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PHOTOS: Fall of Saigon through the eyes of AP photographers

Tomas Kauer - News...
April 29, 2025
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PHOTOS: Fall of Saigon through the eyes of AP photographers

WORLD

As North Vietnamese forces captured Saigon, the fall of the southern capital city on April 30, 1975, effectively marked the end of the Vietnam War.

The evacuation of South Vietnamese allies and refugees in the final days was the end of America’s 20-year involvement in the war.

The Associated Press opened its first office in Vietnam in 1950, reporting and photographing escalating events until the bureau was closed shortly after the fall of Saigon.

By July 1975, North and South Vietnam were unified under communist rule as the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

Associated Press contributed to this report.

A weeping South Vietnamese mother and her three children are shown on the deck of this amphibious command ship being plucked out of Saigon by U.S. Marine helicopters in Vietnam, April 29, 1975. (AP Photo/J.T. Wolkerstorfer, File)
A weeping South Vietnamese mother and her three children are shown on the deck of this amphibious command ship being plucked out of Saigon by U.S. Marine helicopters in Vietnam, April 29, 1975. (AP Photo/J.T. Wolkerstorfer, File)
In this April 30, 1975 file photo, a North Vietnamese tank rolls through the gates of the Presidential Palace in Saigon, signifying the fall of South Vietnam. The war ended on April 30, 1975, with the fall of Saigon, now known as Ho Chi Minh City, to communist troops from the north. (AP Photo/File)
In this April 30, 1975 file photo, a North Vietnamese tank rolls through the gates of the Presidential Palace in Saigon, signifying the fall of South Vietnam. The war ended on April 30, 1975, with the fall of Saigon, now known as Ho Chi Minh City, to communist troops from the north. (AP Photo/File)
In this April 29, 1975 file photo, mobs of Vietnamese people scale the wall of the U.S. Embassy in Saigon, Vietnam, trying to get to the helicopter pickup zone, just before the end of the Vietnam War. (AP Photo/Neal Ulevich, file)
In this April 29, 1975 file photo, mobs of Vietnamese people scale the wall of the U.S. Embassy in Saigon, Vietnam, trying to get to the helicopter pickup zone, just before the end of the Vietnam War. (AP Photo/Neal Ulevich, file)
Last Vietnamese evacuees by boat from Saigon water front in Saigon as PRG troops close in on April 30, 1975. (AP Photo/Matt Franjola, File)
Last Vietnamese evacuees by boat from Saigon water front in Saigon as PRG troops close in on April 30, 1975. (AP Photo/Matt Franjola, File)
In this April 28, 1975 photo provided the White House via the Gerald R. Ford Library, President Gerald Ford, center, meets with Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, right, and Vice President Nelson Rockefeller in the Oval Office of the White House to discuss the American evacuation of Saigon. (David Hume Kennerly/White House, Gerald R. Ford Library via AP, File)
In this April 28, 1975 photo provided the White House via the Gerald R. Ford Library, President Gerald Ford, center, meets with Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, right, and Vice President Nelson Rockefeller in the Oval Office of the White House to discuss the American evacuation of Saigon. (David Hume Kennerly/White House, Gerald R. Ford Library via AP, File)
A communist fighter carrying a rocket-propelled grenade passes comrades on the steps of the National Assembly (Parliament) building in Saigon on April 30, 1975, as South Vietnam surrendered to North Vietnam, ending the Vietnam War. (AP Photo/Yves Billy, File)
A communist fighter carrying a rocket-propelled grenade passes comrades on the steps of the National Assembly (Parliament) building in Saigon on April 30, 1975, as South Vietnam surrendered to North Vietnam, ending the Vietnam War. (AP Photo/Yves Billy, File)
