midway Museum is expecting at least 1,500 people from Little Saigon in Orange County.

"We also have the rescued refugees and their families coming from all over the country and from as far away as Montreal," he said.

Friday's event will also feature Larry Chambers, the Midway's captain in 1975, and Vern Jumper, the 1975 air boss of the Midway. In addition, South Vietnamese Air Force Major Bung Ly, who landed aboard the Midway with his wife and five children, will also attend the event, McGaugh said.

Ly, who now lives in Florida, dropped a note onto the deck of the USS Midway as he circled above, asking for room to land his plane and save his family. A replica of the Cessna "Bird Dog" that Ly landed on the Midway will be featured on the exhibit, McGaugh said

Source:http://www.ocregister.com/news/midway-246484-friday-museum.html?pic=3

Hey BD,

You missed the reunion.
Hopefully there will be more.

[bd popeye]

Thanks for posting that ordie^^^... I for one will never forget that day.. never.

[SBL]

By the way..I was there....
Great story, Popeye. Thanks for sharing.

[USAFCON]

Different picture for the Da Nang evacuation in March ’75.

http://www.dailymotion.com/swf/video/x55mn7

[bd popeye]

The babylift was finished by the time Frequent Wind occurred. They were two separate events.

[USAFCON]

They were two separate events.



Events separated by one calendar month, but part of the same operation. America’s retreat from Viet Nam. The rest is history.

[bd popeye]

America’s retreat from Viet Nam.Retreat? What retreat? There were no major US combat forces in Vietnam when the south fell. Was the US still involved? Of course.




http://vietnam.vassar.edu/doc16.html
Excerpts from the Paris Accords, January 27, 1973.

