Thieu Flees Saigon: South Vietnam Collapses
South Vietnamese President Nguyen Van Thieu delivered a bitter televised resignation on April 21, 1975, denouncing the United States as untrustworthy allies who had abandoned his country. The speech lasted 90 minutes. Thieu had held power since 1967 with massive American military and financial support. When Congress cut off further aid in 1975, the South Vietnamese military collapsed in weeks. Thieu fled Saigon on April 25 with 15 tons of luggage reportedly containing gold bars. He flew to Taiwan, then Britain, and eventually settled in the Boston suburb of Foxborough, Massachusetts, where he lived in quiet obscurity until his death in 2001. Saigon fell to North Vietnamese forces nine days after his resignation.
April 21, 1975
51 years ago
Key Figures & Places
South Vietnam
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Vietnam War
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President
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North Vietnam
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Saigon
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Nguyen Van Thieu
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Xuan Loc
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South Vietnamese
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Ho Chi Minh City
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Vietnam War
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South Vietnam
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Nguyễn Văn Thiệu
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Ho Chi Minh City
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Xuân Lộc district
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Democratic Republic of Vietnam
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Battle of Xuân Lộc
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Trần Văn Hương
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