 |
| Wikipedia image |
Thank you to Ray Robinson and Jeff White for this week's excellent episode of Wavescan.
Jeff: This Wednesday, April 30th, marks the 50th anniversary of the fall of the Republic of Vietnam ~ South Vietnam. To commemorate the occasion, Ray Robinson has a special segment with audio from the time to honor all those who served in the Vietnam conflict, and especially those who participated in the heroic evacuation of Saigon at the end.
Ray: Thanks, Jeff.
Video of President Nixon Announces Agreement on Ending the War in Vietnam and Restoring Peace https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wiKulZK-ddI
On January 23, 1973, President Richard Nixon made the announcement that a peace agreement had been reached in Paris. But, the drawdown of American combat troops in Vietnam had actually begun in February 1972, almost a year earlier.
As a result AFVN, the American Forces Vietnam Network, had begun closing a number of stations. Hué on the northern coast near the DMZ, and Qui Nhon on the central coast were the first stations to go off the air, with their equipment being turned over to THVN (Vietnamese Government TV). In April 1972, the Cam Ranh Bay station further south on the coast was closed, and in June 1972, the nearby Nha Trang transmitter was also shut down. And while the AFVN stations were closing, North Vietnamese radio piled on the pressure to get American soldiers to desert.
And, of course, there was much resistance to the Vietnam War in America itself, particularly among the young, who didn’t understand what it was they were being asked to fight for.
Following President Richard Nixon’s announcement in January 1973, all U.S. combat troops were withdrawn, with the last leaving Vietnam on March 29, 1973. The remaining AFVN stations were progressively closed during that two month period.
AFN Radio Station ID Jingles https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXkCxLRCEBE
AFVN Radio, Da Nang https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFG2rMN7ves
American Forces Vietnam Network AFVN Public Service Ads https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WvpObH0VMQQ
Much of the equipment from the deactivated stations was either turned over to the Vietnamese Government or returned to the United States.
The anchor station in Saigon with 50 kW on 540 kHz and 100 kW on 99.9 MHz FM stereo was the last AFVN station to close.
 |
| LTC Harold Hutchinson |
On March 23, 1973, LTC (lieutenant colonel) Harold Hutchison, the last commander of AFVN, transmitted a final message to AFRTS in Washington stating “AFVN ceased as of 2400 hours 22 March, 1973.” And then immediately that week, before the military engineers left the country, the 50 kW medium wave transmitter was uninstalled and shipped to Korea.
But not all American troops left. Around 5,000 military staff in non-combat advisory rôles and diplomatic staff stayed on. The U.S. Defense Department contracted with Pacific Architects and Engineers (PAE) – a former American defence and government services contractor - to provide an ongoing civilian radio service in Saigon for those who remained. The former AFVN station at 9 Hong Tap Tu in Saigon was still in American hands, and a few days after the final troop withdrawal, the FM transmitter was reactivated as the ‘American Radio Service’. It was staffed by four American civilian PAE employees (two handling broadcasting and two handling engineering) along with several Vietnamese employees.
Over the next two years, they actually rebuilt much of the former AFVN Network (now the ‘ARS’) by putting 10-watt FM repeater stations in Da Nang, Nha Trang, Qui Nhon and even Phnom Penh – all areas where US civilians were permitted under the terms of the Paris Peace Accord.
The Peace Accord held for some months, but by 1974 the North Vietnamese had violated it, and renewed their assault on the South. The South Vietnamese forces tried to struggle on, but without tangible military support from America, they steadily lost ground.
North Vietnamese forces (backed by the Soviet Union) consolidated their gains in the central highlands in early 1975. Then, on March 5, they launched a major offensive against Hué and Da Nang.
 |
| Da Nang Airfield via Wikipedia |
The North achieved full control of both Hué and Da Nang by March 29, 1975, and by April 2, the South had lost control of all the central highlands and the coastal regions of its northern provinces. They had also lost over 120,000 soldiers who were either killed, wounded or captured during the defence of Hué and Da Nang. It was apparent that the end was near, and that the Republic of Vietnam would fall. The South Vietnamese government crumbled, and President Thieu was forced into exile.
During the last few weeks of April, tens of thousands of people, both American and Vietnamese, were airlifted from the Tan Son Nhut airfield on the outskirts of Saigon, amid some very chaotic scenes. But still, essential employees remained.
