вЂњJust get the hell out of there.вЂќ I had finally worn him down. вЂњReluctantly, he agreed, вЂњYouвЂ™ve got your permission to go by water,вЂќ he granted. Using his negotiation skills, McNamara said they could have the consulateвЂ™s helicopters now, rather than in six hours after evacuating Americans, if McNamara could evacuate everyone, including Vietnamese staff, by boat.ДЄfter they got disconnected, McNamara was able to get Jacobsen back on the phone.

Saigon desperately needed Can ThoвЂ™s helicopters, the coordinator relayed. McNamara refused to evacuate just the Americans from the consulate, as were the instructions from the evacuation coordinator in Saigon. McNamara knew that he could not leave his loyal Vietnamese employees or their families behind, as they would likely face detention or even death for working for the Americans. Embassy were to evacuate only the Americans they were only going to provide helicopters with enough room to evacuate the 18 or so American employees - for expediency and security reasons. In the hectic days prior to the final pull-out, McNamaraвЂ™s orders from the U.S. Approximately 100 miles away In Cбє§n ThЖЎ, one diplomat saved hundreds of Vietnamese refugees by devising and leading a risky evacuation.ДЇrancis Terry McNamara served as Consul General in Cбє§n ThЖЎ, Vietnam at the time of the U.S.

While Saigon was falling, the rest of South Vietnam was also evacuating as quickly as possible. FordвЂќДiplomat Evacuates Hundreds of Vietnamese Refugees in Cбє§n ThЖЎ I hope you will convey to your entire staff my deep gratitude and that of the American people for a job well done. Your courage and steadiness at this critical period enabled us to evacuate our own citizens and a very large number of endangered Vietnamese. Please accept as well my sincere personal compliments. The tireless dedication of your mission and its skillful performance under the most severe pressure was vital to the accomplishment of this most difficult and delicate operation. вЂњDear Graham: I want to express my deep appreciation to you and your entire staff for the successful evacuation of Americans and Vietnamese from Saigon. With some pilots flying for 19 hours straight, over 7,000 people were evacuated, including 5,500 Vietnamese, in less than 24 hours. Meanwhile, 10,000 South Vietnamese waited at the embassy gates, hoping to make it onto a helicopter.ДЇrom April 29th to April 30th, helicopters landed at 10-minute intervals in the embassy, including landing on the embassy roof. The original plans called to only evacuate Americans, but Ambassador Martin insisted on evacuating South Vietnamese government officials and the embassyвЂ™s local staff. embassy became the sole departure point for helicopters. As a signal to Americans in Saigon that the evacuation had begun, Armed Forces Radio started to play вЂњWhite ChristmasвЂќ on repeat.Д«y this point, sea lanes were blocked and planes could not land in Saigon, leaving only one option for an evacuation: a helicopter airlift.ДЄfter the defense attachГ© compound was attacked, the U.S. Ambassador Graham Martin then ordered the evacuation of Saigon. On April 29, 1975, North Vietnamese troops shelled SaigonвЂ™s Tan Son Nhut Air Base. embassy in Saigon, trying to reach evacuation helicopters as the last Americans depart from Vietnam. In this Apfile photo, South Vietnamese civilians scale the 14-foot wall of the U.S.

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