Mysteries in the Archives

1975: The Fall of Saigon (2x10)

Air date: Aug 28, 2011

April 1975, Western reporters film the last hours of the Vietnam War: rushed departures, helicopters pushed into the sea, Communist tanks entering Saigon… The hasty evacuation from the roof of the American embassy, ​​helicopters in distress, pilots who, in desperation, jump into the void - these images shape the cinematic memory of the final act of the 30-year Vietnam War. They come from Western reporters covering the predictable fall of the South Vietnamese capital in late April 1975. Several thousand vulnerable Americans and Vietnamese are being evacuated by air. These images made the news worldwide and are part of our memory of the fall of Saigon today. But why this hasty escape when everything had been planned and organized for weeks?