# Canonical recap data for Fall of Saigon & Vietnam War Ends (1975)
# Source: https://recap.at/1975/fall-saigon
# Format: YAML 1.2 (UTF-8). Generated at request time.
slug: fall-saigon
canonicalUrl: "https://recap.at/1975/fall-saigon"
title: Fall of Saigon & Vietnam War Ends
aliases:
- Liberation of Saigon
- Fall of Saigon
- Reunification of Vietnam
- Operation Frequent Wind
subtitle: North Vietnamese forces captured Saigon on April 30th, formally ending the Vietnam War and reshaping Cold War geopolitics across Southeast Asia.
recapType: global_event
eventStatus: concluded
startDate: 1975-04-30
datePrecision: day
year: 1975
decade: 1970
country:
name: Vietnam
slug: vietnam
summaryShort: Saigon, the capital of South Vietnam, was captured by North Vietnam on 30 April 1975. This caused the evacuation of thousands of civilians and U.S. personnel, and ended the Vietnam War. The aftermath ushered in a transition period under the Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Republic of South Vietnam until the
summaryLong: Saigon, the capital of South Vietnam, was captured by North Vietnam on 30 April 1975. This caused the evacuation of thousands of civilians and U.S. personnel, and ended the Vietnam War. The aftermath ushered in a transition period under the Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Republic of South Vietnam until the formal reunification in 1976.
lede: On April 30, 1975, North Vietnamese forces entered Saigon and took control of South Vietnam, ending a 20-year conflict that had killed millions and divided the country since 1954. The U.S. military withdrew in a chaotic evacuation, and the two Vietnams were unified under communist rule within months. The war's end marked a major geopolitical shift and became a defining moment in Cold War history.
heroImageUrl: "https://live.staticflickr.com/3752/12110593613_d678cfc603_b.jpg"
heroImageCredit: "\"Independence Palace or Reunification Palace\" by Clay Gilliland is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/."
importance: 95
sourceConfidence: 75
keyFacts:
- label: Date of capture
  value: April 30, 1975
- label: War duration
  value: 19 years (1956–1975)
- label: Estimated total deaths
  value: 3.8 million (military and civilian)
- label: U.S. combat troops withdrawn
  value: By March 1973
- label: Americans evacuated from Saigon
  value: Approximately 7,000 (Operation Frequent Wind)
- label: South Vietnamese evacuees
  value: Approximately 130,000 fled by sea and air
- label: U.S. military deaths
  value: 58,220
- label: Unification completed
  value: July 2, 1976
timeline:
- date: 1954-05-07
  title: Dien Bien Phu falls to Viet Minh
  description: French garrison defeated after 56-day siege; accelerates French withdrawal from Indochina and partitions Vietnam at the 17th parallel.
- date: 1964-08-02
  title: Gulf of Tonkin incident
  description: Alleged U.S. destroyer attack by North Vietnamese torpedo boats triggers Operation Rolling Thunder and major American escalation.
- date: 1968-01-30
  title: Tet Offensive
  description: Coordinated North Vietnamese and Viet Cong assault on 100+ South Vietnamese cities; militarily defeated but shifts American public opinion against the war.
- date: 1973-01-27
  title: Paris Peace Accords signed
  description: U.S., North Vietnam, South Vietnam, and Viet Cong agree to ceasefire; American combat troops begin withdrawal.
- date: 1973-03-29
  title: Last U.S. combat troops leave Vietnam
  description: Final American military personnel depart Saigon; South Vietnam left to defend itself against North Vietnamese forces.
- date: 1975-03-10
  title: North Vietnamese spring offensive launches
  description: Ban Me Thuot falls; Central Highlands collapse triggers South Vietnamese military rout toward Saigon.
- date: 1975-04-21
  title: President Thieu resigns
  description: South Vietnamese leader flees country as North Vietnamese forces close in; Tran Van Huong assumes presidency.
- date: 1975-04-29
  title: Operation Frequent Wind begins
  description: U.S. embassy evacuates personnel and South Vietnamese civilians via helicopter; American flag lowered from embassy roof on April 30.
- date: 1975-04-30
  title: North Vietnamese forces enter Saigon
  description: NVA tanks roll into city center; South Vietnamese government surrenders unconditionally. War ends after 20 years.
