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THE ATTACK. At about 4 a.m. Tuesday, the Communists launched a massive rocket and artillery assault on already beleaguered Tan Son Nhut air base. Some 150 rockets and 130-mm. shells whined in, forcing an immediate halt in the ongoing evacuation of Americans and Vietnamese. From the sanctuary of the Continental Palace Hotel, Western correspondents and cameramen listened to an account of the attack on the UHF frequency used by the U.S. mission: "The ices [International Commission for Control and Supervision] compound is burning . . . The back end of the gymnasium's been hit . . . My God, control, we've got two Marine K.I.A.s [killed in action]." The response was terse: "Do you know where the bodies are?" Doctors were called for; firefighting equipment was requested and then told to stay away because of the shelling. A large secondary explosion was reported across the runway. "The ammo storage area's been hit," said a voice shaking with emotion. Worse yet, Communist troops were pushing into some of the city's suburbs.
The coordinated attacks turned out to be the last of the war. It was 4 p.m. Monday in Washington when the shelling of Ton Son Nhut began, twelve hours behind Saigon time. Within hours, a series of meetings between President Ford and his top advisers led td the decision to evacuate all remaining Americans. By midafternoon in Saigon, dozens of American helicopters had begun arriving. By 7:52 the following morning, the last chopper had lifted off the roof of the American embassy (see following story). Except for a handful of newsmen and missionaries, the American presence in Viet Nam had come to an end.
THE SURRENDER. At 10:24 a.m. Wednesday, President Minh announced in a brief radio address that he was offering an unconditional surrender to the P.R.G. "I believe in reconciliation among Vietnamese to avoid unnecessary shedding of blood," he said. "For this reason I ask the soldiers of the Republic of Viet Nam to cease hostilities in calm and to stay where they are." Afterward Minh told a French journalist, "Yes, it [the surrender] had to be done. Human lives had to be saved."
Before noon five Communist tanks, a dozen armored personnel carriers and truckloads of green-uniformed troops who wore helmets inscribed TIEN VI SAIGON—Onward to Saigon—swept down Unity Boulevard to the presidential palace. The gates had been left ajar, but one tank, followed by several others, smashed through the fence nonetheless, then fired triumphal salvos. One detachment of troops drove off in a Jeep with Minh to an undisclosed location; later he was brought back to repeat his surrender announcement before being whisked away again.
At 12:15 p.m., the P.R.G. flag was raised over the presidential palace. Viet Cong forces took over the Saigon radio station and announced: "Saigon has been totally liberated. We accept the unconditional surrender of General Duong Van Minh, President of the former government." In Paris, Communist representatives announced that Saigon would be popularly known as Ho Chi Minh city, though the city's official name would stay the same.