In this April 29, 1975, file photo, a helicopter lifts off from the U.S. embassy in Saigon, Vietnam, during the evacuation of authorized personnel and civilians. More than two bitter decades of war in Vietnam ended with the last days of April 1975. (AP Photo/File)
In this April 29, 1975, file photo, a helicopter lifts off from the U.S. embassy in Saigon, Vietnam, during the evacuation of authorized personnel and civilians. More than two bitter decades of war in Vietnam ended with the last days of April 1975. (AP Photo/File)
In this May 4, 1975 file photo, a youth waves a weapon and a Provisional Revolutionary Government (PRG) flag as he joins PRG troops on a jeep on Tu Do street in Saigon. (AP Photo/Matt Franjola, File)
In this May 4, 1975 file photo, a youth waves a weapon and a Provisional Revolutionary Government (PRG) flag as he joins PRG troops on a jeep on Tu Do street in Saigon. (AP Photo/Matt Franjola, File)
In this Monday, April 28, 1975 file photo, South Vietnamese troops and western TV newsmen run for cover as a North Vietnamese mortar round explodes on Newport Bridge on the outskirts of Saigon. (AP Photo/Hoanh, File)
In this Monday, April 28, 1975 file photo, South Vietnamese troops and western TV newsmen run for cover as a North Vietnamese mortar round explodes on Newport Bridge on the outskirts of Saigon. (AP Photo/Hoanh, File)
In this Tuesday, April 29, 1975 file photo, U.S. Navy personnel aboard the USS Blue Ridge push a helicopter into the sea off the coast of Vietnam in order to make room for more evacuation flights from Saigon. The helicopter had carried Vietnamese people fleeing Saigon as North Vietnamese forces closed in on the capital. (AP Photo/File)
In this Tuesday, April 29, 1975 file photo, U.S. Navy personnel aboard the USS Blue Ridge push a helicopter into the sea off the coast of Vietnam in order to make room for more evacuation flights from Saigon. The helicopter had carried Vietnamese people fleeing Saigon as North Vietnamese forces closed in on the capital. (AP Photo/File)
A Saigon student demonstrator hastily flees after a policeman grabbed his antigovernment banner, Thursday, April 9, 1975. About 30 students protested the draft and demanded the ouster of South Vietnamese President Nguyen Van Thieu. (AP Photo/Dang Van Phuoc )
A Saigon student demonstrator hastily flees after a policeman grabbed his antigovernment banner, Thursday, April 9, 1975. About 30 students protested the draft and demanded the ouster of South Vietnamese President Nguyen Van Thieu. (AP Photo/Dang Van Phuoc )
Trucks and motorbikes, loaded with refugees, roar along the main highway from the old imperial capital of Hue to the port city of Danang about 50 miles south of Hue, March 25, 1975. Hue's 200,000 inhabitants have been streaming southward since the Saigon government's decision to abandon the city in the face of a heavy North Vietnamese buildup. (AP Photo)
Trucks and motorbikes, loaded with refugees, roar along the main highway from the old imperial capital of Hue to the port city of Danang about 50 miles south of Hue, March 25, 1975. Hue’s 200,000 inhabitants have been streaming southward since the Saigon government’s decision to abandon the city in the face of a heavy North Vietnamese buildup. (AP Photo)
A U.S. civilian pilot in the aircraft doorway tries to maintain order as panicking South Vietnamese civilians scramble to get aboard during evacuation of Nha Trang Tuesday, April 1, 1975. Thousands of civilians and South Vietnamese soldiers fought for space on the aircraft to Saigon as communist forces advanced following the fall of Qui Nhon, to the north. (AP Photo)
A U.S. civilian pilot in the aircraft doorway tries to maintain order as panicking South Vietnamese civilians scramble to get aboard during evacuation of Nha Trang Tuesday, April 1, 1975. Thousands of civilians and South Vietnamese soldiers fought for space on the aircraft to Saigon as communist forces advanced following the fall of Qui Nhon, to the north. (AP Photo)
