Operation Frequent Wind - Escape While You Can

As the final curtains of the Vietnam War dropped with the Vietcong invasion of Saigon, the US needed to evacuate as many US citizens and South Vietnam allies as possible in the span of fewer than 18 hours.

As US personnel threw dozens of their own million-dollar helicopters overboard to make space for more refugees, the scenes of Operation Frequent Winds would shock the world and exhibit the merciful side of US troops.

Still, thousands of refugees rushed Saigon’s coasts, trying to escape from the incoming invasion. Many of them used boats and makeshift rafts to try to make it to the US ships, while others even attempted to reach them in small planes.

Pilots worked non-stop for almost 20 hours in the most grueling and desperate conditions, and some of the helicopters were so overburdened that the vehicles could barely hover a few inches from the ground.

As the artillery rounds struck closer and closer, no one wanted to be left behind, and US commanders would have to make an extremely difficult decision.