When southern Vietnam collapsed under the impact of communist forces, a South Vietnam pilot escaped bravely and boldly in a small plane, miraculously finding a place to land it on the sea and saving himself and his family.
April 1975
The U.S. Combat Forces left Vietnam, all of which were staffed by the U.S. Embassy, and assigned Marines designed to protect the embassy. The leader of South Vietnamese President Thieu resigned, which was destroyed after the victory of the enemy turning every southern red flag, and panic fell into trouble again. The evacuation of the embassy began in mid-April. By April 28, the Vietnamese capital Saigon was surrounded by several communist teachers. The city's shelling began on April 29.
The approximately 60,000 troops of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) were assembled from several broken units, losing their defensive cohesion, and many spreading panic. The United States is actively evacuating through a fixed-wing aircraft at Tan Son Nhut Air Force Base, which was closed on April 29 as artillery bombardment destroyed several aircraft, including the United States C-130. The U.S. Embassy is flooded with refugees and foreign nationals, desperate to find a security and a way out. The speed of Communist Party progress surprised Americans, resulting in the chaotic implementation of the evacuation plan known as “frequent winds of action.”
Now, American helicopters will transport people to sea and land on carriers in the South China Sea. The ship deck ended up being filled with refugees and kitchen knives. In a few hours, the U.S. military helicopters would transport 1,373 Americans, 6,422 non-Americans and several U.S. Marines. The last 11 Marines guarding the U.S. Embassy will leave on April 30, with helicopters escaping the U.S. flag from the rooftops of the building as the mob already controls the lower floors of the building. The southern Vietnamese president just installed two days ago and Duong Van Minh will call for surrender on April 30. Soon, the T-54 tank (844) in North Vietnamese, the northern Vietnamese T-54 tank (T-54 Tank) erupted, passing through the gate of the Presidential Palace. Saigon ended a long and bloody struggle.
halfway
April 19, aircraft carrier USS halfway (CVA-41) was ordered from Subic Bay in the Philippines and arrived at the best speed South China Sea Near Saigon, she will host ten U.S. Air Forces there Sikorsky HH-53 Helicopter. In most Air Force pilots, roaming the HH-53 is a suspicious action, which will be their first carrier to land. halfway Some of her planes unloaded the helicopter space at Subic Bay.
Arrived on April 29 halfway Vietnam's Vice President Nguyen Cao Ky said the beginning of “frequent winds”. An American radio station started broadcasting the song “White Christmas”, a signal that evacuators entered a scheduled location. With that comes a chaotic scene where a helicopter constantly picks up people, flies them to the ships of the American fleet, store them, and then repeats the journey.
halfway There is no contact with many kitchen knives, and during communication with the Air Force HH-53, Bell UH-1 “Huey” The helicopter has arrived and there is no radio communication. The crew had to rely on hand signals to land it and use signal signs and signal lights. With the deck packed with planes and refugees and no communication with many helicopters, it is a dangerous place. Helicopters run out of fuel or collision are a persistent danger. At some point, the 26 helicopter circled the carrier. The helicopters were landed one by one, moved aside, tightly squeezed together. The deck was filled up quickly. But the chaos that day did not lose a lifetime.
Sea birds and dogs
On April 29, a young South Vietnamese Air Force official and his family fled the fierce Communist attack. Carrying as much property as possible, as well as five children and his wife, Major Bung-Lee, found a small plane alone at the airport on Con Son Island. The plane is a Cessna O-1 bird dog. Crowded in the confined cargo area of the cockpit of the two-seater aircraft, his wife and five children, the Major was able to start the aircraft's engine and manage to overload the aircraft idled. His only plan was to escape, not knowing where to go or what to do. He turned his small plane to the sea and hoped to get the best.