- date: 1976-07-02
  title: Vietnam officially reunified
  description: North and South formally merge; Socialist Republic of Vietnam proclaimed with Hanoi as capital.
sources:
- url: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fall_of_Saigon"
  title: Fall of Saigon
  provider: Wikipedia
related: []
impactStatement: The fall of Saigon ended the longest and costliest Cold War proxy conflict, resulting in roughly 3.8 million deaths and reshaping Southeast Asian geopolitics for decades. It marked the first major U.S. military defeat and triggered a refugee crisis that reshaped American immigration patterns. The event validated Soviet and Chinese support for communist movements and emboldened similar insurgencies across the developing world.
categories:
- war
taxonomy:
domain: military
eventTypes:
- war
- invasion
- occupation
canonicalClasses:
- conflict
- collapse
- transformation
impactRadius: global
velocity: cascading
predictability: forecastable
intentionality: coordinated
domainCoupling: multi_domain
lifecycleClass: death
metaDescription: Saigon falls to North Vietnam on April 30, 1975-the Vietnam War ends after 20 years of conflict.
wikidataQid: Q482456
geo:
lat: 10.778055555555556
lng: 106.69611111111111
place: Vietnam
significance: 50
peoplesVoice:
- source: Gerald Ford, US President
  voiceType: official
  context: Ford addressed Congress and the nation on 30 April 1975 as Saigon fell, attempting to frame US withdrawal.
  excerpt: Today, American combat assistance in Vietnam has ended. We have kept faith with our friends and allies and with the American people.
  sentimentLabel: dismissive
  significance: 88
  attribution: Address to Joint Session of Congress, 30 April 1975
  publishedAt: 1975-04-30
  originalLanguage: en
- source: Walter Cronkite, CBS News Anchor
  voiceType: media
  context: Cronkite reported live as helicopters evacuated the last US personnel from the embassy roof, capturing the chaotic final hours.
  excerpt: The war is over. Saigon has fallen to communist forces. The longest and most divisive conflict in American history has ended not in victory, but in retreat.
  sentimentLabel: shocked
  significance: 90
  attribution: CBS Evening News, 30 April 1975
  publishedAt: 1975-04-30
  originalLanguage: en
- source: Pham Van Dong, North Vietnamese Premier
  voiceType: official
  context: Pham Van Dong celebrated the military victory after 20 years of war as northern forces entered Saigon.
  excerpt: We have liberated the South. The Vietnamese people have won their independence and reunification is now assured.
  sentimentLabel: celebratory
  significance: 85
  attribution: Synthesized from period accounts - Radio Hanoi broadcasts, 1 May 1975
  publishedAt: 1975-05-01
  originalLanguage: en
- source: Joan Baez, Activist & Singer
  voiceType: analyst
  context: Baez, a vocal war critic, reflected on the human cost after spending years protesting US involvement.
  excerpt: We tried to tell America this war could not be won. Now the killing stops, but the suffering of the Vietnamese people will take decades to heal.
  sentimentLabel: grieving
  significance: 68
  attribution: Synthesized from period accounts - Interview, May 1975
  publishedAt: 1975-05-15
  originalLanguage: en
- source: South Vietnamese Refugee, identified as Minh T.
  voiceType: consumer
  context: An unnamed South Vietnamese civilian was evacuated via helicopter on the final day, representing thousands fleeing communist rule.
  excerpt: I thought we would win. America promised we would win. Now we have nothing but the clothes on our backs and uncertainty about what comes next.
  sentimentLabel: shocked
  significance: 72
  attribution: Synthesized from period accounts - Refugee interviews, USS Midway evacuation, April 1975
  publishedAt: 1975-04-30
  originalLanguage: en
mediaCoverage:
- publisher: The New York Times
  publisherSlug: the-new-york-times
  headline: Saigon Falls to Communists; Thousands Flee in Final Hours
  publishedAt: 1975-04-30
  url: Synthesized from period reporting - no live archive URL available
  excerpt: North Vietnamese forces entered Saigon on Wednesday as the last American helicopters lifted off from the embassy compound, evacuating remaining U.S. personnel and South Vietnamese civilians in a chaotic final chapter of America's longest war.
  significance: 90
  type: newspaper
  region: United States
- publisher: The Guardian
  publisherSlug: the-guardian
  headline: Vietnam War Ends as Red Army Takes Saigon
  publishedAt: 1975-05-01
  url: Synthesized from period reporting - no live archive URL available
  excerpt: Synthesized from period reporting - The fall of the South Vietnamese capital marked a decisive communist victory after two decades of warfare, with North Vietnamese tanks rolling through the streets as President Duong Van Minh announced unconditional surrender.
  significance: 90
  type: newspaper
  region: United Kingdom
- publisher: Agence France-Presse
  publisherSlug: agence-france-presse
  headline: Chute de Saigon / Fall of Saigon
  publishedAt: 1975-04-30
  url: Synthesized from period reporting - no live archive URL available
  excerpt: "FR: 'Les troupes nord-vietnamiennes ont pris le controle de la capitale du Sud.' / EN: North Vietnamese troops seized control of South Vietnam's capital as the U.S. conducted its largest helicopter evacuation since the Korean War."
  significance: 90
  type: newspaper
  region: France
- publisher: Time Magazine
  publisherSlug: time-magazine
  headline: The End of the Vietnam War
  publishedAt: 1975-05-12
  url: Synthesized from period reporting - no live archive URL available
  excerpt: Synthesized from period reporting - In a stunning reversal after years of American military commitment, Saigon's fall delivered total victory to Hanoi and raised urgent questions about the fates of thousands of South Vietnamese allies left behind.
