Heroes of a hasty exit (When Saigon fell 30 years ago

When Saigon fell 30 years ago, two Texans were among the last Americans to leave)

The sky had opened up, dropping buckets of warm rain on John Valdez as he stepped off the airplane in September '74.

"All the time I've spent in Vietnam, and I've never set foot here," he remembers saying.

Valdez's mood was as foul as the weather. A Marine who had fought in Vietnam in 1965 and '66, Valdez had volunteered for what he thought would be cushy embassy duty. He wanted Israel or the Netherlands or Barbados.

He got Saigon, an assignment that would eventually put him in the middle of a crucial moment of the 20th century.

On April 30, 1975, Valdez climbed into a helicopter and was lifted off the embassy roof. His last view was of a tear-gas canister dropping onto the onrushing South Vietnamese who were desperate to go with him.

The hasty, chaotic and ultimately valiant evacuation of the U.S. Embassy in Saigon 30 years ago is seared in the psyche of America -- an embarrassing and painful end to a war that few imagined the United States would lose.

For Richard Carey and Valdez, that dark day is more than history. It is their story.

Carey started in the Marines as a private in 1945 and retired as a lieutenant general in 1983. He lives in a quiet neighborhood near Lake Ray Hubbard, still able to pass the Marine physical fitness test at 77.

Valdez is 67, a San Antonio native who joined the Marines in 1955. Today, he is a retired master gunnery sergeant, the highest rank an enlisted Marine can obtain, and lives in Southern California.

Today, he plans to visit the Vietnam Veterans Memorial wall in Washington, D.C., with several men who served with him on that last day.

It was early March 1975 when the North Vietnamese launched their stunningly effective offensive in the south as the Khmer Rouge captured neighboring Cambodia. Carey, a brigadier general, was summoned by senior leaders and told that he was no longer needed in Japan.

He was going to take command of the 9th Marine Amphibious Brigade, which was positioned on ships off the coasts of Vietnam and Cambodia.

He was told to plan the evacuation of U.S. personnel from Saigon and Phnom Penh, the Cambodian capital.

He helped scout sites for future bases in 1962 and returned in 1967-68 as a squadron commander. By the time he climbed aboard the USS Blue Ridge in the South China Sea in 1975, U.S. combat troops had been out of Southeast Asia for two years.

"I saw the war from its roots in '62, from its zenith in '68, to its end in '75," he said.

Throughout March and in most of April, tens of thousands of South Vietnamese politicians, military officers and orphans boarded U.S. military and CIA aircraft at Saigon's main airport, Tan Son Nhut, the designated departure point.

But the orderly evacuation went to "hell in a handbasket," in Carey's words, on April 29, when the North Vietnamese attacked the airport and killed Cpl. Charles McMahon and Lance Cpl. Darwin Judge. They were the last two U.S. servicemen killed in Vietnam.

At 11 a.m., Washington ordered its ambassador to South Vietnam, Graham Martin, to begin the final evacuation.

Chaos reigned outside. Valdez -- the ranking noncommissioned officer on the embassy detail -- ordered his Marines to lock the four gates to the embassy compound and not open them.

At the airport, Carey had arrived to oversee the deployment of dozens of Marine and Air Force helicopters from ships 40 miles offshore, all as the weather deteriorated from an incoming typhoon.

Despite the challenges, about 4,000 South Vietnamese were flown out of the airport between 3 and 8 p.m.

"Things were going pretty well until about 9 o'clock," Carey said. "I got a call from the ambassador at the embassy. He said, 'We're going to evacuate from here.' That was a whole new ballgame. That screwed us up."

At the embassy, meanwhile, Martin, 100 Marines and several hundred South Vietnamese remained isolated, surrounded by a growing, panicked crowd caught between the U.S. guns on the inside and the guns of the advancing North Vietnamese outside.

Aboard the Blue Ridge, Carey discovered that an admiral had grounded the Marine helicopters because the pilots had exceeded the limits on their flight hours.

All through the night, the helicopters flew one sortie after another, stuffed with the last of the lucky refugees.

With startling precision, C-46s landed on the embassy roof and the heavier C-53s landed in the courtyard.

Carey and Valdez say the operation went remarkably well only because of the skill and dedication of 100 or so helicopter pilots, who flew nonstop for 20 hours, under fire, in bad weather and in badly overloaded aircraft.