Article I
.... The United States and all other countries respect the independence, sovereignty, unity, and territorial integrity of Viet-Nam as recognized by the 1954 Geneva Agreements on Viet-Nam . . .
Article 2
A cease fire shall be observed throughout South Viet-Nam as of 2400 hours G.M.T., on January 27, 1973. At the same hour, the United States will stop all its military activities against the territory of the Democratic Republic of Viet-Nam by ground, air and naval forces, wherever they may be based, and end the mining of the territorial waters, ports, harbors, and waterways of the Democratic Republic of Viet-Nam. The United States will remove, permanently deactivate or destroy all the mines in the territorial waters, ports, harbors, and waterways of North Viet-Nam as soon as this Agreement goes into effect. The complete cessation of hostilities mentioned in this Article shall be durable and without limit of time....
Article 4
The United States will not continue its military involvement or intervene in the internal affairs of South Viet-Nam.
Article 5
Within sixty days of the signing of this Agreement, there will be a total withdrawal from South Viet-Nam of troops, military advisers, and military personnel including technical military personnel and military personnel associated with the pacification program, armaments, munitions, and war material of the United States and those of the other foreign countries mentioned in Article 3(a). Advisers from the above-mentioned countries to all paramilitary organizations and the police force will also be withdrawn within the same period of time.
Article 6
The dismantlement of all military bases in South Viet-Nam of the United States and of the other foreign countries mentioned in Article 3(a) shall be completed within sixty days of the signing of this Agreement.
Article 7
From the enforcement of the cease-fire to the formation of the government provided for in Article 9(b) and 14 of this Agreement, the two South Vietnamese parties shall not accept the introduction of troops, military advisers, and military personnel including technical military personnel, armaments, munitions, and war material into South Viet-Nam....
Article 8
(a) The return of captured military personnel and foreign civilians of the parties shall be carried out simultaneously with and completed not later than the same day as the troop withdrawal mentioned in Article 5. The parties shall exchange complete lists of the above-mentioned captured military personnel and foreign civilians on the day of the signing of this Agreement.
(b) The Parties shall help each other to get information about those military personnel and foreign civilians of the parties missing in action, to determine the location and take care of the graves of the dead so as to facilitate the exhumation and repatriation of the remains, and to take any such other measures as may be required to get information about those still considered missing in action.
(c) The question of the return of Vietnamese civilian personnel captured and detained in South Viet-Nam will be resolved by the two South Vietnamese parties on the basis of the principles of Article 21(b) of the Agreement on the Cessation of Hostilities in Viet-Nam of July 20, 1954. The two South Vietnamese parties will do so in a spirit of national reconciliation and concord, with a view to ending hatred and enmity, in order to ease suffering and to reunite families. The two South Vietnamese parties will do their utmost to resolve this question within ninety days after the cease-fire comes into effect....
Article 11
Immediately after the cease-fire, the two South Vietnamese parties will: -achieve national reconciliation and concord, end hatred and enmity, prohibit all acts of reprisal and discrimination against individuals or organizations that have collaborated with one side or the other; -ensure the democratic liberties of the people: personal freedom, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of meeting, freedom of organization, freedom of political activities, freedom of belief, freedom of movement, freedom of residence, freedom of work, right to property ownership, and right to free enterprise....
Chapter V The Reunification of Viet-Nam and The Relationship Between North and South Viet-Nam
Article 15
The reunification of Viet-Nam shall be carried out step by step through peaceful means on the basis of discussions and agreements between North and South Viet-Nam, without coercion or annexation by either party, and without foreign interference. The time for reunification will be agreed upon by North and South Viet-Nam. Pending reunification:
(a)The military demarcation line between the two zones at the 17th parallel is only provisional and not a political or territorial boundary, as provided for in paragraph 6 of the Final Declaration of the 1954 Geneva Conference.
(b)North and South Viet-Nam shall respect the Demilitarized Zone on either side of the Provisional Military Demarcation Line.
(c) North and South Viet-Nam shall promptly start negotiations with a view to reestablishing normal relations in various fields. Among the questions to be negotiated are the modalities of civilian movement across the Provisional Military Demarcation Line.
(d) North and South Viet-Nam shall not join any military alliance or military bloc and shall not allow foreign powers to maintain military bases, troops, military advisers, and military personnel on their respective territories, as stipulated in the 1954 Geneva Agreements on Viet-Nam....
Article 21
The United States anticipates that this Agreement will usher in an era of reconciliation with the Democratic Republic of Viet-Nam as with all the peoples of Indochina. In pursuance of its traditional policy, the United States will contribute to healing the wounds of war and to postwar reconstruction of the Democratic Republic of Viet-Nam and throughout Indochina.
Article 22
The ending of the war, the restoration of peace in Viet-Nam, and the strict implementation of this Agreement will create conditions for establishing a new, equal and mutually beneficial relationship between the United States and the Democratic Republic of Viet-Nam on the basis of respect of each other's independence and sovereignty, and non-interference in each other's internal affairs. At the same time this will ensure stable peace in Viet-Nam and contribute to the preservation of lasting peace in Indochina and Southeast Asia....
The Return of Captured Military Personnel and Foreign Civilians
Article 1
The parties signatory to the Agreement shall return the captured military personnel of the parties mentioned in Article 8(a) of the Agreement as follows: -all captured military personnel of the United States and those of the other foreign countries mentioned in Article 3(a) of the Agreement shall be returned to United States authorities; -all captured Vietnamese military personnel, whether belonging to regular or irregular armed forces, shall be returned to the two South Vietnamese parties; they shall be returned to that South Vietnamese party under whose command they served.
Article 2
All captured civilians who are nationals of the United States or of any other foreign countries mentioned in Article 3(a) of the Agreement shall be returned to United States authorities. All other captured foreign civilians shall be returned to the authorities of their country of nationality by any one of the parties willing and able to do so.
Article 3
The parties shall today exchange complete lists of captured persons mentioned in Articles 1 and 2 of this Protocol.
Article 4
(a) The return of all captured persons mentioned in Articles 1 and 2 of this Protocol shall be completed within sixty days of the signing of the Agreement at a rate no slower than the rate of withdrawal from South Viet-Nam of United States forces and those of the other foreign countries mentioned in Article 5 of the Agreement.
(b) Persons who are seriously ill, wounded or maimed, old persons and women shall be returned first. The remainder shall be returned either by returning all from one detention place after another or in order of their dates of capture, beginning with those who have been held the longest....
With Regard to Dead and Missing Persons
Article 10
(a) The Four-Party Joint Military Commission shall ensure joint action by the parties in implementing Article 8 (b) of the Agreement. When the Four-Party Joint Military Commission has ended its activities, a Four-Party Joint Military team shall be maintained to carry on this task.
(b) With regard to Vietnamese civilian personnel dead or missing in South Viet-Nam, the two South Vietnamese parties shall help each other to obtain information about missing persons, determine the location and take care of the graves of the dead, in a spirit of national reconciliation and concord, in keeping with the people's aspirations....
SOURCE: U.S. Secretary of State (ed.) United States Treaties and Other International Agreements, 1974, passim.

