What if I told you about a place in Ho Chi Minh City where the echoes of a helicopter’s rotors still whisper tales of escape? Trực thăng 831 isn’t just a name on a map. It’s a snapshot frozen in time, a memory etched against the Saigon skyline. Trực thăng 831 refers to the helicopter evacuation from 22 Gia Long Street, now 22 Lý Tự Trọng Street. This wasn’t the US Embassy, as many believe. It was an apartment building housing USAID employees, with the CIA’s deputy chief of station on the top floor. Imagine the scene on April 29, 1975. North Vietnamese troops are closing in. Panic fills the air. An Air America Huey helicopter descends onto the rooftop. People scramble aboard, desperate to escape the inevitable. Photojournalist Hubert van Es captured this moment. His photo became an iconic image of the Fall of Saigon, forever linked to Trực thăng 831. The photo, however, was misidentified as the US Embassy evacuation. This error, made by UPI’s Tokyo office, continues to circulate despite van Es’s attempts to correct it. Trực thăng 831 symbolizes the chaotic end of an era. It reminds us of the human drama that unfolded amidst the larger historical narrative. The building still stands. You can take the elevator to the 9th floor. Stand on the rooftop where history took flight. Imagine the whir of the blades, the fear and hope in the faces of those who boarded. Trực thăng 831. A place where a single photograph captured the end of a war and the beginning of countless stories.
People’s Police University
Is there a more crucial institution than one entrusted with upholding justice and security? Here at the People’s Police University,