The Military Departments are . Only personnel attached to serving, for one or more days, with an organization Martin told them that he would not tolerate any outward signs that the United States intended to abandon South Vietnam. The 9th Marine Amphibious Brigade (9th MAB), which was to supply helicopters and a security force for the evacuation, sent a delegation to consult with Ambassador Graham Martin on current plans on 12 April. The Marines on the rooftop had sealed the doors and were using Mace to discourage the crowd from trying to break through. Tet Counter-offensive 30 Jan 68 to 01 Apr 68 of the United States, serving at any time between 4 July 1965 Awarded to all members of the Armed Forces of the United States serving at anytime between 03Jul1965 and 28Mar1973 in the area defined under the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal (AFEM) for Vietnam. [6]:69 Armed guards were also present on each flight to prevent hijacking. (3) Eligible Ships and Units. All personnel who participated in Operation Frequent Wind (the evacuation ofSaigon) are now automatically authorized the Vietnam Service Medal and VietnamCross of Gallantry. [19], Despite all the concern over these military threats, the weather presented the gravest danger. [14], At 03:58, C-130E, #72-1297, flown by a crew from the 776th Tactical Airlift Squadron, was destroyed by a 122mm rocket while taxiing to pick up refugees after offloading a BLU-82 at Tan Son Nhut Air Base. Many pilots fled to Hancock, seeking refuge for themselves, family and friends during the evacuation. XI. [10]:199 At that time Major Kean estimated that there were still some 850 non-American evacuees and 225 Americans (including the Marines), and Ambassador Martin told Major Kean to do the best he could. (check below for additional Republic of Vietnam unit awards). Hancock was lovingly called Hanna and Fightin' Hanna by the crew. Only one award per operation is authorized. Date. His helicopter turned and hit the side of Blue Ridge before hitting the sea. [33], The Cessna O-1 Bird Dog that Major Buang landed on USS Midway is now on display at the National Museum of Naval Aviation at Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida. VIII. Chambers ordered the flight deck crew to clear the landing area; in the process an estimated US$10 million worth of UH-1 Huey helicopters were pushed overboard into the South China Sea. An award will not be made to a unit for action of one or more of its component parts, unless such unit performed as a total team in a manner justifying the award. Eventually the ARVN commander controlling the gates agreed to permit the remaining buses to enter the compound. All personnel who participated in Operation Frequent Wind (the. [10]:200 At 04:30 with the 19 lift limit already exceeded, Major Kean went to the rooftop LZ and spoke over a helicopter radio with General Carey who advised that President Ford had ordered that the airlift be limited to US personnel. A second Cessna O-1 was also recovered by USS Midway that afternoon. When Lady Ace 09 transmitted "Tiger is out", those helicopter crews still flying thought the mission was complete, and delayed evacuating the Marines from the embassy rooftop. I was awarded the VSM as well as the humanitarian service medal. [6]:36 At 08:30 on 29 April, with the shelling of Tan Son Nhut Airport subsiding, Air America began ferrying its helicopter and fixed-wing pilots from their homes in Saigon to the Air America compound at Tan Son Nhut, across the road from the DAO Compound. [6]:99 The Hanoi leadership, reckoning that completion of the evacuation would lessen the risk of American intervention, had apparently instructed General Dng not to target the airlift itself. After receiving permission from the airborne commander, the Wild Weasel marked the three 57-mm sites with an AGM-45 Shrike missile and took evasive action to escape the tracers coming in. This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the United States Marine Corps. On 2 May, Task Force 76, carrying the Operation Frequent Wind evacuees and 44,000 seaborne evacuees and the RVN Navy group set sail for reception centers in the Philippines and Guam.[8]. In the helicopter evacuation a total of 395 Americans and 4,475 Vietnamese and third-country nationals were evacuated from the DAO compound[10]:197 and a further 978 U.S. and 1,120 Vietnamese and third-country nationals from the embassy,[10]:201 giving a total of 1,373 Americans and 5,595 Vietnamese and third country nationals. The U.S. Embassy in Saigon was intended to only be a secondary evacuation point for embassy staff, but it was soon overwhelmed with evacuees and desperate South Vietnamese. U.S. officials decided to stop using the less maneuverable C-141s, which had been loaded with up to 316 evacuees, and use only C-130s, which had been taking off with more than 240. Attached to or regularly "[15] Frank Snepp later recalled the arrival of helicopters at the embassy while the song was playing over the radio as a "bizarre Kafkaesque time". It was carried out on 29-30 April 1975, during the last days of the Vietnam War. [7], By 1975, the Frequent Wind plan aimed to evacuate