Operation FREQUENT WIND Photo Gallery

USS Midway

Operation FREQUENT WIND

April 1975

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(USN Photos, unless noted otherwise)
Flight deck filled with Super Stallions.	Flight deck filled with Super Stallions.	Flight deck filled with Super Stallions.	Super Stallion From my collection	Super Stallions taking off for Saigon.	Super Stallions taking off for Saigon.
Super Stallions taking off for Saigon.	Super Stallions returning with refugees.	Super Stallions returning with refugees.	Super Stallions returning with refugees.	Super Stallions returning with refugees.	Super Stallions returning with refugees.
Super Stallions returning with refugees.	Super Stallions returning with refugees.	Super Stallions returning with refugees.	Super Stallions returning with refugees.	Super Stallions returning with refugees.	Super Stallions returning with refugees.
Helicopters flying refugees out of South Vietnam.	South Vietnamese Huey & refugees.	South Vietnamese Huey & refugees.	South Vietnamese Huey & refugees.	South Vietnamese Huey & refugees.	General Nguyen Cao Ky, former South Vietnamese Premier & head of the VNAF, escorted by LTJG Prater, Midway's ATO
Midway's aft flight deck during the evacuation.	South Vietnamese pilot jumping from a UH-1H after unloading passengers.	South Vietnamese UH-1H being pushed overboard to make room for a Cessna O-1 landing.	South Vietnamese UH-1H being pushed overboard to make room for a Cessna O-1 landing.	A South Vietnamese pilot about to land a Cessna O-1 aboard Midway.	Note dropped onto Midway's flight deck by the Cessna O-1 pilot.
A South Vietnamese pilot landing a Cessna O-1 aboard Midway.	A South Vietnamese pilot landing a Cessna O-1 aboard Midway.	A South Vietnamese pilot landing a Cessna O-1 aboard Midway.	A South Vietnamese pilot landing a Cessna O-1 aboard Midway.	Photo autographed by the Cessna O-1 pilot. From my collection	Photo autographed by the Cessna O-1 pilot. From my collection
The South Vietnamese pilot after landing his Cessna O-1. From my collection	The South Vietnamese pilot & family surrounded by Midway's crew after landing in a Cessna O-1.	July 1975 Naval Aviation News article ~ Page 01	July 1975 Naval Aviation News article ~ Page 02	The Cessna O-1 secured on Midway's flight deck.	The Cessna O-1 today, preserved at the Pensacola Naval Aviation Museum. Leon Wohlert Photo
Helicopters on the flight deck.	South Vietnamese Hueys on Midway's flight deck.	Sea Stallions on Midway's flight deck after the evacuation.	Refugees boarding a helo for transfer to other ships.	Refugees in Midway's hangar bay.	On the way to Guam after craning aboard over 100 aircraft in Thailand.
SVNAF aircraft aboard Midway on the way to Guam.	SVNAF aircraft aboard Midway on the way to Guam. Richard Macdonald photo courtesy of Lone Star Aero Club	SVNAF aircraft aboard Midway on the way to Guam. Richard Macdonald photo from my collection	Guam offloading evacuees & aircraft. Photo courtesy of Randy Guttery Tender Tale.com	Guam offloading evacuees & aircraft. Photo courtesy of Randy Guttery Tender Tale.com	Guam offloading evacuees & aircraft. Photo courtesy of Randy Guttery Tender Tale.com
Guam ~ Barge taking aircraft out to dump at sea. Photo courtesy of Randy Guttery Tender Tale.com

Letter of Appreciation

from Captain L. C. Chambers

Airman Apprentice Roger J. Tapetillo

From my collection

Evacuation Photos by Dirck Halstead ~ April 29, 1975

Dirck Halstead was a combat photographer in Vietnam & took these photos as he was

being evacuated to Midway. For the complete story behind these photos, please read:

Dirck's eyewitness account: "Good-Bye To All That"

(All photos by Dirck Halstead & used with permission from his web site at: The Digital Journalist.)

Marines provide cover

as Swift helos land at

DAO compound.

Americans & Vietnamese

dash to the helos.

Swift on final approach

to USS Midway.

A Father covers his son's

ears against the roar in

the Sea Stallion.

Midway crews gather

refugees & VNAF

pilots on flight deck

Vietnamese arrive on

Midway after flight from

Saigon on VNAF choppers.

One of many VNAF

Huey's shoved overboard

by the crew of the Midway.

Spectrum Special Edition, Vol. 1, No. 3 Operation FREQUENT WIND ~ April 1975 Courtesy of Roger Oxley
Front Cover	Inside Front & Back Covers	Page 1	Page 2	Page 3	Page 4
Page 5	Page 6	Page 7	Page 8	Page 9	Page 10
Page 11	Page 12	Page 13	Page 14	Page 15	Page 16
Page 17	Page 18	Page 19	Page 20	Page 21	Page 22
Page 23	Page 24	Page 25	Page 26	Page 27	Page 28
Page 29	Page 30	Page 31	Page 32	Page 33	Page 34
Page 35	Page 36	Page 37	Page 38	Page 39	Page 40
Back Cover

Air & Space Smithsonian article June/July 1998 Escape from Saigon, by Richard Macdonald From my collection

The Heroes of the Vietnam War Book Series

~ by Marjorie Haun

Little Bird Dog & The Big Ship
The Heroes of the Vietnam War: Book One

Softcover Version
Kindle Version

South Vietnamese Airforce Major Bung-Ly narrowly escapes being shot down as he takes off from Con Son Island in his little
Cessna Bird Dog. The plane is too heavy to fly for long because his five young children and wife are on board. The invasion
of enemies from North Vietnam makes it impossible for him to stay in his beloved country. Brave Bung-Ly loads his terrified
wife and children on to the little Bird Dog and desperately heads out to sea, not knowing where he will land, or if there will
be a place for him to take his family.

Out at sea is the gigantic aircraft carrier, the USS Midway. Bung-Ly spots the ship in the distance, but when he gets closer he
sees that its decks are crowded with equipment, helicopters, and hundreds of people. There is no room for him to land his
airplane. How will this story end for brave Major Bung-Ly and his family?

This true story is one of the amazing tales of heroism and sacrifice from from the Vietnam War.

Saving The Vietnamese Orphans
The Heroes of the Vietnam War: Book Two

Softcover Version
Kindle Version

Operation Babylift was one of the largest humanitarian efforts of the 20th Century. As American troops were pulled out of
Vietnam, the vulnerable “bui doi” orphans were left exposed to the dangers presented by the North Vietnamese invasion.
These children, many of whom were of mixed race, had nowhere to go and their caretakers in the orphanages were
overwhelmed with the tasks of both caring for small children and defending them from the perils of war.

President Gerald Ford made a decision to airlift these innocent children out of Southeast Asia. Would there there be enough
time and resources available to get these children out of the country and into the arms of loving, adoptive families?

Saving the Vietnamese Orphans is the true story of this compassionate and dangerous effort on the parts of thousands of
military personnel, civilians, and humanitarian workers to rescue these precious children from the terrible fate that awaited
them if they remained.

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