After about 30 minutes of flight, a group of helicopters were found in the distance, and Major Buang-ly knew that the U.S. fleet was operating in the area and realized that they had to have a land, so he followed them. The O-1 is a light observation aircraft used for shell discovery and marking air strikes on land. The plane had a range of more than 500 miles, but the plane was not fully fueled under the command of the Major. The aircraft has a fixed landing gear and limited navigation equipment, and there is no flotation equipment for offshore operations. Worse, the broadcast lacks headphones and is not running. When he flew on a large warship.
on board halfwaythe deck is stuffed with helicopters and refugees. The crew worked tirelessly to provide feeding and medical services to refugees. Those who once worked in airplanes and ordnance now entertain children and assist with carrying items. Suddenly a small aircraft was found on the carrier. Examination of the binoculars revealed that the plane was a Cessna O-1, wearing a southern Vietnam mark. The plane arrives on the boat and begins to hover, sometimes shaking its wings. Apparently, the pilot desperately wanted to land on the carrier.
Navy Capitan Lawrence Chambers just commanded halfway In January, the command was only a few weeks. His admiral instructed him to let small aircraft ditches at sea and rescue passengers by helicopters. Chambers realized that the plane flipped immediately after hitting water due to a fixed landing gear, and the passengers had almost zero chance of survival.
As the O-1 continued to hover, Major Buang-Ly wrote a note and placed it halfwaybut the wind brought the ship to the ship before anyone could retrieve it. He tried several times with the same result, and finally put a note in his side holster and placed it on the deck, allowing retrieval this time. Comments written on the chart in a hurry: “Can you melt it [sic] These helicopters go to the other side and I can land on your runway and I can fly for 1 hour and we have enough time to melt. Please rescue me, Major Bon's wife and 5 children. ”
The news was immediately forwarded to Capitan Chambers, who in turn ordered his aerial boss, Vern Jumper, to give him a ready deck. All available crew members, as well as other crew members, began cleaning up the angled deck of the Little Cessna. Chambers faced possible military operations and ordered helicopters to push the deck out of the deck into the sea to make room. Meanwhile, Chambers ordered the ship to make 25 knots of steam. Since 1945, the old ship has been in service, groaning as Chambers ordered her to turn into wind. Since the bird dog has no tail hook, the worst firefighters were prepared and the landing cable was removed from the deck. Major Buang-Ly had never seen an aircraft carrier, let alone landed on an aircraft.
It is not clear how many helicopters rose to the day, but it appears that three or four UH-1 mustaches and at least one CH-47 Chinook were early victims, ridden by crew members above the deck, while carrying the space encouraged five Huey's waiting for Huey to land and land and land their human cargo. Chambers ordered those helicopters to push the side as well. Chambers claimed he deliberately did not track how many helicopters were pushed down to avoid being able to testify on his possible Martial Arts Court figures. In all, he ordered millions of dollars (at least ten dollars) in the destroyed military equipment to save the seven lives on the small plane that hovered that day.
Air Boss Jumper gave the green light to the O-1 landing, and then several couples crossed the boat to feel the method. The major lowered the flap and began to drop at 69 mph. The ship sailed into the wind, providing a 46 mph headwind, which would “extend” the landing area, thus giving South Vietnam pilots all the advantages of safe landing. Cessna touched the deck, bounced a little, stopped in the middle of the runway, and was caught by several sailors to prevent it from continuing to stay motivated and falling behind. When Major Buang and his wife Baby were in their arms, they hung on handicrafts and left the cockpit. The major was escorted to the bridge to meet Chambers, removing four young children from the rear of the cockpit. The crew of the ship created a fund to assist families in building a new life in the United States.
Today's bird dog
Major Buang-Ly and his family escaped the day’s Bird Dog, commander of the Navy supply warehouse in Guam, who later unloaded the O-1 later. It was originally built in 1951 in Wichita, Kansas, and it was re-designated as O-1A in 1962. In 1966, Wichita's Cessna converted the aircraft to an O-1G configuration. Until December 1970, the aircraft was transferred to the Republic of Vietnam Air Force (RVNAF) and served in the U.S. military in Vietnam. The plane is now on display at the National Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola, Florida, and it is still on display on its mark in one of the greatest escapes in history. Package halfway'S rolls frequently, showing O-1 bird dog plane on the ceiling on the hanger deck of USS halfway The museum in San Diego, California also has the markings of the Buang-Ly aircraft. As it shows comments, professional drops on deck halfway.
