Rory Kennedy Explores The Unsung Heroes of Saigon in New Film

The Takeaway | Sep 3, 2014

In the weeks leading up to the end of the Vietnam War, American and Vietnamese residents of Saigon panicked as the North Vietnamese Army closed in on the South.

The U.S. government and military prepared to evacuate their own, but many South Vietnamese were left desperate to escape—they feared execution or jail sentences upon the invasion of the North Vietnamese army.

Although the White House ordered the evacuation of only U.S. citizens, many American officers disobeyed their superiors in order to get the South Vietnamese out of the country and to safety. 

In her new film "Last Days in Vietnam," Rory Kennedy takes us back 40 years to shed light on the uplifting and heroic actions of Americans and South Vietnamese during the fall of Saigon. Kennedy sat down with us to talk about the compelling first hand accounts from the film and what it means to leave a country when the war ends.

Check out a trailer for the film below.

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