Iowan and former ambassador recalls role in Vietnam evacuation 50 years ago
LAWSUIT, WHICH IS STILL ACTIVE. TODAY MARKS 50 YEARS SINCE THE U.S. WITHDRAWAL FROM VIETNAM AFTER THE FALL OF SAIGON. THE CITY, ONCE THE CAPITAL OF SOUTH VIETNAM, IS NOW HO CHI MINH CITY. THE TAKEOVER UNIFIED NORTH AND SOUTH VIETNAM UNDER COMMUNIST RULE. FORMER AMBASSADOR TO CAMBODIA AND IOWAN KENNETH QUINN SAYS HE PLAYED A ROLE DURING THAT TIME. HE WAS A STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICER BACK THEN. QUINN SAYS HE AND TWO OTHER JUNIOR OFFICERS HELPED PLAN AN EVACUATION PLAN FOR VIETNAMESE REFUGEES. QUINN TELLS US ON THE DAY BEFORE THE FALL OF SAIGON, HE LEARNED THERE WERE TENS OF THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE STUCK AT THE AIRPORT. THEY WERE EVACUATING FROM. HE SAYS THERE WAS AN ISSUE. THE EVACUATION WAS STOPPED THAT MORNING. QUINN SAYS HE HAD TO WORK FAST TO FIGURE OUT A WAY TO HELP THE PEOPLE THERE BEFORE IT WAS TOO LATE. I THOUGHT, I’VE GOT IT, AND I RUN INTO THE WHITE HOUSE AND I GO TO DAVID KENNERLY, THE PHOTOGRAPHER WHO’S THERE WHO KNEW ALL WHAT I WAS DOING THE WHOLE TIME, SAID DAVID. DAVID, HERE’S THE SITUATION. AND PRESIDENT FORD LOOKED AT DAVID KENNEDY LIKE HIS SON, AND KENNERLY RUNS UP TO THE OVAL OFFICE, GOES IN AND SAYS, MR. PRESIDENT, I’VE GOT THIS REALLY GOOD SOURCE AND TOLD ME THE AIRFIELD IS NOT BEING ATTACKED AND THERE ARE PEOPLE THERE TO BE REMOVED. AND THE PRESIDENT TURNS THE EVACUATION BACK ON. QUINN SAYS MANY OF THE 20,000 PEOPLE THAT WERE AT THE AIRPORT WERE INDEED EVACUATED THAT DAY. A MARSHALLTOWN NATIVE WAS AMONG THE LAST AMERICAN CASUALTIES OF THE VIETNAM WAR. YESTERDAY MARKED 50 YEARS SINCE THE DEATH OF 19 YEAR OLD MARINE LANCE CORPORAL DARWIN JUDGE. HE WAS KILLED IN A ROCKET ATTACK ALONGSIDE CHARLES MCMAHON ONE DAY BEFORE THE FALL OF SAIGON. THE IOWA VETERANS HOME HOSTED A SPECIAL CEREMONY YESTERDAY TO REMEMBER HIS LIFE. YOU CAN WATCH THAT CEREMONY IN TWO PARTS ON THE IOW
Iowan and former ambassador recalls role in Vietnam evacuation 50 years ago
Updated: 10:16 PM CDT Apr 30, 2025
April 30 marks 50 years since the U.S. withdrawal from Vietnam after the fall of Saigon, leading to the unification of North and South Vietnam under communist rule.Former Ambassador to Cambodia and Iowan Kenneth Quinn, who was a State Department officer at the time, said he and two other junior officers helped plan an evacuation plan for Vietnamese refugees. On the day before the fall of Saigon, Quinn learned there were 20,000 people stuck at the airport they were evacuating from, but the evacuation was stopped that morning, prompting him to act quickly.”I thought, ah, I’ve got it,” Quinn said. “Run into the White House, and I go to David Kennerly, the photographer who’s there and who knew all of what I was doing the whole time. I said David, David, here’s the situation. And President Ford looked at David Kennerly like his son. Kennerly runs up to the Oval Office, runs in, and says Mr. President, I’ve got this really good source who told me the airfield is not being attacked and there are people there to be removed, and the president turns the evacuation back on.”Quinn said many of the 20,000 people at the airport were evacuated that day.» Subscribe to KCCI’s YouTube page» Download the free KCCI app to get updates on the go: Apple | Google Play
DES MOINES, Iowa —April 30 marks 50 years since the U.S. withdrawal from Vietnam after the fall of Saigon, leading to the unification of North and South Vietnam under communist rule.
Former Ambassador to Cambodia and Iowan Kenneth Quinn, who was a State Department officer at the time, said he and two other junior officers helped plan an evacuation plan for Vietnamese refugees.
On the day before the fall of Saigon, Quinn learned there were 20,000 people stuck at the airport they were evacuating from, but the evacuation was stopped that morning, prompting him to act quickly.
“I thought, ah, I’ve got it,” Quinn said. “Run into the White House, and I go to David Kennerly, the photographer who’s there and who knew all of what I was doing the whole time. I said David, David, here’s the situation. And President Ford looked at David Kennerly like his son. Kennerly runs up to the Oval Office, runs in, and says Mr. President, I’ve got this really good source who told me the airfield is not being attacked and there are people there to be removed, and the president turns the evacuation back on.”
Quinn said many of the 20,000 people at the airport were evacuated that day.
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