On this day 50 years ago, the Vietnam War ended

Last edited Wed Apr 30, 2025, 02:39 AM - Edit history (2)

On April 30, 1975, North Vietnamese tanks rolled through the gate of the Presidential Palace in Saigon, effectively ending the war.



In this Sunday, April 27, 1975 file photo, a cross from a church in Saigon stands against the dawn sky after a rocket attack and ensuing fire. (AP Photo/Matt Franjola)


Refugees fleeing the advance of communist forces pour into Saigon April 28, 1975, arriving in jammed vehicles and on foot from rural districts north of the capital. (AP Photo/H. Hung)


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)


From left, Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, Vice President Nelson Rockefeller and President Gerald Ford discuss the evacuation of Saigon, South Vietnam, on April 28,1975, at the White House in Washington, D.C. (National Archives/AFP via Getty Images)


Americans and Vietnamese run for a U.S. Marine helicopter in Saigon during the evacuation of the city, April 29, 1975. (AP Photo)


A CIA employee helps Vietnamese evacuees onto an Air America helicopter from the top of 22 Gia Long Street, a half mile from the U.S. Embassy in Saigon on April 29, 1975. The following day, Saigon fell to the communists and the Vietnam War was officially over. (Bettmann Archive via Getty Images)


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, Tuesday, April 29, 1975. The helicopter had carried Vietnamese fleeing Saigon as North Vietnamese forces closed in on the capitol. (AP Photo/jt)


A U.S. Marine helicopter takes off from helipad on top of the American Embassy in Saigon, Vietnam, April 30, 1975. (AP Photo/Phu)


Last Viet evacuees by boat from Saigon water front in Saigon as PRG troops closing in on April 30, 1975. (AP Photo/Matt Franjola)


A soldier perched on a tank of the North Vietnamese Army (NVA) in Saigon, as the city falls into the hands of communist troops, April 30, 1975. (AFP via Getty Images)


A North Vietnamese tank smashes into the gate of the South Vietnamese presidential palace in Saigon on April 30, 1975. (AFP via Getty Images)


Local residents crowd North Vietnamese tanks near South Vietnam's presidential palace in Saigon on April 30, 1975. (AFP via Getty Images)


South Vietnamese President Duong Van Minh, center, leaves the presidential palace in Saigon on April 30, 1975, after his official surrender to the North Vietnamese communists. (Vietnam News Agency/AFP via Getty Images)


The last three staffers in The Associated Press’ 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, April 30, 1975. One of the soldiers is showing Esper the route of his final advance into the city. (AP Photo/Sarah Errington)





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Saigon is now Ho Chi Minh City - the old presidential palace is now Independence Palace aka Reunification Convention Hall, 22 Gia Long Street is known as the Pittman building


Ho Chi Minh City from above


Ho Chi Minh City Independence Palace


The Pittman building in Ho Chi Minh City, now dwarfed by malls and skyscrapers. (NY Times photo)


The rooftop of the Pittman. (NY Times photo)

Military parade today in Ho Chi Minh City:






(AFP)


Honorary ceremonial unit of China’s People’s Liberation Army at today's parade. (AP/Hau Dinh)