At the meeting, Dong presented a plan for the relief of Phuoc Long that would have utilized either an infantry division or the Airborne Division. Inside the Embassy compound were two to three thousand people, mostly Vietnamese, awaiting evacuation. A skeleton staff remained at the Embassy.The King of Laos abdicated the throne. When questioned as to the timing of Vietnamization, 73 percent of the respondents replied that the program "should have been emphasized years before."

Vien, p. 108.The president's rationale for the aid had changed.


"Hunger, looting, and crimes were widespread. "They hit us with everything" said Ranger Private Nguyen Van Sau, describing an unrelenting shower of artillery shells, mortar rounds and rockets that flew from the jungle into the stream of refugees.The retreat from the Central Highlands had become a rout of strategic proportions.
The operation had evacuated more than 6,000 people, including more than 5,000 Vietnamese, by more than 100 helicopter sorties during the day. The North Vietnamese had begun an all-out offensive in I Corps and had already breached Truong's northern defense line at the Tach Han River. The Tet Offensive (Vietnamese: Sự kiện Tết Mậu Thân 1968), or officially called The General Offensive and Uprising of Tet Mau Than 1968 (Vietnamese: Tổng Tiến công và Nổi dậy Tết Mậu Thân 1968) was a major escalation and one of the largest military campaigns of the Vietnam War.It was launched on January 30, 1968 by forces of the Viet Cong (VC) and North …

After the signing of the Paris Accord the South Vietnamese government fielded the fourth largest military force in the world as a result of the American Enhance and Enhance Plus programs.

Ford said that North Vietnam now had 289,000 troops in South Vietnam and large numbers of tanks, artillery and anti-aircraft weapons.The PAVN launched its attack on Ban Me Thuot, and by nightfall they held the center of the city although fighting continued in the outskirts.Captured in the PAVN assault on Ban Me Thuot were 14 foreigners, including American Phú abandoned efforts to retake Ban Me Thuot and began the retreat to the coast.The withdrawal of the ARVN from the Central Highlands, mostly the troops stationed in the cities of Pleiku and Kon Tum, began. As most senior ARVN officers had departed the highlands by helicopter, many of the remaining soldiers were a leaderless mob mixed with fleeing civilians. "He did not tell General Truong whether to withdraw or to hold and fight" said General Vien, who was with Thieu. Traffic was impossible...the mass stranded in the city was estimated at approximately one and one-half million. According to General Dung: "The numbers killed and wounded was very small in proportion to the victories won, and the expenditure in terms of weapons and ammunition was negligible.For more details on of the Central Highlands campaign, see For more details on on the capture of the South Vietnamese capital, see Forces which actually participated in the offensive. Dougan and Fulghum, p. 55.Stephen T. Hosmer, Konrad Kellen, and Brian M. Jenkins, The DAO's intelligence chief, William Le Gro stated that the 22nd not only "fought well, but valiantly" against the 3rd and 968th PAVN Divisions.

Additional helicopters were then sent to evacuate the Marine guards, under the command of Major James Kean, with the last eleven leaving the Embassy at 07:53. From that point onward the exodus kept moving forward only by fighting its way ahead. 80, 81.Phu further muddied the command arrangements by appointing his assistant for operations to also oversee the withdrawal. Preceded by an intense artillery bombardment, the 10th Division quickly pushed into the city and seized the ammunition depot.

Meanwhile, the helicopter evacuation from the Embassy continued.About 22:00, Ambassador Martin at the Embassy, hearing that Washington planned to halt the evacuation cabled the State Department: "I need 30 CH-53s [helicopters] and I need them now.In the Mekong Delta, the situation in Can Tho and other Mekong provinces started to deteriorate.

"In Saigon the evacuation of Americans and Vietnamese accelerated with two military transport airplanes per hour arriving at Ton Son Nhut airport on the outskirts of Saigon and 7,000 people per day being flown out of the country.