Gallery

In this April 5, 1965 photo, Capt. Donald R. Brown crouches on the ground in Saigon, waiting for the order for attack across an open field against Vietcong positions in a treeline from where enemy combatants with automatic weapons had briefly pinned down the HQ company of the 2nd Battalion, 46 Regiment.

In this April 1975 photo, orphans aboard the first “Operation Babylift” flight at the end of the Vietnam War look through the windows of World Airways DC-8 jet as it flies them to the United States.

In this Tuesday, April 29, 1975 photo, U.S. Navy personnel aboard the USS Blue Ridge push a helicopter into the sea off the coast of Vietnam in order to make room for more evacuation flights from Saigon. The helicopter had carried Vietnamese people fleeing Saigon as North Vietnamese forces closed in on the capital.

In this Monday, April 28, 1975 photo, South Vietnamese troops and western TV newsmen run for cover as a North Vietnamese mortar round explodes on Newport Bridge on the outskirts of Saigon.

In this Tuesday, April 29, 1975 photo, American citizens arrive aboard the command and control ship USS Blue Ridge after being evacuated out of Saigon, South Vietnam, by U.S. Marine and Air Force helicopters operating from Navy ships.

In this April 4, 1975 photo, smoke rises from the wreckage of a U.S. Air Force C-5A transport plane after it crashed in a paddy field shortly after takeoff from the Saigon Airport, killing a large number of orphan children who were on board in a rescue flight from South Vietnam.

In this April 29, 1975 photo, people try to scale the 14-foot wall of the U.S. embassy in Saigon, trying to reach evacuation helicopters, as the last of the Americans depart from Vietnam.

In this Sunday, April 27, 1975 photo, a cross from a church in Saigon stands against the dawn sky after a rocket attack and ensuing fire.

In this Thursday, May 1, 1975 photo, U.S. sailors transfer a South Vietnamese boy from the USS Blue Ridge to a merchant vessel off the South Vietnam coast during evacuations from South Vietnam.

This April 30, 1975 photo provided by former U.S. Marines Master Gunnery Sgt. Juan Valdez of Oceanside, Calif., shows himself, rear center, sitting on the last helicopter leaving the U.S. Embassy in Saigon, Vietnam. On the 40th anniversary of the fall of Saigon, 13 Marines returned to dedicate a plaque to their two fallen brothers at the site of the old embassy, which is now the U.S. Consulate.

This undated photo provided by former U.S. Marines Master Gunnery Sgt. Juan Valdez shows Vietnamese climbing the wall of the U.S. Embassy in Saigon, Vietnam. On the 40th anniversary of the fall of Saigon, 13 Marines returned to dedicate a plaque to their two fallen brothers at the site of the old embassy, which is now the U.S. Consulate.

This photo taken on April 30, 1975 and provided by former U.S. Marines Master Gunnery Sgt. Juan Valdez shows Marines barricading themselves on the roof of the U.S. Embassy in Saigon, Vietnam. On the 40th anniversary of the fall of Saigon, 13 Marines returned to dedicate a plaque to their two fallen brothers at the site of the old embassy, which is now the U.S. Consulate.

In this May 4, 1975 photo, a youth waves a weapon and a Provisional Revolutionary Government (PRG) flag as he joins PRG troops on a jeep on Tu Do street in Saigon.

In this April 29, 1975 photo, a helicopter lifts off from the U.S. embassy in Saigon, Vietnam during last minute evacuation of authorized personnel and civilians.

In this April 29, 1975 photo, South Vietnamese civilians scale the 14-foot wall of the U.S. embassy in Saigon, trying to reach evacuation helicopters as the last Americans depart from Vietnam.

In this April 1, 1975 photo, a cargo net lifts refugees from a barge onto the SS Pioneer Contender for evacuation from the fallen city of Da Nang, Vietnam. It took eight hours to load some 6,000 refugees aboard the ship.

Bayonets are fixed to the barrels of Vietnamese soldiers’ rifles during a parade celebrating the 40th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War, which is also remembered as the Fall of Saigon, in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam on Thursday.

An honor guard stands in attention as dancers perform during parade celebrating the 40th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War, which is also remembered as the Fall of Saigon, in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, April 30.

Vietnamese military personnel wave flags during a parade celebrating the 40th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War – also remembered as the Fall of Saigon – in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, on Thursday.

Military personnel take part in a parade celebrating the 40th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, on Thursday.

In this April 28, 1975, President Gerald Ford, center, meets with Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, right, and Vice President Nelson Rockefeller in the Oval Office of the White House to discuss the American evacuation of Saigon.