Father and mother, from front and back, help lift their youngster from ship to dock as the family and hundreds of other refugees arrive at Saigon dock, Friday, March 29, 1975. The arrival of the merchant vessel was one of the first at the capital since the mass exodus of South Vietnamese from the central highlands and Northern provinces. (AP Photo/Dang Van Phuoc)
Father and mother, from front and back, help lift their youngster from ship to dock as the family and hundreds of other refugees arrive at Saigon dock, Friday, March 29, 1975. The arrival of the merchant vessel was one of the first at the capital since the mass exodus of South Vietnamese from the central highlands and Northern provinces. (AP Photo/Dang Van Phuoc)
In this Thursday, April 4, 1975 file photo, young demonstrators toss sticks and rocks at South Vietnamese riot police in Saigon in a brief confrontation after a rally sponsored by the mainly Catholic anti-corruption movement. (AP Photo/Lo Vinh, File)
In this Thursday, April 4, 1975 file photo, young demonstrators toss sticks and rocks at South Vietnamese riot police in Saigon in a brief confrontation after a rally sponsored by the mainly Catholic anti-corruption movement. (AP Photo/Lo Vinh, File)
In this April 1975 file photo, orphans aboard the first "Operation Babylift" flight at the end of the Vietnam War look through the windows of World Airways DC-8 jet as it flies them to the United States. (AP Photo/File)
In this April 1975 file photo, orphans aboard the first “Operation Babylift” flight at the end of the Vietnam War look through the windows of World Airways DC-8 jet as it flies them to the United States. (AP Photo/File)
In this April 30, 1975 photo, the last three staffers in the AP Saigon bureau, reporters Matt Franjola, left, Peter Arnett, rear, and George Esper, second from right, are joined by two North Vietnamese soldiers and a member of the Viet Cong on the day the government of South Vietnam surrendered. One of the soldiers is showing Esper the route of his final advance into the city. (AP Photo/Sarah Errington, File)
In this April 30, 1975 photo, the last three staffers in the AP Saigon bureau, reporters Matt Franjola, left, Peter Arnett, rear, and George Esper, second from right, are joined by two North Vietnamese soldiers and a member of the Viet Cong on the day the government of South Vietnam surrendered. One of the soldiers is showing Esper the route of his final advance into the city. (AP Photo/Sarah Errington, File)
Teeming frightened humanity crowds the decks of the merchant vassal Pioneer Contender as it docks at Cam Ranh Bay on the central coast of South Vietnam, Friday, March 29, 1975. Ship carried 5,600 South Vietnamese refugees and about 40 Americans out of Danang, a refugee crammed city under the gun. (AP Photo/Huynh Cong/Ut)
Teeming frightened humanity crowds the decks of the merchant vassal Pioneer Contender as it docks at Cam Ranh Bay on the central coast of South Vietnam, Friday, March 29, 1975. Ship carried 5,600 South Vietnamese refugees and about 40 Americans out of Danang, a refugee crammed city under the gun. (AP Photo/Huynh Cong/Ut)
In this Tuesday, April 29, 1975 file photo, American citizens arrive aboard the command and control ship USS Blue Ridge after being evacuated out of Saigon, South Vietnam, by U.S. Marine and Air Force helicopters operating from Navy ships. (U.S. Navy via AP, File)
In this Tuesday, April 29, 1975 file photo, American citizens arrive aboard the command and control ship USS Blue Ridge after being evacuated out of Saigon, South Vietnam, by U.S. Marine and Air Force helicopters operating from Navy ships. (U.S. Navy via AP, File)
In this April 29, 1975 file photo, a helicopter lifts off from the U.S. embassy in Saigon, Vietnam during last minute evacuation of authorized personnel and civilians. (AP Photo/File)
In this April 29, 1975 file photo, a helicopter lifts off from the U.S. embassy in Saigon, Vietnam during last minute evacuation of authorized personnel and civilians. (AP Photo/File)

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