"If we didn't have those pilots, it would have been a disaster," Carey said. "Give credit to those guys."

Martin, who had lost a son in the war, reluctantly gave up hope and departed from Saigon at 4:53 a.m., ordered out by officials in Washington.

He told the Marines to start moving away from the gates and toward the embassy itself, slowly and methodically, so maybe the Vietnamese civilians wouldn't know the end was coming.

"They put two and two together," he said. "By the time we got to the door, we were getting overrun. We had to fight them off."

Helicopters lifted most of the Marines from the roof as dawn broke. But Valdez and 10 others remained, stuck for more than an hour, wondering if they'd been forgotten.

"We had very limited weapons," Valdez said. "I had a .45-caliber [handgun]. Who were we going to fight it out with?"

Finally, a C-46 showed up, accompanied by a Huey for protection. The Marines leapt on, Valdez bringing up the rear. It was 7:53 a.m.

"We were there for 10 years," Valdez said. "For what? We lost 58,000 troops. What did we prove? Here's a mighty nation with high-tech gear and sophisticated aircraft, and a Third World country, determined and disciplined, kicked our ass.

An excerpt from a letter written by President Ford to the Fall of Saigon Marine Association in June 2000:

I pray that no future president is ever faced with the grim options that confronted me as the military situation on the ground deteriorated ... mediating between those who wanted an early exit and others who would go down with all flags flying ... running a desperate race against the clock to rescue as many people as we could before enemy shelling destroyed airport runways ... followed by the heartbreaking realization that, as refugees streamed out onto those runways, we were left with only one alternative -- a final evacuation by helicopter from the roof of the U.S. embassy.

We did the best we could. History will judge whether we could have done better. One thing, however, is beyond question -- the heroism of the Marines who guarded the embassy during its darkest hours, and of those brave helicopter pilots who flew nonstop missions for 18 hours, dodging relentless sniper fire to land on an embassy roof illuminated by nothing more than a 35mm slide projector.

Advancing troops close in on Saigon, sparking a retreat by Americans and the South Vietnamese. ONLINE: Fall of Saigon Marine Association, www.fallofsaigon.org Chris Vaughn, (817) 390-7547 cvaughn@star-telegram.com

"Lady Ace 9" Still Serving the Corps Today, The Re-Dedication of CH-46E BuNo 154803 By Dan "Spyke" Meador

On December 1, 2001 aboard NAS Norfolk, VA, I attended a very special ceremony. H-46 154803 was being re-dedicated. Its mission with the Marine Corps would not change, it is still a medium lift helicopter in the Marine Corps arsenal, but it would now become a living, working piece of Marine Corps history. As I sat there thumbing through the program, my eyes were opened to the legacy that the CH-46 has created over the years. Maybe the most shocking fact is that the last H-46 to be delivered to the Marine Corps was delivered five years before I was born! But this specific bird, now serving with the Marines of HMM-774, MAG-42, Det B, 4th Marine Aircraft Wing, flying out of NAS Norfolk, has a special story to tell and will forever be part of one of the greatest moments in Marine Aviation.

(H-46 A/C 411 as it looks today.)

My great friend, LtCol Mark "Mule" Vanous, USMC, took command of MAG-42, Det B in August of 2001 and told me about this historic bird. It had come to the attention of the squadron, and the Boeing site representative, that one of their thirteen aircraft was the infamous "Tiger, Tiger, Tiger" bird, piloted by MCAA member Col Gerry Berry (then Captain Berry) that flew the Ambassador out of Saigon in April of 1975. Something had to be done to bring attention to this historic event. After many "theories" and a lot of research it was determined that H-46, 154803, A/C 411 was in fact the bird they were looking for.

After some hard work by Boeing to figure out the exact color scheme, and what paint to use, and a trip down to the Cherry Point Naval Aviation Depot, A/C 411 now sports its old "field green" paint scheme of the Vietnam eras opposed to the gray-on-gray scheme used by all active/reserve Marine H-46 squadrons today. Nothing has changed about its mission with the Marine Corps. It will still perform its daily duties as a Medium Lift Helicopter in the Marine Corps arsenal.