about 8,000 U.S. citizens and third-country nationals, but it was never able to estimate the number of South Vietnamese to include. I was present as a Marine attached to the USS Denver during Operation Frequent Wind during April and part of May in 1975. Evacuation of Phnom Penh and Saigon, April 29, 1975. [6]:82, 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. Shown: A Vietnamese woman, carrying her son, is given a numbered tag as she arrives onboard USS Hancock (CV-19). [6]:79 Between 04:30 and 08:00 up to 40 artillery rounds and rockets hit around the DAO Compound. Armed Forces Expeditioanry Medal (AFEM) for such service. Operation Firebreak 5-Sep-1987 15-Sep-1987 United States Operation Pocket Planner (Note 1) 1-Nov-1987 1-Nov-1987 (b) Vietnam Service Medal is awarded to all members of the Armed Forces [21]:7 At 03:00 Ambassador Martin ordered Major Kean to move all the remaining evacuees into the parking lot LZ which was the Marines' final perimeter. Operation Frequent Wind was the final phase in the evacuation of American civilians and "at-risk" Vietnamese from Saigon, South Vietnam, before the takeover of the city by the North Vietnamese People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) in the Fall of Saigon. Many medals are awarded for non-combat operations. This directive was subsequently reversed; some operators had ignored it anyway. More than 7,000 people were evacuated by helicopter from various points in Saigon. English: Map showing the disposition of U.S. Navy ships at the start of "Operation Frequent Wind", in April 1975. [6]:67 Also on 25 April the Federal Aviation Administration banned commercial flights into South Vietnam. for the award; however, consideration will be given in those A total of 1,373 Americans and over 5,600 South Vietnamese nationals were . The principal eligibility criterion is that the individual must have participated in a bona fide ground or surface combat fire fight or action during which he or she was under enemy fire AND his/her performance while under fire was satisfactory. One AC-119 gunship had spent the night of 28/29 April dropping flares and firing on the approaching PAVN. [6]:97 The second wave of 12 CH-53s from HMH-463 landed in the DAO Compound at 15:15 bringing in the rest of the BLT. The biggest problem occurred when the ARVN unit guarding the main gate at Tan Son Nhut refused to allow the last convoy of buses into the DAO Compound at about 17:45. At 15:00 the first CH-53s were sighted heading towards the DAO Compound at Tan Son Nhut. When the operation ceased on May 2, the Vietnamese Navy group set sail for reception centers in the Philippines and Guam in Operation New Life. [20]:21 At some point during the morning RVNAF personnel took five ICCS UH-1H Hueys and one Air America Bell 204 from the Air America ramp. Company G occupied the eastern section of the Annex, while Company H assumed control of the western section. 127-GVB-279-A150894: Operation Frequent Wind. The Pittman Building was not an approved LZ, but when the agreed pickup point at the Lee Hotel at 6 Chien Si Circle was declared unusable, CIA Station Chief Tom Polgar asked Oren B. Harnage, Deputy Chief of the Embassy's Air Branch to change the pickup to the Pittman Building, which was the home of the Assistant Station Chief and had an elevator shaft believed capable of supporting the weight of a Huey. SECNAVINST 1650.1F, Dated 8 August 1991. for operations for which no other U.S. campaign medal is Vietnam, Winter-Spring 1970 01 Nov 69 to 30 Apr 70 [10]:191192, The HMH-462 CH-53s loaded with evacuees and left the compound, they unloaded the first evacuees delivered by Operation Frequent Wind at 15:40. IV. A. [6]:3031, With the cause of the crash still unknown, the C-5 fleet was grounded and the MAC airlift was reduced to using C-141s and C-130s. In any case this effectively marked the end of the commercial airlift from Tan Son Nhut. An embassy official said that more than five million dollars were being burned. short periods or TAD and training duty are normally not eligible Vietnam Ceasefire Campaign 30 Mar 72 to 28 Jan 73 The crowds prevented the use of buses for transporting evacuees from the embassy to the DAO Compound for evacuation, and the embassy gates were closed to prevent the crowd from surging through. Click on red bar for more info. However, no person shall be entitled to period for which that ship is eligible. As the imminent collapse of Saigon became evident, the U.S. Navy assembled Task Force 76 off the coast near Vng Tu to support a helicopter evacuation and provide air support if required. But these restrictions were relaxed and eventually ignored altogether as the pace of the evacuation quickened. [10]:178 In late April, the MSG Marines were ordered to abandon Marshall Hall/Marine House, their billet at 204 Hong Thap Tu Street (now 204 Nguyen Thi Minh Khai Street), and move into the recreation area in the embassy compound. Some 400 evacuees were left behind at the embassy including over 100 South Korean citizens; among them was Brigadier General Dai Yong Rhee, the intelligence chief at the South Korean Embassy in Saigon. To justify citation, the unit must have