For every Vietnamese who fled from the South last week there were hundreds who were just as fearful of being killed but could find no way to get out. According to one U.S. intelligence report, the odds against a Vietnamese escaping were 50 to 1 unless he had an "American connection "—a relative who was a U.S. citizen or an American friend who was willing to guarantee a job in the U.S. or financial support. Rather than fight those odds, many Vietnamese were resigned to staying. Some were looking for a safe place for their families in case Saigon was shelled. Others were preparing to raise white flags when the Communists came. Still others, however, were desperately trying to beat the odds and find a way out—even some with no apparent reason for being panicky. Some glimpses of the people who were being left behind:
In an elegant house in Saigon, workmen filled wooden crates with the wealthy businessman's handsome collection of ancient stone carvings, antique porcelain and paintings. The art treasures were going to Singapore, but the owner and his wife, unlike many of their moneyed peers, had not found a way to follow them. Neither his government nor his American friends nor his contacts in the Cholon underworld had been able to help.
The wife hid her red, swollen eyes behind large dark glasses; her expressive hands trembled. Normally an impeccable hostess, she was so rattled that she neglected to offer a drink to her visitor, TIME Correspondent William McWhirter. With a rueful laugh, she said: "The ridiculous thing is that people keep telephoning me, asking if I can help them. People on the street are so worried. I don't know why. I don't know why the poor people so fear Communism. Why didn't they go to the other side? Naturally, all the upper class would like to get away. The rich and those with connections with the government are the ones in danger. The Communists want to destroy a class."
Every morning the teacher made breakfast for her family in their small apartment in a crowded section of the capital, then set off on her urgent rounds. She called on friends, colleagues, former students, relatives. She made contact with hundreds of people, asking each to suggest a way that she might escape from the country.
Her main hope, however, was that the U.S. would finally come to her rescue. Said her brother: "Every day she becomes more and more desperate. She no longer comes home at noon. She no longer eats. Yesterday she waited at the river until after dark because someone she met told her that the U.S. Seventh Fleet was coming in."
The classified advertisement in the Saigon Post read: "Fairly pretty high school girl, 18, of well-to-do family, seeks adoption by or marriage with foreigner of American, French, British, German or other nationality who would take her abroad legally to enable her to continue her college studies outside Viet Nam at her own expense. Please telephone 45470."