Fall of Saigon, 50 years on

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Fall of Saigon, 50 years on

50 years after Vietnam War ended, the conflict continues to reverberate in countless ways, for countless people

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The Fall of Saigon was the capture of Saigon, the capital of South Vietnam, by the People's Army of Vietnam and the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam (also known as the Viet Cong) on April 30, 1975. The event marked the end of the Vietnam War and the start of a transition period leading to the formal reunification of Vietnam into a Socialist Republic governed by the Communist Party. North Vietnamese forces under the command of the General Van Tien Dung began their final attack on Saigon, with South Vietnamese forces commanded by General Nguyen Van Toan, on April 29, suffering heavy artillery bombardment. By the afternoon of the next day, North Vietnamese troops had occupied the important points of the city and raised their flag over the South Vietnamese presidential palace. The South Vietnamese government capitulated shortly afterward. The city was renamed Ho Chi Minh City, after the Democratic Republic's President Ho Chi Minh. The fall of the city was preceded by the evacuation of almost all the American civilian and military personnel in Saigon, along with tens of thousands of South Vietnamese civilians associated with the southern regime. The evacuation culminated in Operation Frequent Wind, the largest helicopter evacuation in history. (Photo by: Pictures From History/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

Vietnamese refugees evacuated by helicopter arrive on board the USS Midway ahead of the fall of Saigon on April 29, 1975. Pictures from History/Universal Images Group via Getty Images hide caption

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Pictures from History/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

The Picture Show

Photos: A look back at the fall of Saigon and the final days of the Vietnam War

April 30, 2025 • The Vietnam War came to an end on April 30, 1975, when North Vietnamese forces captured Saigon.

Spectators cheer as Chinese soldiers march during a parade marking the 50th anniversary of the fall of Saigon and the end of the Vietnam War in Ho Chi Minh City on April 30, 2025. Manan Vatsyayana/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

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Manan Vatsyayana/AFP via Getty Images

With a focus on unity, Vietnam celebrates 50 years since war's end

April 30, 2025 • A focus away from the past and on how the private sector can lead future economic growth underscored celebrations in the capital of the former South Vietnam.

A Vietcong tank takes up a position in front of the presidential palace of the US-backed Southern Vietnamese regime on April 30, 1975, in Saigon on the day that the city fell to communist troops. AFP via Getty Images hide caption

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AFP via Getty Images

Today marks the 50th anniversary of the fall of Saigon. This journalist was there

April 30, 2025 • Loren Jenkins never intended to cover war, but in April 1975, he witnessed the fall of Saigon. From shredded files to hidden codes, he recalls the chaos they led up to the war's end.

Former NPR foreign editor recounts the fall of Saigon 50 years ago

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50 years after the war ended, young Vietnamese reflect on life and choices

May 3, 2025 • Development has brought many changes to Vietnam in the 50 years since the end of the Vietnam War.

50 years after the war, a new generation in Vietnam reflects on their life and choices

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Vietnam Society founder discusses Vietnamese American hopes 50 years after end of war

May 1, 2025 • NPR's Leila Fadel talks with Vietnam Society founder Erin "Phuong" Steinhauer about the memories and hopes of Vietnamese Americans reflecting on 50 years since the fall of Saigon.

Vietnam Society founder discusses Vietnamese American hopes 50 years after end of war

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Vietnamese celebrate 50th anniversary of end of the Vietnam War

April 30, 2025 • People in Vietnam are celebrating the 50th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War on Wednesday in Ho Chi Minh City, formerly known as Saigon.

Vietnamese celebrate 50th anniversary of end of the Vietnam War

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Vietnam War: some families of Vietnamese MIAs are calling on the U.S. to help

April 29, 2025 • Fifty years after the end of the war, Hanoi says nearly 200,000 Vietnamese soldiers are still missing. Some of their families are now calling on the U.S. to help find them.

Vietnam War: Some families of Vietnamese MIAs are calling on the U.S. to help

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Philippa Hughes attends "Looking For America," a series of dinners and art exhibitions, at the El Paso Museum of History in 2019. Adam Ruben/Philippa Hughes hide caption

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Adam Ruben/Philippa Hughes

The Vietnam War tore her family apart. She's bringing people together.

April 29, 2025 • Philippa Hughes' life spans war, international romance, divorce, an abduction, art and politics. As one of the few liberals in her family, she knows how divisions can break a family and a country.

The Vietnam War tore her family apart. She's bringing people together

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Women wearing Vietnamese national flag T-shirts walk past the Saigon Centre shopping complex in Ho Chi Minh City on April 29, 2025, ahead of celebrations to mark the 50th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War. Manan Vatsyayana/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

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Manan Vatsyayana/AFP via Getty Images

Despite improving relations, U.S. will be absent from Vietnam's war anniversary parade

April 29, 2025 • U.S. officials are not attending the main public event commemorating the end of the Vietnam war in Ho Chi Minh City this week, according to a guest list released by the organizers and seen by NPR.

Holland family photo via Rick Holland hide caption

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via Rick Holland

His dad deployed when he was 8. He's still looking for him 50 years after Vietnam War

April 28, 2025 • Fifty years after the end of the Vietnam War, one man embarks on a journey to a remote mountain in Laos where his father was last seen during a secret mission in the war.

'I want you home, dad': Searching for the missing 50 years after Vietnam War's end

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Hanoi Hannah: Communist Vietnam's best-known propagandist revisited

April 27, 2025 • Fifty years after the end of the Vietnam War, a look back at the legacy of one of Communist Vietnam's best-known state radio announcers.

50 years ago, Hanoi Hannah spoke to American GIs in Vietnam through a radio show

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"50 Years of Hope and HA-HAs" is the first Vietnamese American art exhibit to open in the D.C., Maryland and Virginia region, according to the D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities. Maansi Srivastava for NPR hide caption

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Maansi Srivastava for NPR

A new art exhibit examines 50 years since the Vietnam War and looks forward with hope

February 25, 2025 • April 2025 marks 50 years since the end of the Vietnam War. In Washington, D.C., a new art exhibit offers counter-narratives of what it means to be Vietnamese American.