clearly rendered itself conspicuous by action of a character comparable to that which would merit the award of a Navy Cross to an individual. President Ford later called it "a sad and tragic period in America's history" but argued that "you couldn't help but be very proud of those pilots and others who were conducting the evacuation". MARINES THAT WERE AWARDED THE ARMED FORCES EXPEDITIONARY MEDAL FOR PARTICIPATING IN OPERATION FREQUENT WIND FROM 29-30 APRIL 1975 ARE NOW ENTITLED TO EXCHANGE IT FOR THE VIETNAM SERVICE MEDAL PER SECTION 542 IN PUBLIC LAW 107-314. It was carried out on 2930 April 1975, during the last days of the Vietnam War. Click on the units you served with to see eligibility for U.S. issued unit action awards The command ship USS Blue Ridge (LCC-19) was located approximately 28 km from Vung Tau, Vietnam, at 1500 hrs on 29 April 1975. Vietnam Defense Campaign 08 Mar 65 to 24 Dec 65 RVNAF F-5s took off in pursuit, but they were unable to intercept the A-37s. Consolidation I1 01 Dec 71 to 29 Mar 72 Please rescue me. There was an insert page which read: "Note evacuational signal. [6]:24 On 4 April, a C-5A aircraft carrying 250 Vietnamese orphans and their escorts suffered explosive decompression over the sea near Vng Tu and made a crash-landing while attempting to return to Tan Son Nhut; 153 people on board died in the crash. [35], On the afternoon of 29 April 1975, Hubert van Es, a Saigon-based photographer for United Press International, took the iconic photo of Operation Frequent Wind of an Air America UH-1 on a rooftop picking up Vietnamese evacuees. The U.S. Air Force played a key role in Operation FRE-QUENTWIND. Authorized Devices: Bronze Star, Silver Star, Also automatically authorized is the Humanitarian ServiceMedal. At the beginning of the operation, pilots in the first wave reported the weather as 2,000 feet (610m) scattered, 20,000 feet (6,100m) overcast with 15 miles (24km) visibility, except in haze over Saigon, where visibility decreased to one mile. In the event, air support was not needed as the North Vietnamese paused for a week at the outskirts of Saigon, possibly waiting for the South Vietnamese government to collapse and avoiding a possible confrontation with the U.S. by allowing the mostly-unopposed evacuation of Americans from Saigon. Operation Frequent Wind was the final phase in the evacuation of American civilians and "at-risk" Vietnamese from Saigon, South Vietnam prior to the takeover of the city by the North Vietnamese Army It was carried out on 29-30 April 1975, during the last days of the Vietnam War. to 30 April 1975, may elect the Vietnam Service Medal (VSM) in lieu of the Armed Forces Expeditioanry Medal (AFEM) for such (Operation Frequent Wind) April 29, 1975 to April, 30 1975 Vietnam (including Thailand) July 1, 1958 to July 3, 1965 . [14]:30, At 17:00 the first CH-46 landed at the embassy. With the collapse of South Vietnam, numerous boats and ships, Republic of Vietnam Air Force (RVNAF) helicopters and some fixed-wing aircraft sailed or flew out to the evacuation fleet. Squadrons or units embarked in a ship, Official U.S. Marine Corps photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. The RVNAF pilots had been instructed after dropping off their passengers to ditch their helicopters and they would then be picked up by one of the ship's tenders. Awarded to members of the Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard in the grade of captain/colonel and junior thereto, who have actively participated in ground or surface combat. stipulates that personnel who were awarded the Armed Forces Expeditioanry Medal (AFEM) for their [10]:183 At 08:00 Lieutenant General Minh, commander of the RVNAF and 30 of his staff arrived at the DAO compound demanding evacuation, signifying the complete loss of RVNAF command and control. [21]:6 At the same time, General Carey met Admiral Whitmire to convince him to resume flights to the embassy despite pilot fatigue and poor visibility caused by darkness, fires and bad weather. DIVE! [21]:7, Major Kean returned to the ground floor of the chancery and ordered his men to withdraw into a large semicircle at the main entrance to the chancery. 11. Refugees arrive aboard USS Midway.29 April 1975. bdpopeye Mi Field Marshall MI.Net Member TAARB Joined Jul 12, 2006 Pilots of other helicopters were told to drop off their passengers and then take off and ditch in the sea, from where they would be rescued. The staff of 9th MAB prescribed altitudes, routes, and checkpoints for flight safety for the operation. Around 12:00 five or six RVNAF UH-1Hs and one of the stolen ICCS UH-1Hs, were circling around Blue Ridge. Perdue presented the medals to Petrazewsky for his heroics during Operation Frequent Wind in Vietnam in 1975. . Shipmates would fight for that ship. Actual participation as a crew [6]:35, On 7 April Air America pilot Nikki A. Fillipi, with U.S. Marine Corps Lieutenant Robert Twigger, assigned to the DAO as the U.S. Navy liaison officer, surveyed 37 buildings in Saigon as possible landing zones (LZ), selecting 13 of them as fit for use. Major Kean contacted the Seventh Fleet to advise them of his airlift requirements; until