Vietnam
The last days of Sigon
as seen from the deck of USS Blue Ridge LCC-19
We were underway to Vietnam on Easter Sunday. The day that is a day of rejoicing throughout the Christian world was the beginning of a month of confusion, fear, bravery and compassion for the men of the USS BLUE RIDGE LCC19.
The days that were to unfold filled with uncertainty and a certain amount of chaos, but in the end, they were filled with a sense of pride. The Blue Ridge and her men were tested in a unique situation, one for which there were no contingency plans. At the test’s end, she and her men were certainly not found wanting.
The initial visit of BLUE RIDGE to Vietnam was brief – we were there to aid in the movement of Vietnamese from their northern provinces to safer enclaves in the south. That task completed, it rapidly became evident South Vietnam’s days were numbered, and evacuation of Americans, citizens of other countries and those Vietnamese who might be endangered due to their close association with the US, was going to be necessary. What followed was a chaotic journey into a combat environment. For some, it was a sobering introduction to terror and war. For others it was yet another trip back to “Nam. But for all, it was and emotional filled experience.
The following article is the complete text of an “Immediate Release” filed from the USS Blue Ridge by YN1 (JO) Rick Miller.
ABORD THE USS BLUERIDGE, South Chine Sea – it all started in the early morning hours of April 28th when an American-made Chinook helicopter came streaking over the horizon from the doomed city of Saigon. Piloted by a Vietnamese, the chopper circled Blur Ridge a couple of times desperately looking for a place to land. The pilot had never landed on a ship before, and to make things worse it was in the dead of night. However this was not to stop the determined pilot from doing what he knew he had to do, save the lives of his family and the family of his copilot. He slowly lowered the huge aircraft to the seemingly small deck of this amphibious command ship. Fearful of hitting communications antennas, he rested the helo as far aft of the ship as he could go, leaving only inches to spare. Thus began the human drama, which was about to unfold before Blue Ridge and her crew.
Calm seas and clear skies at mid-morning. April 30th was to be the setting for spectacular events, which were about to take place. All eyes were once again turned to the horizon. Two more helos were making their ways to Blue Ridge. They were Air America Helicopters, full of women, children and what few belongings they could gather before fleeing Saigon. The passengers were unloaded and sent through evacuee processing stations set up on the main deck. In order to make more room, the helicopter was lifted off the main deck and flown a couple hundred feet from Blue Ridge where it was ditched. Boat crews picked up the pilot and brought him safely abroad the ship.
Suddenly the sky seemed to be full of helicopters. All of them were crammed with terror-stricken people, knowing they would have to return to Saigon if they could not find a place to land.
With rotors turning, the second Air America helo was preparing to return to Saigon fore more evacuees. One South Vietnamese helo, hovering only a few feet away disregarding flight deck crewman’s orders to move away. He was coming in despite the frantically waving crewman’s arms trying to ward him off. At the last possible moment, men started heading for cover. Knowing what was going to happen, people were yelling, “Hit the deck!” and everyone dove for the deck, covering their heads for protection. Sailors threw themselves on Vietnamese children, protecting them with their bodies. The South Vietnamese craft set down on the very edge of the port side, but there was still not enough room. Rotor blades slashed together and exploded into thousands of flying pieces. The helo jumped and twisted viscously as pieces of the blades hit the flight deck. Teetering precariously on the edge of the ship, refugees started jumping from the aircraft even before the blades had stopped turning. At least thirty Blue Ridge crewmen jumped up from the main deck and ran to the battered craft where they started carrying children and helping terror-stricken people to safety. Two sailors carried one woman who had apparently been injured in the crash. Hospital corpsmen began working in her immediately in the flight deck.
From then on the helos battled for air space, trying to get adored so they could discharge their human cargoes. As soon as the helicopters were unloaded, they were flown off the ship and ditched in the sea. There was no room to keep the helos aboard. Their doors were chopped off to allow the pilot easy exit. One brave Vietnamese pilot repeatedly faced death as he climbed into the cockpit and dropped himself and five different choppers into the sea. Each time, he was picked up by boat crews and returned to the ship. The ditchings were spectacular. Some pilots settled their aircraft into the sea while others jumped while their helo in the air. One pilot bailed out of his helo while it was still about 100 feet in the air. Ditching the aircraft this way caused potential danger to waiting boat crews. There was no way to tell which way the helo would go once the pilot had bailed out.
In still another instance, a pilot seemed to be having difficulty controlling his chopper just before ditching. He was coming drastically close to the ship and everyone feared he would collide with it. In a last minute decision, he jumped out of the helo. When it hit the water, the rotor blades exploded and debris slammed into the side of the ship. A piece of the blades flew from the front of the ship, over the top of it and landed near the back of the flight deck. Again, no one was injured.
An Air America helo, its pilot in the water, swooped around the bow of the ship and crashed into the side forward and on the starboard side. It missed an open hatch into a mooring station by scant feet; again, no injuries.
A US Marine helicopter, loaded with evacuees radioed Blue Ridge it was nearly out of fuel. The flight deck was already occupied by another helo at the time. The helo crash alarm began screaming the alert of a coming disaster as the aircraft began losing altitude. All hope for a shipboard landing was thought to be lost when the chopper packed with newsmen and other evacuees, began settling into the water. The pilot quickly switched to emergency fuel as he began to descend. Water was pouring into the helo drenching its passengers. Finally when the engines received the last pit of fuel, there was hope for getting the chopper aboard. Flight deck crews rushed to the helo already in the main deck and tipped it over the side hoping to allow enough room for the incoming aircraft. With an air of relief, the huge twin-rotored helo settled on the flight deck with out incident with only inches to spare. Crewmen immediately began unloading the frightened people.
Through all the frantic landings and ditchings, the Commanding Officer, Captain William D. Hart came over the general announcing system with calming words: “Your doing a marvelous job. I’m proud of you all. Just remember, be careful – watch yourselves and stay cool.”
These events were just the introduction to the main event – “Operation Frequent Wind”, so named because of the blowing effect caused by the helicopters’ rotor blades. Over 40 ships and 70 helicopters took part in the world’s largest helicopter evacuation. Supporting the Commander of the operation, Rear Admiral Donald B. Whitmire, Blue Ridge was the hub of the massive airlift. Thousands of Vietnamese and Americans were brought out of the beleaguered city of Saigon in 595 sorties.
Blue Ridge received the entire Saigon Press Corps during the evacuation. Representatives of AP, UPI, ABC, NBC, CBS, BBC and many other news agencies came to, stay and depart from Blue Ridge. US ambassador Grahm Martin departed Vietnam via Blue Ridge, as did many high ranked South Vietnamese officials. One man familiar to newsreaders, who followed the Vietnamese conflict, former Vice President and Air Vice Marshall Nguyen Cao Ky arrived unheralded abroad Blue Ridge. Regardless of the situation of the arriving evacuees, every effort was made to show compassion, concern and to allow them maximum dignity in their terrible moments.