The public affairs officer at the Defense Attaché Office (or DAO) in Saigon suggested to Chuck Neil at the American Radio Service that there should be a coded announcement, a signal to all Americans who were still in Saigon, that the end had come and it was time for a final evacuation. Together, they agreed on the playing of a song out of season that all Americans would instantly recognize – White Christmas - coupled with an announcement that the temperature in Saigon was 105 degrees and rising. A handout with that information was distributed by U.S. Marines to any Americans who visited the embassy during the last couple of weeks of April.
 |
| Handout distributed to Americans visiting the U.S. embassy in Saigon in April 1975 |
But, when Chuck got back to the station, he found that of all the thousands of records and tapes they had, they did not have a copy of Bing Crosby’s White Christmas! But, he did find a copy of Tennessee Ernie Ford’s version on an LP. So in preparation, he pre-recorded both the temperature announcement and the Tennessee Ernie Ford track onto tape cartridges.
Eventually, faced with no choice, President Gerald Ford ordered all Americans in Vietnam out of the country. In the early hours of Tuesday April 29th, Saigon airfield was hit hard by rocket fire and was put out of action for fixed wing aircraft.
 |
| Newport Bridge |
The North Vietnamese were at Newport Bridge, only about two miles from the center of Saigon. So, at 10:51am, the order was given to commence Operation Frequent Wind – the final evacuation by helicopter.
The DAO called Chuck Neil and told him it was time to make the coded announcement and play White Christmas. There were a couple of hundred Vietnamese inside the station compound at this point – they had been there for several days, hoping to be evacuated with the station staff. Chuck pulled a van up to the side of the building and quietly got his three American colleagues, their Vietnamese engineers and a couple of other Americans who happened to be there all squeezed into it. Then he dashed back inside the building, and as his last act at the American Radio Service, Chuck grabbed the two cartridges, punched them up in the Gates Automatic Programmer, and set them to play alternately on repeat.
 | |||
| ARS Saigon – Studio Equipment | Gates Automatic Programmer with cartridge wheels is in the center |
He then joined the others in the van, and together they managed to get out of the compound into the melee on the street outside to make the six block journey to the embassy.
The van was being driven by Chuck’s ARS fellow presenter Ian Turvett, and they talked their way past a couple of checkpoints – the South Vietnamese soldiers manning the barricades with AK47’s were not happy to see Americans leaving. But then they were perturbed to see a crowd of thousands outside the embassy’s main gates. They drove down a side street, and were finally allowed into the embassy compound through a side gate. Theirs was one of the last vehicles allowed in, and the station staff, including four of the Vietnamese engineers, did finally get out on a chopper at about 1am.
White Christmas, playing on repeat, could be heard on 99.9 FM all day long on the 29th and throughout the next night. It was still playing when the helicopter with Ambassador Graham Martin left at about 4am on April 30th.
 |
| Tennessee Earnie Ford sings White Christmas |
If you hear news reports over the next few days playing the Bing Crosby version of White Christmas, remember you heard the real story here on Wavescan. It’s the Tennessee Ernie Ford version we’ll be closing our program with today.
For almost 20 years, America had been involved in the fight against the Viet Minh, who were trying to unify Vietnam under a communist flag.
This week, it will be 50 years since the evacuation, by a fleet of helicopters from both the embassy roof and the embassy courtyard to an armada of ships including an American aircraft carrier waiting offshore. The last helicopter left at about 8am on Wednesday, April 30th, and the acting president, General Duong Van Minh went on Radio Saigon to announce that his country would surrender unconditionally, and that he had told its army to lay down its arms. Saigon and the Presidential Palace were then occupied by the communist forces of the North later that morning. During an 18 hour period, 81 helicopters had evacuated 6,000 at-risk Vietnamese and over 1,000 Americans. It was the largest helicopter evacuation in history, and radio played a key part.
To all who went to Vietnam, and especially the Marines and diplomatic staff who co-ordinated the evacuation, we at Wavescan salute you, and thank you for your honorable service.
Back to you, Jeff.
References:
Tears Before the Rain: An Oral History of the Fall of South Vietnam by Larry Engelmann (Oxford University Press, 1990)
White Christmas in April: The Collapse of South Vietnam, 1975 by J. Edward Lee and Toby Haynsworth (Peter Lang, 1999)
To listen to this podcast, including AFN audio clips, and other Wavescan episodes, refer to: https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/wavescan
.JPG)
.jpg)
.jpg)