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The US lived up to it's part of the agreement the North Vietnamese did not.

The Vietnam War was one of the most polarizing events in the history of the USA...and still is...

[bd popeye]

As ordie posted an Operation Frequent Wing reunion was held on the Midway (musuem) yesterday.

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/may/01/vietnam-refugees-honor-carrier-that-spelled/



Vietnam (http://topics.signonsandiego.com/topic/Vietnam) refugees honor ‘freedom’ carrier Midway also hosts former crewmen

By Gretel C. Kovach (http://www.signonsandiego.com/staff/gretel-kovach/), UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
Saturday, May 1, 2010 at 12:04 a.m.

The flight deck was crowded with U.S. sailors and Vietnamese people, just like that day 35 years ago. High in the sky above their upturned faces, a Cessna circled the aircraft carrier Midway, symbolizing the pilot’s desperate plea to land.

Bung Ly was surrounded by San Diego Bay this time instead of the South China (http://topics.signonsandiego.com/topic/China) Sea, telling the story of how he crammed his wife and five children into the two-seater Bird Dog plane, fleeing over the waters ahead of the advancing Viet Cong.

Ly and about 2,000 other former refugees gathered with dignitaries and aging sailors Friday aboard the Midway, the carrier that evacuated more than 3,000 of them to safety April 30, 1975, as communist forces overran South Vietnam’s capital.

Across town at Miramar Marine Corps Air Station, the pilot who flew the U.S. ambassador out of the embassy in Saigon observed the anniversary with members of his former squadron.

Back at the Midway, after the replica plane circled the ship, Ly recounted his escape from Saigon. His story of loss and hope was shared by those uprooted from their homeland, as U.S. troops evacuated more than 50,000 during Operation Frequent Wind.

Their mix of regret and relief also was shared by many U.S. servicemen on the last day of the war, which had claimed more than 58,000 American troops and several million Vietnamese, Laotians and Cambodians.

In their memory, a wreath was cast Friday from the Midway into the deep.

As Saigon smoldered, Ly piloted his plane through enemy gunfire, flying a half-hour across the sea until he spotted a swarm of helicopters. He didn’t know that they were ferrying people from Saigon to Navy ships, but he sensed it was wise to trace their path.

“I was searching for a safe place,” Ly said. “It made me think there was something out there they could depend on.”

Ly had never landed on an aircraft carrier. He dropped several notes from the sky asking for permission. Finally, the deck was cleared and a green light welcomed him to try.

After exiting the plane, Ly was whisked away for an “interview.”

“I did not worry because my family was now in the good hands, the hands of America and the hands of freedom,” he told the crowd. He had lost his country, but the sailors honored him with a pair of Navy pilot wings, he said to cheers.

The carrier’s air boss manning the flight-control tower that day, Vern Jumper, remembers the haunted look in the eyes of the refugees flown onto the ship.

The Midway crew had pushed helicopters into the sea to make way for others running low on fuel while ferrying the last evacuees, he said.
“It was a very sad day, sad for the refugees and so many young kids scared to death. And the senior citizens, they didn’t know where they were going,” Jumper recalled.

The bulk of the refugees settled in Orange County, in the area around Westminster known as Little Saigon. Busloads of them, many now American citizens, visited the Midway to observe the 35th anniversary. The ship is now a museum docked in San Diego — home to one of the nation’s largest concentrations of Vietnamese-Americans.

