Operation Frequent Wind
29-30 April 1975 - 33 Years after..
Last Web Site Update: 0856 hrs. on 2008/06/16
Purpose
The Fall of Saigon Marines
Association
Operation Frequent Wind
29-30 April 1975 -
33
Years after..
Last Web Site Update:
0856 hrs. on
2008/06/16
Purpose
This site is intended to be a focal point for those who were there during the Fall of Saigon, to remember our fallen warriors Cpl McMahon and LCpl Darwin Judge (the last servicemen killed in action during the Vietnam War), and, finally, to preserve our on hand knowledge of this key event in American history through first account stories, documents, and links.
The Fall of Saigon Marines Association is a Non Profit Association and Tax Exempt. As such, your valued charitable contributions are much appreciated
This site
has been reviewed by History Television staff and has
now been added to the Archive in the Wars & Conflicts
section.
In Memory of Lt. Col James H. Kean, USMC, Retired
05/05/2008
James Hamilton Kean, Lieutenant Colonel, USMC (Retired) died suddenly on May 5, 2008. He was 66 years old.
He is survived by Rosanne Elizabeth Kean, his wife of 43 years, of Cummaquid, MA; his four children – Paige Gilbert of San Francisco, Mike Kean and Pamela Kean of Seattle, WA and Ryan Kean of Los Angeles, and his two beloved grandchildren, Benjamin and Charlotte.
Lt. Col. Kean was born on June 30, 1941 in Pittsburgh, PA. He joined the Marine Corps in 1961 and served two tours of duty in Vietnam earning numerous citations including two bronze stars and two purple hearts.
His first tour of duty in Vietnam was from September, 1966 to October, 1967 - first as a Second Lieutenant, Forward Observer with “D” Co., 1st Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment south of Chu Lai until he was wounded by shell fragments in February 1967. Upon discharge from the hospital, he was assigned as Aide to the Assistant Division Commander, First Marine Division, Brigadier General Foster C. LaHue. This tour of duty included participation in Operations Union I & II, Cochise, and Swift.
Lt. Col.Kean returned to Vietnam in August, 1970 as the commander of an Interrogator/Translator Team and was then reassigned as Commanding Officer of Fox Battery, 2nd Battalion, 11th Marine Regiment. The battery was augmented with two long range 155 mm howitzers in addition to the six 105 mm howitzers and had a platoon of infantry from Fifth Marines to serve as security. Fox Battery occupied Fire Support Base Ryder at the foot of Antennae Valley in the Que Son Mountains (southwest of Da Nang). The Que Son River Valley was a major avenue of egress into South Vietnam.
Lt. Col. Kean returned to Vietnam in April of 1975 as commanding officer, Company ‘C’ Marine Security Guard Battalion and during the evacuation of Saigon also served as the Ground Support Force Commander, United States Embassy Compound in Saigon.
On April 30, 1975, then-Major Kean was in command of the last Marines to leave the rooftop of the American Embassy in Saigon, thus ending the Vietnam War Era of American involvement in that country. He retired in 1983 and used his fluency in Chinese and his experience of the Pacific Rim to found Yankee Traders, an export/import company dealing with Asia.
He subsequently purchased Pacific Grinding Wheel in Marysville, WA, running that company until 1998 when he and Rosanne retired to Cummaquid, MA.
He graduated with a degree in Asian Studies from UC Berkeley, and from the Defense Language Institute in Russian and Mandarin.
A brief service was held on Monday, May 12 at the National Cemetery in Bourne, MA. A reception followed at St. Mary’s Episcopal Church in Barnstable, MA.
Kean residence with the Colors at half mast
Steve Schuller; Bill Newell; Mrs. Roseanne Kean; John Ghilain; and Doug Potratz are pictured at the wake for the Col.
Bill Newell; Mrs. Roseanne Kean; Doug Potratz and John Ghilain
Rest
In Peace - MSgt Colin D. Broussard, USMC
Graham Martin
(Ambassador, South Vietnam)
Detachments involved in the
evacuations in Vietnam
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Read the Fall of Saigon Stories by
the Marines that served and died
Ford Museum
The exhibit is heightened by the display of an authentic Vietnam-era UH-1
Huey helicopter, and the actual staircase that sat on top of the U.S. Embassy in
Saigon when that city fell to the Communist Army of North Vietnam.
MGySgt Doug Drummond's
retirement ceremony.
(The Marine Corps flew in a Marine Corps CH46 that participated in the Fall of
Saigon for the retirement ceremony)
Fall of Saigon Story and Marine of the Month
-April, 2008-
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LCpl D. R. Serbus |
Photo taken at on or around the Fall of Saigon April 1975
Read
all other Fall of Saigon Stories
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lleft to right:
President Gerald Ford,
Secretary of State Henry Kissinger,
Congressman Duncan
Hunter (R),
Ambassador Graham Martin,
, and
General
M. W. Hagee USMC.
"That was probably the hardest day of my presidency for me... I think
we made a very heroic effort and did the best we could under the worst of
circumstances. I look upon it as the sadness of a retreat that I'll never
forget."
Former President Gerald R. Ford
Newsweek Magazine, March 8, 1999
Leatherneck Magazine
Calls the Fall of Saigon
Dreaming of White Christmas
The Fall of Saigon -America's Adopted Alamo
Click
here to read the Fall of Saigon story
Interesting links related to the Fall of Saigon
President Gerald Ford
picture taken April 29, 1975
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Fall of Saigon declassified documents and
links
Reunions
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25th Memorial/Reunion @ Marshalltown, Iowa for LCpl Judge |
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26th Memorial/Reunion @ Massachusetts, Woburn for Cpl Charles McMahon Jr. |
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30th Memorial/Reunion @ Quantico Virginia and Washington D.C. |
30th Fall of Saigon Anniversary Interviews and Media links
Videos, Pictures, Documents and Declassified Documents
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Quotes and videos from the Marines of the Fall of Saigon |
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The American consulate in Can Tho |
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Misc. Fall of Saigon Video |
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Marine Security Guard Battalion Video |
Pictures
Eight Declassified documents
Eight declassified documents
of the Fall of Saigon
Please view our Guestbook.
1st Guestbook
2nd
Guestbook
3rd
Guestbook
Any questions. Ask our
Fall of Saigon Marines Association Officers
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President MGySgt John Valdez USMC, Retired Email: valdezjj@cox.net |
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Vice President & Public Affairs Officer Cpl John Ghilain USMC Email: SncrzTan@aol.com |
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Secretary
Email: ken.crouse@sbcglobal.net |
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Attorney |
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Treasurer |
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Historian Colonel Steve Hasty USMC Email: colstevehasty@hotmail.com |
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Webmaster
CWO Kevin Maloney |
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~ Disclaimer~
The United Sates
Marine Corps, The Department of Defense, The State Department and
the United States Government
has not authorized this site.
The Fall of
Saigon Association is a Non Profit Association.
~ Fall of Saigon Links ~
DOS/MSG Reunion planned
Please consider attending a reunion to be held in Portland, Maine in late October, 2008. This will be a reunion of all U.S. military and civilian personnel who served with the American Embassy Saigon through April 30, 1975. For specific information about lodging and dates of attendance refer to www.saigonmac.org
Thanks, s/f John S.
Associations