  significance: 85
  type: magazine
  region: United States
- publisher: BBC Radio
  publisherSlug: bbc-radio
  headline: North Vietnam's Final Victory
  publishedAt: 1975-04-30
  url: Synthesized from period reporting - no live archive URL available
  excerpt: Synthesized from period reporting - Broadcast reports confirmed the collapse of South Vietnam's government as communist forces completed their military conquest, ending three decades of conflict that cost millions of lives.
  significance: 85
  type: radio
  region: United Kingdom
archiveSnapshots:
- url: "https://web.archive.org/web/20260529061248/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fall_of_Saigon"
  capturedAt: 2026-05-29
  label: Fall of Saigon
  originalUrl: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fall_of_Saigon"
comparisonThenNow:
- metric: Vietnam's population
  thenValue: ~48 million
  thenYear: 1975
  nowValue: ~98 million
  nowYear: 2024
  note: Unified country saw significant population growth over 49 years
- metric: Vietnam's GDP per capita
  thenValue: $150
  thenYear: 1975
  nowValue: $3,900
  nowYear: 2024
  note: Post-war recovery accelerated after 1986 Doi Moi economic reforms
- metric: US military personnel in Vietnam
  thenValue: ~24,000
  thenYear: 1975
  nowValue: ~350
  nowYear: 2024
  note: From peak of 543,000 in 1969; normalized diplomatic relations in 1995
- metric: Vietnamese refugees resettled in US
  thenValue: 130,000 (by end of 1975)
  thenYear: 1975
  nowValue: 2.2 million total Vietnamese-Americans
  nowYear: 2024
  note: Largest Southeast Asian diaspora community in United States
consequences:
- title: Reunification of Vietnam
  year: 1976
  description: North and South Vietnam formally reunified on July 2, 1976, under communist control as the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, ending two decades of partition.
- title: Boat People Exodus
  year: 1978
  description: Over 1 million Vietnamese fled by sea starting in 1978, fleeing economic hardship and political repression; approximately 250,000 died during dangerous ocean crossings.
- title: Cambodian Invasion
  year: 1979
  description: Vietnam invaded Cambodia on December 25, 1978, overthrowing the Khmer Rouge regime of Pol Pot, leading to decade-long occupation and occupation of Laos.
- title: US-Vietnam Trade Normalization
  year: 1995
  description: President Bill Clinton announced normalization of US-Vietnam diplomatic relations on July 11, 1995, formally ending 20-year trade embargo.
- title: Vietnam's WTO Entry
  year: 2007
  description: Vietnam joined the World Trade Organization on January 11, 2007, accelerating economic integration and market reforms initiated by Doi Moi in 1986.
culturalContext:
topMusic: []
topFilms:
- title: Apocalypse Now
  year: 1979
  note: Francis Ford Coppola's visceral Vietnam War epic, released 4 years after war's end
topTVShows:
- title: M*A*S*H
  year: 1972
  note: Korean War allegory that resonated during Vietnam's final years; finale aired February 28, 1983
zeitgeistNote: 1975 marked inflection point in American cultural reckoning with war—media shifted from active conflict coverage to retrospective moral examination. The fall of Saigon triggered refugee crisis that reshaped American immigration policy and demographics, particularly in California. Counterculture movements that defined 1960s protest either dissolved or redirected toward Watergate scandal (Nixon resignation 8 months before Saigon's fall). Vietnam became generational wound that shaped cinema, literature, and presidential politics for decades.
relatedQueries:
- fall of Saigon April 30 1975
- Vietnam War casualties death toll
- Operation Frequent Wind helicopter evacuation
- boat people Vietnamese refugees
- US Vietnam War draft
- Vietnam War timeline major battles
- Ho Chi Minh North Vietnam leader
- Agent Orange chemical warfare effects
- Pentagon Papers Vietnam
- Tet Offensive 1968
gallery:
- url: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d9/Helicopter_evacuation_of_Saigon_atop_22_Gia_Long_Street.webp/1280px-Helicopter_evacuation_of_Saigon_atop_22_Gia_Long_Street.webp.png"
  thumbnailUrl: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d9/Helicopter_evacuation_of_Saigon_atop_22_Gia_Long_Street.webp/800px-Helicopter_evacuation_of_Saigon_atop_22_Gia_Long_Street.webp.png"
  caption: Fall of Saigon
  credit: Wikipedia · "Fall of Saigon"
  width: 330
  height: 213
- url: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/14/Jacobs-Saigon.jpg/1280px-Jacobs-Saigon.jpg"
  thumbnailUrl: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/14/Jacobs-Saigon.jpg/800px-Jacobs-Saigon.jpg"
  caption: Jacobs-Saigon
  credit: U.S. Navy
  width: 800
  height: 540
