White Christmas Operation Frequent Wind

On April 29, 1975, Armed Forces Radio in Saigon broadcast a routine weather report followed by the song "White Christmas" as the secret code that South Vietnam was lost and Operation Frequent Wind should begin. The out-of-season carol told American personnel and their South Vietnamese allies to move at once to helicopter pickup points for evacuation. Within hours, U.S. Marine and Air Force helicopters began shuttling thousands of people from Saigon to U.S. Navy ships offshore. By the morning of April 30, the last Marines lifted off from the U.S. Embassy roof, completing the final evacuation of U.S. personnel from South Vietnam.

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