AP Journalists Recall Fall of Saigon 50 Years Later \ Newslooks \ Washington DC \ Mary Sidiqi \ Evening Edition \ Fifty years after the fall of Saigon, Associated Press reporters recall the tense final hours they documented inside a crumbling city. Despite the chaos, they continued to report historic moments. Their frontline bravery produced some of the Vietnam War’s most iconic journalism.
Quick Looks
- AP reporters stayed behind to document the fall of Saigon firsthand.
- Journalists witnessed the final U.S. evacuation and North Vietnamese takeover.
- Iconic photo captured as North Vietnamese soldiers entered the AP office.
- Wire services raced to break the story of South Vietnam’s surrender.
- AP faced U.S. government pressure during years of Vietnam War reporting.
- Saigon fell April 30, 1975, marking the end of U.S. involvement.
- Journalists reflected on common humanity amid staggering war casualties.
Deep Look
In the final hours before the fall of Saigon on April 30, 1975, Associated Press journalists Peter Arnett, George Esper, and Matt Franjola chose to stay behind, determined to witness history firsthand. From the rooftop of the AP bureau, they observed U.S. Marines evacuating the last Americans from the embassy via helicopters, the growing sounds of bombardments signaling the imminent end of the Vietnam War.
When North Vietnamese soldiers finally climbed the stairs to the AP office, the journalists weren’t surprised. Bracing for arrest or worse, they were instead met with young soldiers who showed no hostility. Offering them Cokes and leftover cake, the reporters quickly pivoted back to work, gathering details about the soldiers’ advance into the city. Sarah Errington, an AP photographer, captured an iconic image of the encounter — a snapshot of war’s end that would be seen around the world.
Peter Arnett, reflecting on that surreal moment decades later, recalled the message he tried to send to AP headquarters: a description of the end of a two-decade conflict not with gunfire, but with a cordial meeting over warm soda and pastries. That dispatch never reached New York — the wire had been cut — but the moment remained seared into history.
The fall of Saigon didn’t just mark the collapse of South Vietnam; it symbolized the end of an era for AP’s Vietnam bureau, which closed soon after and wouldn’t reopen until 1993. AP had opened its Saigon office in 1950 during the French colonial war, setting the stage for a long and often dangerous presence in the region.
The Vietnam War was AP’s defining story. Journalists like Malcolm Browne, Horst Faas, and Peter Arnett reported fearlessly from the frontlines, often contradicting official U.S. narratives. Their reporting exposed realities the U.S. government preferred to minimize: the growing American military involvement, struggles against Viet Cong guerrillas, and the corruption of South Vietnam’s leadership.
Browne, Faas, and Arnett each won Pulitzer Prizes for their coverage, helping shape global perceptions of the conflict. The AP team paid a heavy price: four photographers were killed, and at least 16 staffers were injured, some more than once.
Often, the AP’s on-the-ground reports clashed with the sanitized versions coming out of Washington press briefings, leading to friction with U.S. officials. When the Pentagon criticized the AP for allegedly using young, inexperienced reporters, General Manager Wes Gallagher famously shot back, highlighting their decades of frontline experience and noting that AP reporters had spent more time in Vietnam than many U.S. generals.
During the war, AP reporters routinely attended the infamous “Five O’Clock Follies” — official military briefings notorious for presenting distorted or incomplete accounts of battles. Esper later recalled attending briefings after witnessing battles firsthand, marveling at how the official version often bore little resemblance to the reality he had seen.
By 1969, U.S. troop levels in Vietnam had peaked at over half a million, but the 1973 Paris Peace Accords signaled a gradual American withdrawal. As Saigon’s fall became inevitable, the AP scaled down its presence. Still, Arnett, Esper, and Franjola volunteered to remain, determined to report the end of a war they had covered for years.
April 30, 1975, dawned with monsoon rains and the sounds of looting on Saigon’s streets. From the AP rooftop, Arnett watched the final helicopter evacuation from the embassy, relaying the news to Esper in the office — AP breaking the story before rival UPI.
Later that morning, Arnett and Franjola ventured into the chaotic streets, finding looters ransacking the U.S. Embassy and retrieving the fallen bronze memorial plaque honoring Americans killed during the Tet Offensive. By 10:24 a.m., Esper was filing the historic news alert: South Vietnam had officially surrendered.
As North Vietnamese troops entered the city, Arnett and Esper continued sending updates, capturing the collapse of a regime. Tragically, Esper also witnessed a South Vietnamese police colonel salute a war memorial before shooting himself, a vivid and heartbreaking image of final defeat.
At about 2:30 p.m., the AP reporters heard the approach of rubber sandals on the staircase — the telltale sound of North Vietnamese and Viet Cong troops. Instead of hostility, the young soldiers, guided by a former AP photographer secretly loyal to the Viet Cong, entered the bureau peacefully. Over sodas and pastries, they recounted their march into Saigon while Errington took the now-famous photograph.
The soldiers showed pictures of girlfriends and families, revealing a simple truth: on all sides, soldiers shared the same fears, hopes, and dreams. Reflecting later, Esper summed up the tragedy: “People have girlfriends, they miss them… and I’m tallying up the casualties — nearly 60,000 Americans dead, a million North Vietnamese fighters dead, 224,000 South Vietnamese military killed, and 2 million civilians. That’s the way the war ended for me.”
The end of the Vietnam War was captured not just in images of helicopters fleeing Saigon, but in the quiet resilience of journalists who stayed behind, telling the story to the very last moment.
AP Journalists Recall AP Journalists Recall
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