that time the fleet believed that all evacuees had been bussed from the embassy to the DAO Compound and that only two helicopters would be required to evacuate Ambassador Martin and the Marines from the embassy. The Marine evacuation contingent, the 9th Marine Amphibious Brigade (Task Group 79.1), consisted of three Battalion Landing Teams (BLT); 2nd Battalion, 4th Marines (2/4), 1st Battalion 9th Marines (1/9), 3rd Battalion 9th Marines (3/9) and three helicopter squadrons HMH-462, HMH-463, HMM-165 along with other support units from Marine Aircraft Group 39 (MAG-39). Bronze Arrowhead (Army), For current prices select the image or one of the following links, Military Medals and Military Ribbons links, Official Military Ribbons-- provides information and links for. Hancock would be involved in both operations. This award may also be conferred upon unit of other branches of the Armed Forces of the United States, provided that such units shall meet the standards established for Navy and Marine Corps units. The airlift resulted in a number of enduring images. limit may be waived for personnel participating in actual combat [6]:38[10]:178179, By late March, the embassy began to reduce the number of U.S. citizens in Vietnam by encouraging dependents and non-essential personnel to leave the country by commercial flights and on Military Airlift Command (MAC) C-141 and C-5 aircraft, which were still bringing in emergency military supplies. [6]:72 At 21:00 on 28 April Major General Homer D. Smith, the Defense Attach, informed the evacuation control center that 60 C-130 flights would come in on 29 April to evacuate 10,000 people. Personnel in riverine and coastal operations, assaults, patrols, sweeps, ambushes, convoys, amphibious landings, and similar activities who have participated in fire fights are eligible. The crew evacuated the burning aircraft on the taxiway and departed the airfield on another C-130 that had previously landed. An award will not be made to a unit for actions of one or more of its component parts, unless such unit performed as a total team in a manner justifying the award. The palm for this award measures 9/16 inch in length with a 1/8 inch stem and four front leaves attached like a branch. Personnel in clandestine or special operations such as reconnaissance and SEAL teams are eligible when the risk of enemy fire was great and was expected to be encountered. 2 Per reference (b) above, paragraph 14 (Page 2-20) of said reference states: (1). [10]:196 The evacuation from the DAO Compound was completed by about 19:00 after which all helicopters would be routed to the embassy; Major Kean was informed that operations would cease at dark. Vietnam Counter-offensive VI 02 Nov 68 to 22 Feb 69 Upon submission of evidence to their commanding officer, personnel who earned the Combat Infantryman Badge (CIB) or Combat Medical Badge (CMB) while a member of the US Army may be authorized to wear the CAR. (Authorization of the CAR must be approved either by the USMC or USN AwardsBranches. Click on unit logos above for eligibility. [21]:8. [14]:28, From 10:00 to 12:00 Major Kean and his Marines cut down the tamarind and other trees and moved vehicles to create an LZ in the embassy parking lot behind the chancery building. (a) Shore Duty. Ships and units [29] Nixon's pledge of Peace with Honor in Vietnam had become a humiliating defeat, which together with Watergate contributed to the crisis of confidence that affected America throughout the 1970s. (Operation Frequent Wind) April 29, 1975 to April, 30 1975 Vietnam (including Thailand) July 1, 1958 to July 3, 1965 . Note: (5) Named Campaigns are denoted by a 3/16 silver service star. Operation Frequent Wind - 29 to 30 April 1975 Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal Humanitarian Service Medal Navy Unit Commendation Hancock was also awarded: American Campaign Medal World War II Victory Medal Navy Occupation Medal National Defense Service Medal (2nd) (b). [6]:8 There were about 17,000 at-risk Vietnamese on embassy rolls, which, using an average of seven dependents per family, meant that the number requiring evacuation was 119,000. (2). To justify this award, the service performed as a unit must be of a character comparable to that which would merit the award of the Bronze Star Medal, or achievement of like caliber in a non-combat situation, to an individual. [6]:73, At 03:30 on 29 April a PAVN rocket hit Guardpost 1 at the DAO Compound, instantly killing Marine Corporals McMahon and Judge. and eight destroyer types for naval gunfire, escort, and area defense, including: The USSEnterprise and USSCoral Sea carrier attack groups of Task Force 77 in the South China Sea provided air cover while Task Force 73 ensured logistic support. eligible for the award. instances where the local commander certifies a particular and This award may also maybe conferred upon units of the other branches of the Armed Forces of the United States and of friendly foreign nations serving with the Armed Forces of the United States, provided that such units shall meet the standards established for Navy and Marine Corps units. 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