USS Midway Museum commemorates 50th anniversary of Fall of Saigon
SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) — The USS Midway hosted a day of courage and remembrance Sunday.
It was one of the largest and most important commemoration ceremonies ever hosted on board to mark the 50th anniversary of Operation Frequent Wind and the Fall of Saigon.
Vietnemese families and former crew members were part of the special day.
'This is an opportunity for them to come here and remember and share it together with their friends and family,' said David Koontz, Director of Marketing for the USS Midway Museum.
On April 29, 1975, Vietnamese refugees fled their country as Saigon was beginning to fall to the communist north. The midway crew launched a rescue mission right on the flight deck, helping land Vietnamese pilots carrying helicopters full of people desperate to reach freedom.
'Things could crash, things could go wrong, things could fall over side, a lot of things early on could have gone wrong, but did not,' said USS Midway docent Rob Boyd, who was part of the Midway crew during that historical time.
The refugees fled their homeland with very little and the hanger was used as a place for them to eat, sleep and get medical attention.
'They didn't understand what a cheeseburger was. There were certain things they didn't understand about french fries. We had to be really careful that we didn't let them be sick on the stuff that we ate,' Boyd said.
'When you go into harms way so others may live, you don't think you just do and that's what we did,' he added.
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