In order to tie in the history of this aircraft, and the mission it performs today, I felt it would be important to lay out the events in Vietnam during 1975, give a brief history of "Operation Frequent Wind," the history of A/C 411 and the future for the CH-46 so you can truly see how amazing this aircraft, and the CH-46 in general, really is.

"Historical Perspective of Operation Frequent Wind"
In January of 1975, the North Vietnamese Army (NVA) commenced probing attacks on many major South Vietnamese cities. Throughout March the NVA attacks multiplied as main-force units over-ran the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN). The continuing defeat of the ARVN units throughout the country caused planning for the humanitarian evacuation of American, foreign nationals, Vietnamese citizens and their officials from Saigon.

During April the 9th Marine Amphibious Brigade (MAB) with PROVMAG-39, (consisting of HMM's-164 and 165 (27 H-46's), HMH's-464 (16 H-53's) 463 (16 H-53's), HML-367 and HMA-369), were activated for the evacuation. The USS Midway (CVA-41) had an additional contingent of 6 USAF CH-53's (special ops) and 4 USAF HH-53's (rescue). On 10 April, the 9th MAB arrived off of Saigon. On 12 April officials visited the US Embassy and the Defense Attaché Office (DAO) to determine where the evacuation LZ would be. BGen Richard E. Carey (9th MAB CG, would retire as a LtGen) and Col Alfred M. Gray (33rd Marine Amphibious Unit (MAU) Commander, eventually the 29th Commandant of the Marine Corps) made a personal visit on 13 April to further assess the situation.

On 12 April "Operation Eagle Pull", consisting of H-53's from HMH's-462 and 463, commenced the evacuation of Phnom Pehn before the fall to the communist Khmer Rouge. At this point the NVA attacks stalled due to supply problems, but within a few days the attacks renewed and on 21 April the South Vietnamese President, Nguyen Van Thieu, resigned.

At 1420 on 29 April, "Operation Frequent Wind" commenced. A total of thirty-four CH-53's, twenty-seven CH-46's, six UH-1E's and eight AH-1J's were committed and flew some 682 sorties between first light on 29 April and 0753 on 30 April. At 0458, Capt Gerry Berry, USMC of HMM-165 in "Lady Ace 9" (designated YW 09) lifted the US Ambassador to safety and the much awaited "tiger, tiger, tiger" call was given notifying everyone involved that the Ambassador had been evacuated. The last personnel to be evacuated were Marines of the combined security force. They were evacuated at 0753 on 30 April aboard "Swift 2", an H-46 from HMM-164. During the operation a total of
6, 968 persons had been airlifted out of Saigon. Flight crews averaged 13 hours in the air. Captain Berry outlasted them all with 18.3 hours of flight time. On 30 April 1975, the President of South Vietnam, Gen Duong Van Minh, told his men to stand down and The Republic of Vietnam ceased to exist.

154803's Service Record
This is the time where all of you Phrog pilots and Crewchief's pull out your logbooks to see if you caught a ride in this aircraft. Manufactured at Boeing-Vertol in Philadelphia, PA, 154803 was accepted into the Navy's inventory on 19 February 1968. March 1968-May1971, attached to HMM-263, June 1971-July1971, attached to HMM-165, August1971-January 1972 attached to H&MS-36 (SDLM), February 1972-July 1973 attached to HMM-164, July 1973-June 1976, HMM-165, June 1976-September 1977 attached to HMM-164, September 1977-July 1981 attached to HMM-165, July 1981-May 1982 HELSUPPRON Three, May 1982-January 1983 attached to Cherry Point, NC NAVAIR Rework Facility, January 1983-May1997 attached to MAG-46, HMM-764, May 1997-October 1997, Cherry Point (SDLM), October 1997-present, MAG-42, HMM-774.

(CWO-4 Jim "Crash" Casey, USMC (Ret), Deputy Director, MCAA, relives his early days as a door gunner! Jim actually flew in this particular aircraft in Vietnam while the bird was attached to HMM-263 at Marble Mountain Air Facility, RVN.)

The aircraft has over 8,000 flight hours on its airframe and 774 has flown 61,157 accident free hours in the CH-46. While at home, the Marines of HMM-774 provide ongoing support for Recon School, EWTGLANT, with troop lift and HRST operations at Fort AP Hill. We fly support for 4th MARDIV and 4th FSSG at Quantico, Fort Picket, and Camp Lejeune. We have also supported the SEALs from Little Creek, Special Warfare Training Group at Fort Bragg, NC, and Navy EOD from Norfolk. This year they also had the special privilege of supporting the Royal Marines while deployed to our country to escape the effects of hoof and mouth disease in their training areas in England.

