A Memory that lasts a Lifetime

American Legion Department of California Historian Fredrick Shacklett looks back at his time on the aircraft carrier USS Hancock during Operation Frequent Wind.

On April 29-30, 1975, North Vietnamese forces brought the Vietnam War to an end when they took control of South Vietnam’s capital, Saigon.

Over the course of those two days, and with 800 U.S. Marines providing security, U.S. Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Army helicopters evacuated more than 7,000 people from Tân Sơn Nhứt Air Base, the U.S. embassy and other locations via Operation Frequent Wind.

Today, hear the first-person account of U.S. Navy veteran Fredrick Shacklett, a member of Whittier American Legion Post 51 and the Department historian. Shacklett was stationed on board the Essex-class USS Hancock aircraft carrier as a quartermaster 2nd Class in the Navigation Division. He was 21 years old.

Spring of 1975

On 17 March 1975, Hancock was ordered to offload its air wing. On arrival at Pearl Harbor, we offloaded half of CAG 21. Then, on 26 March, Marine Heavy Lift Helicopter Squadron HMH-463 comprising 25 CH-53, CH-46, AH-1J and UH-1E helicopters embarked on the Hancock and it proceeded to Subic Bay to offload the other half of CAG 21. It was called Operation Frequent Wind and was the final phase in the evacuation of American civilians and “at-risk” Vietnamese from Saigon, South Vietnam, before the takeover of the city by the North Vietnamese Army (PAVN).

The operation was carried out on 29–30 April 1975, during the last days of the Vietnam War. More than 7,000 people were evacuated by helicopter from various places in and around Saigon.

It was a kind of an odd name for a military operation, Frequent Wind. It made many of us laugh about it. But whatever it was called, we knew it was important. Rescue mission, evacuation, or just plain “Time to Get Hell Out of Town, Jack.” I guess the planners in Washington thought all the helicopters would make a lot of wind.

But here we were, the infamous Task Force 76 (TF76), assembled off the coast near Vung Tau (26 ships in all) to support a helicopter evacuation of as many people as we could take out. The Military Sealift Command (MSC) provided an additional 14 supply and transport ships.

After taking on more helicopters at Subic Bay, Republic of the Philippines, the Hancock was temporarily assigned to Amphibious Ready Group Bravo, standing by off Vung Tau, South Vietnam. Actually, we moved around in circles, from 10 miles off the coast to about 60 miles.

The Hancock had sailed across most of the Pacific and the South China Sea with no fixed wing aircraft. But we had Marines. Lots and lots of “God Bless America” United States Marines.

Task Force 76 was the taxi service, of course. All told, the Marine evacuation contingent was composed of the 9th Marine Amphibious Brigade (Task Group 79.1), consisted of three Battalion Landing Teams (BLT) – 2nd Battalion, 4th Marines (2/4), 1st Battalion 9th Marines (1/9), 3rd Battalion 9th Marines (3/9) – and three helicopter squadrons HMH-462, HMH-463, HMM-165, along with other support units from Marine Aircraft Group 39 (MAG-39). This was the only time in our ship’s history with no naval squadron on board. We carried HMH-463 and two BLTs and 39th MAB, with everything the Marines brought with them.

Also, about that time, our official ship’s nomenclature was changed from CVA-19 to CVAH-19 for the duration of the final cruise. This was another first for a U.S. Navy carrier. It was the first time a CVA (Carrier Squadron Attack) was re-designated CVAH (Carrier Squadron Attack Helicopter). We even reprinted the ship’s stationery and used that designation in the official ship’s logbook.

rarehistoricalphotos.com

On April 29, when the evacuation was ordered, the code – read out loud on Armed Forces Radio – was, “The temperature in Saigon is 105 degrees and rising.” This was followed by the playing of “I’m Dreaming of a White Christmas” by Bing Crosby, played over and over again throughout the day.

By the early morning of 30 April, one CH-46 and one CH-53 landed at the embassy in Saigon, every 10 minutes. Evacuees were loaded and flown back to Hancock. Then, and completely unexpected, every helicopter, still in Vietnam, started flying out to sea. Dozens and dozens of South Vietnamese and Air America pilots were looking for somewhere to land. So many South Vietnamese and Air America helicopters landed on the TF76 ships that some 45 UH-1 Huey’s, and at least one CH-47 Chinook, were pushed overboard to make room for more helicopters to land.

Other helicopters dropped off their passengers and were ditched into the sea by their pilots, close to the ships, their pilots bailing out at the last moment to be picked up by rescue boats. It has been reported that during the three days of evacuation, over 100 helicopters were thrown over the side of TF-76 carriers or ditched into the sea.

