United States Embassy in Saigon

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Model of the embassy building

The Embassy of the United States of America in Sàigòn was the seat of the diplomatic mission of the United States of America (USA) in the capital of the Republic of Vietnam from 1950 to 1975 .

First embassy building

Old embassy building in Saigon

The first embassy was located in a townhouse not far from the Saigon River in what is now District 1 . As early as 1960, the embassy building was found to be out of date. However, no funds were made available for a new building. After a bomb attack on March 30, 1965, in which 22 people, including two Americans, were killed, it was decided to build a new embassy building.

New building

The new building of the US embassy was built on Thong Nhut Boulevard. The $ 2.6 million, six-story building was on 1.21 hectares and was surrounded by a two-meter high concrete wall. The groundbreaking ceremony took place on June 11, 1965. In October 1965, construction work began on the foundations and the first floors. In 1967 the building was handed over to its intended purpose.

The embassy building during the fighting on January 31, 1968
Aerial photo of the embassy (left in the picture), the French embassy can be seen in the picture above

At the beginning of the Tet offensive on the morning of January 31, 1968, 19 sappers of the Viet Cong penetrated the embassy premises through a blasted hole in the wall and kept the premises occupied for six hours. Two military policemen and one USMC soldier were killed during the fighting. Soldiers of the 101st Airborne Division recaptured the area at noon and killed all Vietnamese invaders.

On April 29, 1975, during Operation Frequent Wind, several hundred US citizens and thousands of Vietnamese refugees were evacuated by helicopter from the helipad on the roof in front of the approaching North Vietnamese Army to ships of the US Navy off the coast. On the morning of April 30th, Ambassador Graham Martin left the building as the last US Ambassador to South Vietnam and was flown to the USS Blue Ridge .

Todays use

The United States Consulate in Ho Chi Minh City is now located on the former embassy site . The former embassy building was demolished in 1998.

ambassador

see List of United States Ambassadors in South Vietnam

literature

  • Margara, Andreas, Saigon and the Traces of War, pp. 63–93. In: Waibel, Michael [Ed.] (2013), Ho Chi Minh MEGA City: Pacific Forum Volume 14, Berlin, Regiospectra Verlag.
  • Terzani, Tiziano (1976), Giai Phong! The Fall and Liberation of Saigon, New York, St Martin's Press.

Web links

Commons : Embassy of the United States in Saigon  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ American Embassy Saigon, Marines and Civilians, History of Company “E” , as of February 15, 2009
  2. ↑ US Embassy, ​​Saigon , as of February 15, 2009
  3. ^ New York Times: End of Saigon Embassy. June 17, 1998

Coordinates: 10 ° 47 ′ 0 ″  N , 106 ° 42 ′ 1.3 ″  E