North Vietnamese troops begin to shell Saigon, the capital of South Vietnam, as they get ready to capture the city and the U.S. orders the evacuation of all personnel, but the only way out was by helicopter. The attached photo by Dutch photographer Hubert Van Es, shows a UH-1 “Huey” helicopter landing on the roof of a CIA safe house in downtown Saigon at 22 Gia Long Street. The photo location is often incorrectly stated to be the roof of the US Embassy in Saigon. When the massive evacuation ends a day later, about 6,500 people had been airlifted including nearly 900 Americans. Hours later, on April 30, Saigon fell, and with it came the end of the Vietnam War. More