The End of Hancock’s Mission

On the afternoon of 30 April, TF-76 moved away from the coast, picking up more refugees as they went. On 2 May, Task Force 76 had picked up over 44,000 seaborne evacuees and set sail for reception centers in the Philippines and Guam. The Hancock returned to San Francisco in mid-August 1976, completing 31 years of service to the nation.

Hancock was decommissioned on 30 January 1976. She was stricken from the Navy list the following day. It was sold for scrap by the Defense Reutilization and Marketing Service (DRMS) on 1 September 1976

I am very proud of my service on Hancock, and in the U.S. Navy, and what was accomplished. I will never forget April 1975. I remember it like it was yesterday. Fair Winds and Following Seas.

This article originally appeared on April 28, 2025, in the American Legion Magazine. Here’s the direct link:

https://www.legion.org/information-center/news/honor/2025/april/the-fall-of-saigon-i-will-never-forget-april-1975?utm_campaign=Source+Code+Here&utm_content=HONOR&utm_term=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Adestra

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Here’s an excerpt about Operation Frequent Wind from The U.S. Naval Institute website:

The most spectacular arrival occurred at 1100. The Midway lookouts spotted a small Cessna O-1 “Bird Dog” spotter plane approaching the ship. “The flight deck at that time was extremely crowded with people and helicopters,” Chambers recalled. Most of their Vietnamese crews had already departed with the other evacuees.  

As the Bird Dog circled overhead, its lights on, signaling the intent to land aboard, Chambers and his air boss tried to determine what could be done. Rear Admiral Harris told Chambers he should maneuver the ship to create a calm swath of water and have the plane ditch alongside. But as the Cessna flew by again, the lookouts could see at least four people in the two-seat aircraft. Ditching was out. Attempts to reach the pilot by radio were unsuccessful.

The pilot made several attempts to drop a message onto the flight deck. On the third try, he stuffed a note into a leather pistol holster, which was retrieved by a crewman and rushed up to the bridge. It read, “Can you move the helicopter to the other side, I can land on your runway. I can fly one hour more, we have enough time to move. Please rescue me! Major Bung Ly, wife and 5 child.”

Fearing that in desperation the pilot would attempt a crash-landing into the helicopters near the fantail, Chambers got on to the 1MC loudspeaker, and his voice thundered through the ship as he asked for as many volunteers as possible to the flight deck to clear the landing zone by pushing the Vietnamese helicopters overboard. To his surprise, nearly 1,000 sailors, pilots, and Marines came pouring up from belowdecks. As they began pushing helicopters overboard, Chambers turned his back on the scene.

“I wanted to be able to answer truthfully that I did not know how many we sacrificed in our attempt to rescue the Bird Dog,” he said.

Chambers then ordered the Midway to make 25 knots to give the pilot a 40-knot wind down the deck as he landed. He also ordered the arresting cables removed.

The attempt would have to wait. Seeing the newly cleared area, eight hovering RVNAF Hueys immediately landed, again fouling the flight deck. They too went over the side.

As every man and woman on board the Midway held their breaths, Major Ly rolled out on final approach, descended, and crossed over the flight deck, touching down on the centerline. The Cessna came to a stop abeam of the island and was met by a wildly cheering crowd who surrounded the plane and handed out Ly, his wife, and five young children.

Ly was escorted to the bridge, where Chambers congratulated him, took off his own “wings of gold,” and pinned them on the young Air Force major’s chest, telling him he was now an honorary naval aviator. The Midway’s crew were so impressed with Ly’s bravery they raised more than $10,000 for the family to help them settle in the United States.

Touchdown: With his family in tow, South Vietnamese Air Force Major Bung Ly successfully lands a Cessna O-1 Bird Dog aboard the Midway.
(U.S. NAVY)

At a reunion in Lakeland, Florida, retired Rear Admiral Lawrence Chambers—captain of the Midway during Operation Frequent Wind (back row in blue Hawaiian shirt)—reconnects with former South Vietnamese Air Force Major Bung Ly (now Lee, in white shirt to the right of RADM Chambers) and his wife, children, and grandchildren. The major and his family had made it to freedom when he managed to made a hair’s-breadth landing aboard the Midway in a Cessna O-1 Bird Dog during the evacuation.
(PHOTO BY MICHAEL MCCLEOD, COURTESY OF THE CHAMBERS FAMILY)

Here is the direct link to the article on the Naval Institute: https://www.usni.org/magazines/naval-history/2025/april/bravery-chaos-operation-frequent-wind-april-1975

To read more about Operation Frequent Wind, check out this other article on my website: https://cherrieswriter.com/2017/05/02/frequent-wind-the-final-u-s-operation-in-vietnam/

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