United Press International
02 April, 1975
A man trying to board an overloaded evacuation plane is stopped by an American official at Nha Trang Air Base in South Vietnam. Nha Trang was captured by North Vietnamese forces on 2 April 1975. On 14 March 1974, South Vietnamese President Nguyen Van Thieu ordered a general withdrawal of ARVN forces from Vietnam's central highlands region. This turned into an chaotic situation with masses of military and civilians fleeing southwards. Thousands of refugees believed Nha Trang to be a safe haven, but by 1 April 1975 the general panic of retreat reached Nha Trang, which was abandoned by the South Vietnamese Army one day later, yielding the entire northern half of South Vietnam to the North Vietnamese.
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