Last Days in Vietnam Page #7
we, of course, were taking advantage
of the presence of the aircraft
to evacuate threatened folks.
But there were other independent
efforts to get people out.
McBRIDE:
Several of us at the embassyagreed that we would drive vans
down to the docks on the Saigon River.
I had an assigned assembly
point in the middle of Saigon,
people into a nine-person van
and then drove through
the streets of Saigon
through various checkpoints
down to the docks.
People would get out
and go running for these
commercial boats and get on.
I made a number of runs
and there'd just be more
and more and more people.
Finally, as the sun was going down,
we were running out of light.
Man came up to me.
I turned to him and said,
"This is my last load.
I, you know, I can't take anymore. "
I said, "Well, get your family. "
And he said, "Can't do it.
"My family's too big.
My family's too big. "
And he just shook my hand
and said, "Thanks for trying,"
and walked away.
So I came back to the
embassy and parked the van.
It was already getting
well into twilight.
Got my way through the crowd.
It was a big crowd.
I had nothing more I could do.
So I went to get on the helicopter
and Ambassador Martin pulled
me out of line and he said,
"I know what you've been doing.
"I know you've been out there.
"We've been talking.
I want to thank you. "
I thought that was a kind gesture.
By that time it was definitely dark.
The lights of the...
of the helicopter inside
radiated very clearly.
I sat down, looked around.
I was one of maybe
two or three Americans.
The rest were all Vietnamese.
And we flew out.
It was very dark.
I remember that.
each other and try to get
in the front line.
And that's when the
Captain Herrington started
speaking to us in Vietnamese.
"Nobody is going to be left behind. "
And then he said, "When
you are in American embassy,
"you are in American soil.
"I promise, me and my
soldier will be the last one
leave the embassy. "
So after that announcement
everybody feel relaxed.
Literally, we totally relaxed.
We have nothing to worry about.
Yeah.
We were told
that the North Vietnamese
tanks were coming very close.
So we asked, we in
the White House, asked
the Defense Department how
many South Vietnamese were left.
"Left" meant inside
the embassy compound.
And then we calculated
how many helicopters
it would take to get them out.
We told Martin that he had
to be on the last helicopter.
All I know is that in Washington
there was confusion about
the numbers on the ground.
At 1:
00 a. m. there were1,100 people left to evacuate.
After we'd had a flurry of choppers
and cleaned out more than half of them
and there were 420 people left,
we received an order from Washington
that the lift was over
other than the extraction
of the remaining Americans.
About 4:
00 in the morning, 4:30,I land on the USS Blue Ridge again.
out, gives me an apple
and a cup of coffee
or something and says,
"We're under orders from the President.
You got to get the Ambassador out. "
So we fly in.
I land on the roof exactly at
4:
50 in the morning and I said,"I'm not leaving until
the Ambassador's onboard. "
One of the Marines lowered
the flag, folded it up
and escorted the Ambassador
up to the landing zone
up on top of the embassy
and he gave him the flag
and, uh, that was it.
Major Kean came to Colonel
Madison, said, "No more.
Only Americans from this point on. "
And Madison said, "The hell you say.
We've got these people over here. "
And Kean said, "Sir,
not going to happen.
It's a presidential order. "
And Madison said, "I'll take
this up with the Ambassador. "
He was very hot under the collar.
And Kean said, "You can't, that's him,"
and pointed to the CH-46
that was just flying away.
So the Ambassador's on board.
And out we go.
We land on the Blue Ridge.
15 or 20, maybe 25 people
get off with the Ambassador
and that was the end of it.
I flew 18.3 hours straight through.
tired, extremely haggard.
I mean, he looked like... I'm
sure the pressure was immense.
And at what time were
you to cease evacuation?
Cease evacuation?
We could still be flying if we
hadn't gotten the Ambassador out
because he refused to stop the lift.
3:
00 in the morning?No, 3:
45.Colonel Madison says
to me, "We're screwed.
"Stu, you stay down
here in the parking lot
and keep these 420 people warm"...
Meaning if they see us
all leave at the same time
they'll panic... "and then
make your way to the roof.
We gotta go. "
And he was very angry
and very disappointed.
So they disappeared into the embassy.
And I went to where
the remaining Vietnamese
who were waiting and told them...
"Big helicopters about to
come," and waited a few minutes.
Then I saw a chopper
take off and I thought,
"Sh*t, was I supposed
to be on that one?"
So, I looked at the
Vietnamese and I said...
"I got to take a leak. "
And I left into the shadows.
I made my way around
in a circuitous route
and went into the embassy.
really, really was wrong.
just say, "I'm not leaving
till they go, because I promised them. "
And then I said, "Don't be a fool.
"Maybe they've started
shooting down helicopters
"for all you know.
"You're not going to
get anybody else out.
"It's a presidential order.
This decision has been made. "
So, I got to the roof and a
CH-46 alighted on the rooftop,
put its ramp down and we got on board.
As it took off, the door was open.
And down in the parking lot
I could see the group of 420 of them.
They were right were we
had left them marshaled
on this little patch of grass.
I felt absolutely awful.
It was just so... serious
and deep a betrayal.
Later that night I was
quite surprised that I got
a call to "Come alongside the flagship.
The Admiral wants to speak to you. "
My first reaction, as any
CO, is, "What did we do?"
not realizing we had been
picked for a special mission.
We were supposed to pick up this person.
He was 30 years old, came
aboard, civilian clothes.
And the Captain was just told
to take his direction from this guy.
I went aboard the Kirk and
met with Captain Paul Jacobs.
And the first thing he said to me is,
"Young man, I'm not accustomed
"to strange civilians
coming aboard my ship armed
in the middle of the night. "
And I said, "Captain, I
assure you, neither am I."
He smelled like a
Naval officer, you know.
You know, one officer
So, I looked him up in the blue book.
He's a graduate of the Naval Academy.
So from that point on we were fine.
"What do you want to do?"
And we worked together as a team.
We steamed down to Con
there were a lot of blips.
And I remember dawn breaking
and the sun coming up,
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"Last Days in Vietnam" Scripts.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 23 Nov. 2024. <https://www.scripts.com/script/last_days_in_vietnam_12246>.
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