ESCAPING SAIGON

“THE INVASION HAD BEGUN IN EARNEST, WITH GUNSHIPS STREAKING ACROSS ROOFTOPS AND GUNFIRE AND EXPLOSIONS ON THE STREETS”

DIRCK HALSTEAD Over the last 50 years, award-winning photojournalist Dirck Halstead has worked for United Press International and Time magazine. He has documented several wars, witnessed the attempted assassination of two US presidents, and accompanied Richard Nixon on his tour of China. One of the biggest moments of his career, though, was the fall of Saigon in 1975.

Back in March 1975, photographer Dirck Halstead was taking snapshots of the rich and famous, staying in plush hotels and living a “photographer’s dream assignment” – but he wasn’t happy. The war in Vietnam had passed a pivotal point and now the scales had tipped firmly in favour of the communist North Vietnamese Army and the Viet Cong.

As the enemy marched towards Saigon, the Americans made plans to pull out. By 21 April, nine days before the final evacuation, Halstead found himself back in the country that had nearly killed him several years before. And he had what some from the outside looking