Many children in the crowd, clutching both the U.S. flag and the yellow-and-red-striped standard of the fallen Republic of Vietnam, were born long after the war ended.

Other guests, including Dai Ly Nguyen, 71, weren’t lucky enough to find a place on the departing Navy ships. Nguyen, who attended the event wearing a black beret and camouflage, videotaped the program and sang loudly when the Republic of Vietnam anthem was played.

Nguyen said he was imprisoned for being a major in the South Vietnamese army, spending nine years after U.S. forces withdrew in “re-education camps.”

“Even after we left the camps, all of Vietnam was one big jail,” Nguyen said.

He came to America in 1991 thanks to a resettlement program. He moved to Westminster, and all four of his children became engineers, he said proudly.

Brig. Gen. Joseph Potter, a retired Air Force pilot who served three tours during the Vietnam War (http://topics.signonsandiego.com/topic/Vietnam_War), said he attended the Midway ceremony to highlight the struggle to gain benefits from the Department of Veterans Affairs and full military honors for former Vietnamese allies like Nguyen.

The Vietnamese immigrants who gathered on the Midway gave the former captain of the ship, Larry Chambers, a standing ovation. Some have never lost hope for a democratic Vietnam, like Dzung Le, a pathologist and president of the Vietnamese Federation of San Diego, who called April 30, 1975, the darkest day in their community’s history.

Le said he will never forget the deafening sound of helicopters landing on the Midway. “It was chaotic, but somehow comforting,” he said.

Le, 18 years old at the time, later married another Midway evacuee. “They fed us; they let us sleep on their beds. The Midway has become the place where many of us started our lives of freedom in America,” he said.

Earlier Friday morning at Miramar, the pilot tasked with flying U.S. Ambassador Graham Martin out of Saigon at the end of the war helped unveil the newly restored CH-46 Sea Knight he flew that day. Marines from HMM-165 put it on display at the Flying Leatherneck museum on the base.

Retired Col. Gerry Berry, then a captain, flew his “battle frog” more than 18 hours straight, evacuating refugees through the night.

He ran on adrenaline, his frustration mounting as he watched North Vietnamese army tanks roll into the city. Still, the ambassador wouldn’t leave.

“To see an end to the war was something we all had looked forward to,” Berry said Friday. “Nobody knew how it was going to end. When it finally did, there was a sinking feeling.

“We had lost a lot of Marines. Marines had more casualties in Vietnam than we had in World War II (http://topics.signonsandiego.com/topic/World_War_II). You felt great remorse about that, like all they had fought for was going away.”

Operation Frequent Wind was the largest helicopter evacuation in history. Still, Berry wished they had taken more Vietnamese to safety. But his mission was for the ambassador.

Just before 5 a.m. April 30, Berry coaxed the ambassador and his staff into Lady Ace 09. After one final trip to retrieve the Marines securing the embassy, they flew off for good.

Later that morning, North Vietnamese tanks crashed through the gates of the presidential palace, and the city they called Saigon was no more.

[bd popeye]

The prime recovery ships of OFW where the Midway, Okinawa and Hanco*k..

Their fate

Hanco*k..sold for scrap and disposed of

Okinawa..sunk as a target on 6 June 2002 by a Mk 48 ADCAP torpedo fired by the USS Portsmouth (SSN 707) after being pummeled by a variety of air launched weapons. the torpedo did her in aaarrrvvv..

And the Midway survives today as a floating aircraft carrier museum at the foot of Broadway in downtown San Diego. The Midway is the number two attended maritime museum in the United States second only to the USS Arizona memorial in Pearl Harbor HI.

If you ever get to San Diego you have to see the Midway museum. It's a must!!

Midway Musuem (http://www.midway.org/)

There's a couple of threads at mp.net about the CV-41 museum...

http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/showthread.php?121697-USS-Midway-Museum-San-Diego-CA-PIC-HEAVY&highlight=Midway

http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/showthread.php?141184-USS-Midway-Museum

[bd popeye]

Next weekend I shall re-post the missing pix(thanks to tinypic) in this thread. And any other PIX I can Find. 37 years since that day.. 29 April 1975..

