1975 capture of Saigon by the People’s Army of Vietnam and the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam
The fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975 ended the Vietnam War, collapsed South Vietnam, and reunified the country under communist rule for the first time since 1954.
Key Facts
- Date of fall
- 30 April 1975
- Evacuation operation
- Operation Frequent Wind
- Evacuation type
- Largest helicopter evacuation in history
- Formal reunification date
- 2 July 1976
- City renamed
- Saigon renamed Ho Chi Minh City on 2 July 1976
- South Vietnam existed
- 1949–1975
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
As part of North Vietnam's 1975 spring offensive, the People's Army of Vietnam and Viet Cong auxiliaries under General Văn Tiến Dũng launched a sustained campaign southward. U.S. ground combat units had already withdrawn more than two years earlier, leaving the Army of the Republic of Vietnam to resist without direct American military support. Heavy PAVN advances overwhelmed South Vietnamese defenses and made Saigon untenable.
On 29–30 April 1975, PAVN and Viet Cong forces launched a final assault on Saigon, subjecting ARVN positions to heavy artillery bombardment. President Dương Văn Minh surrendered on 30 April, and communist troops occupied key points of the city, raising the Viet Cong flag over the Presidential Palace. Simultaneously, Operation Frequent Wind evacuated nearly all American personnel and tens of thousands of South Vietnamese civilians by helicopter.
South Vietnam ceased to exist, and a Provisional Revolutionary Government administered the south until formal reunification on 2 July 1976, when the Socialist Republic of Vietnam was established with Hanoi as capital. Saigon was renamed Ho Chi Minh City. A wave of refugees fled the country, and new communist governance contributed to a decline in the city's population until 1979.
Belligerents & Mobilization Analysis
Side A
2 belligerents
Văn Tiến Dũng.
Side B
2 belligerents
Nguyễn Văn Toàn, Dương Văn Minh.