Excerpt from the book; Running For Home.

[Wagga]

Here is an excerpt from my book Running For Home:

The Final Stages of the Vietnam War. The fall of Saigon

The war in Vietnam was just coming to its final stages in early 1975. I had not taken very much notice of this war that had raged in Vietnam for years on end. The fall of Saigon consisted of the capture of South Vietnam by the North Vietnamese Army on the 30th April, 1975. This event marked the end of the Vietnam War and the start of a transition period which was to lead to the formal reunification of Vietnam under communist rule.

The North Vietnamese forces under the command of the Senior General Van Tien Dung, began a final attack on Saigon, commanded by General Nguyen Van Tien, on April 29th. This commenced with a heavy artillery bombardment. By the afternoon of the next day, North Vietnamese troops had occupied the strategic points within the city, raising their flag over the South Vietnamese presidential palace. South Vietnam capitulated shortly after this. The city was re-named as Ho Chi Minh City, after the name of the communist leader Ho Chi Minh. Just before the fall of the city, the evacuation of almost all the American civilian and military personnel in Saigon, along with tens of thousands of South Vietnamese civilians who were associated with the Southern regime took place. The evacuation was called ‘Operation Frequent Wind’, the largest helicopter evacuation in history.

All available ships with helicopters in the area were alerted and as our task group was in the area we were all put on standby.
I can’t say I was particularly nervous at this point even though a number of aircraft had been lost but there was a rumour going about that in the panic, civilians and embassy staff, were trying to grab hold of helicopters and get on board, which would then become overloaded, the aircraft then going nowhere.

The pilot and I were briefed on what we would have to do if we were called upon to go in and rescue people. I was issued with a Browning automatic pistol and was given rudimentary target practice off the flight deck by the weapons instructor.
This consisted of a can of coke, rapidly consumed by a rating and then thrown into the sea. I loaded the gun took off the safety catch and began firing. I missed by miles. This didn’t bother me much since I realised that my potential target would be much closer and much larger.
Later the pilot confided in me that should we have to go in and people lunge at the undercarriage, putting the aircraft in danger and all of our lives then it would be at that point that the Browning automatic would be employed.

That night I could not sleep well with anxiety and I had dreams of shooting innocent victims in order to preserve the lives of both myself and others.

[Keith at Tregenna]

Although not really off the ground but a work in progress, would welcome any input as to works, part works etc. Eventually, I hope to produce something that will be freely available to Schools, libraries etc or given away at exhibitions and more or supplied at a very low cost, be it the cost of a blank DVD / CD, Any contributions are welcome.

If nothing else will promote your work in MN circles, content required along with permissions.

Nearing lift off.

Example attached: K

LINK: http://hernamewasss.blogspot.co.uk/2...hant-navy.html

K.

INTENDED FILE IS TO LARGE, WILL FIND A BETTER MEDIUM TO TARGET

A GOOD LINK AND DOWNLOAD OF THE EXAMPLE OF CONTENTS ETC:

http://www.azilo.me.uk/odyssey/index.html

K.

[Captain Kong]

Hi Wagga,
I was in Guam when Saigon fell, the evacuees from there were pouring in by plane into Clarke Field and into the port of Agana by ship.. I had a drink with an American Soldier, he told me he had left his wife and four children behind and didnt know how to find them, I remember seeing the panic on TV in Guam, as they tried to board the helicopters round the American Embassy. I think a Jumbo crashed full of hundreds of children and killing most of them.
It seemed unbelievable that the mightiest armed force in the world was sent off in a mad panic.
I went to Saigon in 2008, or Ho Chi Minh, and had a lunch in the Royal Hotel rooftop restaurant, which overlooks the American Embassy, most of the action shots were taken by the worlds press from there.
Viet Nam seemed to be OK then not a bit like the propanda put out by the Americans and the Domino effects of communism in South East Asia
I was there in Vung Tau or in those days Cape St Jaque, 1955 on the troopship `Georgic` to evacuate the French Foreign Legion off the beach with our lifeboats after their defeat at Dien Bien Phu
The Americans did not learn any lessons from that event before they went in.
Come to think of it, the Americans never learn any lessons from past conflicts.