Tan Son Nhut Under Attack
On 28 April at 18:06, three A-37 Dragonflys piloted by former VNAF pilots, who had defected to the Vietnamese People's Air Force at the fall of Danang, dropped 6 Mk81 250 lb bombs on the VNAF flightline at Tan Son Nhut Air Base destroying several aircraft. VNAF F-5s took off in pursuit, but they were unable to intercept the A-37s. C-130s leaving Tan Son Nhut reported receiving .51 cal and 37 mm ground fire, while sporadic PAVN rocket and artillery attacks also started to hit the airport. C-130 flights were stopped temporarily after the air attack but resumed at 20:00 on 28 April. At 21:00 on 28 April Major General Homer D. Smith Jr., the senior Defence Attache, informed the Evacuation Control Center that 60 C-130 flights would come in on 29 April to evacuate 10,000 people.
At 03:30 on 29 April a PAVN rocket hit Guardpost 1 at the DAO Compound, instantly killing Marine Corporals McMahon and Judge. They would be the last American ground casualties in Vietnam.
At 03:58, C-130E Hercules, 72-1297, c/n 4519, of the 314th Airlift Wing and flown by a crew from the 776th Tactical Airlift Squadron, 374th Tactical Airlift Wing out of Clark Air Base, Philippines, was destroyed by a 122 mm rocket shortly after having offloaded a BLU-82 at Tan Son Nhut Air Base and taxiing to pick up evacuees. The crew evacuated the burning aircraft on the taxiway and departed the airfield on another C-130 that had previously landed. This would be the last USAF fixed-wing aircraft to leave Tan Son Nhut. Between 04:30 and 08:00 up to 40 artillery rounds and rockets hit around the DAO Compound.
At dawn the VNAF began to haphazardly depart Tan Son Nhut Air Base as A-37s, F-5s, C-7s, C-119s and C-130s departed for Thailand while UH-1s took off in search of the ships of TF-76. Some VNAF aircraft did stay to continue to fight the advancing NVA however. One AC-119 gunship had spent the night of 28/29 April dropping flares and firing on the approaching NVA. At dawn on 29 April two A-1 Skyraiders began patrolling the perimeter of Tan Son Nhut at 2500 feet until one was shot down, presumably by an SA-7. At 07:00 the AC-119 was firing on NVA to the east of Tan Son Nhut when it too was hit by an SA-7 and fell in flames to the ground.
At 07:00 on 29 April, Major General Smith advised Ambassador Martin that fixed wing evacuations should cease and that Operation Frequent Wind, the helicopter evacuation of US personnel and at-risk Vietnamese should commence. Ambassador Martin refused to accept General Smith's recommendation and instead insisted on visiting Tan Son Nhut to survey the situation for himself. At 10:00 Ambassador Martin confirmed General Smith's assessment and at 10:48 he contacted Washington to recommend Option 4, the helicopter evacuation. Finally at 10:51 the order was given by CINCPAC to commence Option 4, however due to confusion in the chain of command General Carey did not receive the execute order until 12:15. At 08:00 Lieutenant General Minh, commander of the VNAF and 30 of his staff arrived at the DAO compound demanding evacuation, signifying the complete loss of VNAF command and control.
Read more about this topic: Operation Frequent Wind
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