Maj. Ba Van Nguyen managed to disembark his passengers. He then distanced himself and jumped out of the cockpit of his CH-47A Chinook
South Vietnam was taken over by the North Vietnamese in April 1975. As the long-running Vietnam War came to an end, many South Vietnamese desperately tried to flee the nation before it was seized by North Vietnam.
In Operation Frequent Wind, the largest helicopter evacuation in history, the U.S. Navy was actively collaborating with South Vietnamese forces, as we just explained. The last stage of the evacuation of American and Vietnamese citizens from Saigon, South Vietnam, was called Operation Frequent Wind.
Although the U.S. managed the activities during Frequent Wind, some South Vietnamese pilots decided to flee on their own in a large number of helicopters and aircraft.
Maj. Ba Van Nguyen, of the 237th Helicopter Squadron of the Vietnamese Air Force (also known as the South Vietnamese Air Force or VNAF), landed his CH-47A Chinook helicopter in front of his parents’ Saigon residence on April 29, 1975, at about 10:30 a.m. Nguyen hurriedly boarded the aircraft with his family. He made a second stop a half-hour away, according to Dignity Memorial, to grab supplies and meet up with other squadron members.
He had intended to leave the intense combat in the city by flying to a distant island. Nguyen could hear English conversation bantering on his radio as he was sailing out to sea. At that moment, he realized a U.S. Navy ship might be in the distance, and it could be able to assist everyone on the Chinook. As soon as he saw a ship, he gently and cautiously started to move in that direction. The Huey helicopter, which was smaller, could land on numerous ships, but the Chinook was too large to do so.
Here is an excerpt from NPR’s story from 2010 – “35 Years on, Vietnam Heroes Reunited, Decorated”: “Among all the Hueys on that first day, a crowded Vietnamese CH-47 (a twin-rotor “Chinook,” the heaviest helicopter in the Vietnamese inventory) also attempted to land but was frantically waved off. The aircraft was much too large for USS Kirk’s flight deck, so the pilot hovered low over the fantail and unloaded his precious cargo of men, women, children, and infants—and his aircrew—into the waiting arms of Kirk crewmen below. Then, flying his behemoth helicopter all alone, the pilot moved a short distance off Kirk’s starboard quarter, hovering within inches of the sea. He slowly rolled the Chinook on its right side, escaping the spectacular crash unharmed by diving out the left door in mid-roll. Both main rotors disintegrated on impact and shattered shards of the blades flew across Kirk, splashing into the sea well to port. The crew of Kirk’s motor whaleboat was standing by and rescued the pilot in short order. All crewmen and family members were reunited unharmed on the USS Kirk that day.”
“There was only one CH-47 that came to the USS Kirk FF-1087 in 1975. Your father hovered the helo over the fantail of the Kirk, and his passengers jumped out into the arms of the Kirk crew. He then came to the right of Kirk, rolled the helo to the right, and jumped out on the left side. Your father was a very brave man, and he accomplished a remarkable and professional job to save his passengers and his family. There could hardly have been a more masterful bit of flying or a braver pilot that day,” said Captain Paul H. Jacobs, then USS Kirk (FF-1087) Commanding Officer, to Nguyen’s sons.
About 24 hours later, Nguyen and his family left the USS Kirk and boarded a few other ships that were sailing in the direction of the United States and freedom.
On June 17, 2013, Ba Van Nguyen passed away at the age of 73.
The following U.S. Navy video, called “The Lucky Few,” tells the nearly forgotten story of the incredible CH-47A Chinook mission flown by Maj. Ba Van Nguyen to save his family.
Photo by U.S. Navy