Saigon's historic rooftop - following the famous photo of the fall of Saigon with Larry Berman
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- Опубликовано: 17 ноя 2017
- We recently revisited the building made famous in Hu van Es's 29 April 1975 image of the helicopter evacuation of Saigon.
Read the blog and watch the video here - www.rustycompass.com/blog/vis...
The image of a helicopter landing on the elevator shaft of what was the Pittman Building (now 22 Ly Tu Trong St), came to symbolise the humiliating end of America's long war in Vietnam. And the rooftop has barely changed. It's a profound experience - even after many visits.
On this occasion we headed up with author Larry Berman. Larry wrote the biography of Pham Xuan An - Perfect Spy. Xuan An worked at the highest levels of the international press in South Vietnam and was communist spy throughout. On April 29, he assisted a friend to leave from the Pittman building.
Thank you for sharing this up close. I was only 7 years old when Saigon fell into the North Vietnamese. My dad, who passed away several years ago, was a reporter and the last one who witnessed the former President of South Vietnam, Duong Van Minh, to surrender at the Saigon radio station.
Sergeant Juan Valdez was the last American soldier to leave Vietnam.
Thank you for this short documentary. Pretty amazing.
Several of us made this exact climb on 3/8/19. We continued up the first ladder to the area below the very top. Somewhat dangerous climbing as there are no guardrails or fencing on the roof area. However, it clearly isn't a tourist site and guides are discouraged from bringing anyone up there so you're on your own. As the camera pans around from the Notre dame cathedral, it stops on the famous Rex Hotel. The rooftop bar, which you can barely see, was a famous hangout for military officials and war correspondents and the infamous daily 5 o'clock briefing was held there daily. It was moving to be there.
thanks for making this video - a great effort!!
Thanks for this video, I stood on the street and looked up at it, wished I had tried to find a way to the top.
It was actually a USAID apartment building owned by the French real-estate investment firm SUFO (Societe Urbaine Fonciere), which also owned the Catinat Building @ 26 Gia Long. The Alliance Francaise private organization also had classrooms and a library in this building.
Very educational mate. Thankyou.
Thanks for this. I'm going to be in HCM city next month so I'm going to go check this out. Cheers
Amazing ..... please may you tell us ...... how the heck did you get up there? And when exactly did you shoot this footage? ( thank you ... ! )
Enjoy watching your videos.
Great video.
I've been by the old embassy thousands of times, I lived/worked in Viet Nam many years after the war. My wife is from Bien Hoa but wasn't even born during the war, luckily.
Thank you for sharing a part of history. It's good to see that little place of history in close up and its story behind it (even though I've already seen the scene and heard its story). Imagine what went through that little place on that final day of Saigon. It must be a very chaotic, sad and painful scene. I still remember when the communist army rolling through our city, Nha Trang, just less than a couple weeks prior to that. It was tense, nervous and confused. I was just a little kid back then.
Good video. How did you get to go up on the roof?
Just went up there last week. It's an apartment complex now, when entering, the elevator is going to be on your left. Take it up to the 9th floor. Careful with the security guard up front, he'll try to charge you to get up there.
That's capitalism for you.
Great video, Is that building accessible to the public?
Good show
My mom was a baby when she was on that roof top 40 years ago.
I wanted to visit the old US embassy to see this thinking wrongly it was there only to discover the embassy had been demolished. So it's cool to see the famous rooftop still there. I'll be going once the visa restrictions are lifted
The scene of one of the most iconic photos ever taken, but Vietnam, much like the U.S. have moved on from that chapter of history. As much as they don't want to admit it, the former Pittman building is now a rather famous landmark today.
Awesome
Where exactly is the guard to talk to in order to get up there?
I only just discovered that it is now open to the public, but seem to have gone under the radar a bit. Maybe due to Covid. It's now a cafe named SKY22. However, I'm not sure if it remains in business.
I'm young and I'll do my best to spread the history of this story
The roof top of defeat.
I think this building will get razed for a skyscraper in a few years. And no one knows about it nor care except for the historians and the people who lived through it.
guys and girls in sandals kicked the us asz.