[bd popeye]

As promised here's some photos as taken aboard my ship the USS Hanco*k (CVA 19) during Operation Frequent Wind on 29 April 1975..

http://i528.photobucket.com/albums/dd324/bdpopeye/US Navy II/FW1.jpg

http://i528.photobucket.com/albums/dd324/bdpopeye/US Navy II/FW2.jpg

http://i528.photobucket.com/albums/dd324/bdpopeye/US Navy II/FW3.jpg

http://i528.photobucket.com/albums/dd324/bdpopeye/US Navy II/FW4.jpg

http://i528.photobucket.com/albums/dd324/bdpopeye/US Navy II/FW5.jpg

http://i528.photobucket.com/albums/dd324/bdpopeye/US Navy II/FW6.jpg

I'm in this pic...On the right side of the photo in from of a Corpsman..I have on a red helmet, jersey and float coat.

http://i528.photobucket.com/albums/dd324/bdpopeye/US Navy II/FW7.jpg

http://i528.photobucket.com/albums/dd324/bdpopeye/US Navy II/FW8.jpg

http://i528.photobucket.com/albums/dd324/bdpopeye/US Navy II/FW9.jpg


In April and May 1975, while on her final WestPac tour, Hanco*k was one of the ships that conducted the evacuation of South Vietnam when that long-suffering country was overrun by North Vietnamese forces.

Art Ritchie recalls: "[These are] some photos of the Hanco*k during the evacuation of Saigon in April of 1975. All of the fixed wing aircraft had been replaced with Marine Corps helicopters for that operation. [The photos show] some of the people we evacuated from Saigon. In all we took on board about 2,500. The two showing the helicopter going into the water was one of several we had to push overboard. The South Vietnamese military would fly their helicopters, often loaded with friends and family, out to our ship and land on our flight deck. We didn't have room to stow the aircraft plus they were in terrible shape, missing lots of instruments and parts. So we pushed them overboard."

Photos taken and submitted to navsource.org by
Arthur Ritchie RMCM USN Ret.

On the Hanco*k we pushed 17 RVN Huey's and 2 C-47 Chinooks overboard.

Read the first pages of this thread for some history of this operation.

[bd popeye]

More PIX from unknown sources

http://i528.photobucket.com/albums/dd324/bdpopeye/US%20Navy%20II/Hanna.jpg


USS Hanco*k (CVA-19) operating as an LPH..April 1975.

http://i528.photobucket.com/albums/dd324/bdpopeye/US%20Navy%20II/2-4.jpg

..aboard Fightin' Hanna..

http://i528.photobucket.com/albums/dd324/bdpopeye/US%20Navy%20II/1-5.jpg


USS Midway CVA-41 with USAF Golly Green Giant HH-53's aboard during Operation Frequent Wind. April 1975

http://i528.photobucket.com/albums/dd324/bdpopeye/US%20Navy%20II/1-4.jpg

http://i528.photobucket.com/albums/dd324/bdpopeye/US%20Navy%20II/3-3.jpg

http://i528.photobucket.com/albums/dd324/bdpopeye/US%20Navy%20II/2-5.jpg

http://i528.photobucket.com/albums/dd324/bdpopeye/US%20Navy%20II/3-4.jpg

http://i528.photobucket.com/albums/dd324/bdpopeye/US%20Navy%20II/4-3.jpg

http://i528.photobucket.com/albums/dd324/bdpopeye/US%20Navy%20II/5-3.jpg

These photos are aboard USS Midway CVA-41..Operation Frequent Wind, 29 April 1975

[juxtapose]

Really interesting thread. A question:

What were the criteria for selecting the Vietnamese who were evacuated? Also, I know from watching the documentary footage that there was a desperate mob of Vietnamese at the US Embassy gates, and some of them managed to get into the Embassy compound before the last helicopters left. Were they allowed to get on board along with those that had been selected?