The Future of the H-46

The Marine Corps is launching a new $200 million program to improve the engine reliability of its CH-46E helicopter fleet.

This new program, called the T58-16 Engine Reliability Improvement Program (ERIP), will deliver new, General Electric (GE) produced, modified gas path modules (engine cores) and will overhaul the remaining engine accessories at the Naval Aviation Depot (NADEP), Cherry Point, North Carolina. NADEP Cherry Point will take delivery of the gas path modules from GE and then complete final engine assembly.

The current, unmodified engines are not meeting their reliability targets due to what is commonly referred to as ?tired iron,? based on a lack of new component insertion and years of continued hard use. By the end of 2000, on average, their mean time between repair hours had fallen from the original design specification of 900 hours to less than 360 hours. They are also experiencing a power degradation of approximately five-percent from the designed 1,870-shaft horsepower.

ERIP results in stronger, more reliable engines while reducing maintenance hours and costs to the Fleet. The GE factory assembled gas path module provides all new components, includes all approved Component Improvement Program (CIP) engine modifications, and eliminates all known problems with the engine. Added benefits include recapturing the 900-hour mean time between repair spec and elimination of the power loss.

The first T58-16A engine prototype is scheduled for delivery in the spring of 2002, while T58-16A production deliveries are slated to begin in mid-Fiscal Year 2003. The projected year for H-46E replacement by the MV-22 is 2015?by that time the 46 will have been in service for over fifty years.

In Conclusion
The ceremony held in 774's hangar was a first class event. A/C 411 was wheeled in and was open to the public, fully decked out for combat with its two .50 caliber machine guns mounted on its sides. Boeing set up a nice display featuring the H-46, including various pictures, posters and pamphlets, for people to take home with them. There was the GE T58-16 engine on display as well as a .50 caliber machine gun for visitors to examine. Various Marine Corps organizations (MCAA included) had information and literature available for the public's interest. Col Gerry Berry, now USMC Retired, was the guest of honor and gave a few short remarks about the aircraft and his participation that day in April. Also, SgtMaj Terry Bennington, USMC (Ret) gave a few short remarks about "Operation Frequent Wind." He was one of the last eleven Marines to be evacuated out of Saigon on the 30th of April 1975. MajGen Jack Bergman, CG, 4th MAW made the trip in from New Orleans to attend the ceremony. Various MCAA members including MajGen G.M. Karamarkovich, USMC (Ret), Col Slick Katz, USMC, Head Aviation Logistics & Support Branch (ASL), HQMC, MCAA National's CWO-4 Jim Casey, USMC (Ret), Deputy Executive Director and Dan Meador, Office Manager were also in attendance. It was a good day for the 4th MAW and the Marines of MAG-42, Det B and HMM-774. A job well done Marines.

(Boeing's H-46 display.)

After Thought
It is amazing that I had the opportunity to be at this ceremony, rededicating A/C 411. There was a special done on the history channel specifically on "Operation Frequent Wind" and the evacuation of Saigon in 1975. As I watched program I saw many familiar faces from my association with the MCAA, but one of the gents being interviewed caught my attention. Col Darryl Browning, USMC (Ret) (then 1stLt or Capt?), another 46 pilot by trade, was flying along with Colonel Berry that day in 1975. Colonel Browning was my next-door neighbor here at Quantico in the mid 1990's when I attended Quantico High School with both of his boys. I was the Center on the football team and his son, Chris, was the Quarterback. I ran into Colonel Browning's wife a few months ago to find out that Chris is now a young Captain of Marines. It is interesting because some 26 years after his father flew that mission in 1975, Chris is now is flying the CH-46E out of New River with HMM-162...like father like son.

(I would like to thank all the Marines of MAG-42, Det B and HMM-774 for putting on an excellent event. I also want to thank Boeing, all the MCAA members that attended, LtCol Bill Taylor, USMC, CH-46 Program Manager, for the great material he sent in concerning the H-46, and to my great friend LtCol Mark "Mule" Vanous, USMC, for getting the MCAA involved in this project. and making it possible for this story to be told.)

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