[JUNKHO]

bd....thank you for this.

[bd popeye]

bd....thank you for this.

thank you sir..and thank you for your service to our nation.


What were the criteria for selecting the Vietnamese who were evacuated?

First come first served. Embassy staff..and other RVN officials.

Here's an excellent account of what was happening in Saigon that fateful day.

http://www.saigonscene.com/US_Embassy_Saigon_Vietnam.htm


When on April 29th 1975 North Vietnamese forces started attacking the outskirts of Saigon Martin gave the order to commence operation Frequent Wind.

The signal for the evacuation was the broadcast on Armed Forces Radio of the quote “the temperature is rising” followed by eight bars of the Irving Berlin song White Christmas.


Originally large scale helicopter evacuations were not planned for the Embassy.



But as things deteriorated and people could not get to Tan Son Nhat airport which was under bomb and rocket attack, the Embassy was used as a staging area.

Wave after wave of helicopters would land on the rooftop of the Embassy, where French, Americans and South

Vietnamese military families would all be ushered into the arriving helicopters.


Outside the Embassy compound thousand of Vietnamese swarmed around the Embassy compound hoping and pleading for escape.


So desperate to escape, Marines talk of seeing a women toss her baby over the barbed wire of the fence in the hope they would take it, or of a man offering a bag of uncut gems for a chance of freedom.


By about 3am on the following morning of April the 30th, the ambassador had gone and the only Americans remaining were the U.S. Marines.


The order was then given to airlift Embassy documents and American citizens only.


Vietnamese still there who had worked many years for the U.S. Embassy or military were refused the helicopter evacuation service.


To the regret of many Americans who were there, hundreds of Vietnamese who had been promised a way out were left behind.


In particular the U.S. Embassy staff were concerned with evacuating Vietnamese who had worked for US AIS, USIS and the embassy, as these were people who more than likely would be on the communist enemies' list, and would be killed for allying with the U.S. enemy during the war.


The remaining marines barricaded the entrances, rolled down steel doors, dropped grenades down the elevators so they could not be used and went to the roof.


As the Marines lay on the roof of the Embassy to avoid sniper fire until the last helicopter finally arrived, the crowds outside drove a full water truck through the outer gates.


Swarms of Vietnamese flooded into the compound and rushed into the building.

With a desperate mob of refugees desperately trying to gain access to the roof, the final helicopter finally arrived at 8am for the remaining marines.

[bd popeye]

http://i528.photobucket.com/albums/dd324/bdpopeye/US Navy II/1-6.jpg


This photo has been mis-identified many times. This RVN Huey was shoved into the Tonkin Gulf from the USS Blue Ridge(LCC 19)

http://i528.photobucket.com/albums/dd324/bdpopeye/US%20Navy%20II/2-6.jpg


A South Vietnamese helicopter is pushed over the side of the USS Okinawa (LPH 3) during Operation Frequent Wind, April 1975. The helicopter, which carried two Vietnamese officers, a woman and two children, had to be disposed of to make room for the extensive Marine Corps helicopter operation helping to evacuate the city of Saigon.

[bd popeye]

The photos below are from the Hanna's 1975 cruise book...OPERATION FREQUENT WIND. 29 April 1975.

http://i528.photobucket.com/albums/dd324/bdpopeye/US%20Navy%20II/1-7.jpg

http://i528.photobucket.com/albums/dd324/bdpopeye/US%20Navy%20II/2-7.jpg

http://i528.photobucket.com/albums/dd324/bdpopeye/US%20Navy%20II/3-5.jpg

http://i528.photobucket.com/albums/dd324/bdpopeye/US%20Navy%20II/4-4.jpg

http://i528.photobucket.com/albums/dd324/bdpopeye/US%20Navy%20II/5-4.jpg

http://i528.photobucket.com/albums/dd324/bdpopeye/US%20Navy%20II/6-3.jpg

http://i528.photobucket.com/albums/dd324/bdpopeye/US%20Navy%20II/7-3.jpg