Video: 'Vietnam : A Television History ep.12 "End of the Tunnel, 1973-1975"' (Apr. 28, 1975, at 44:07)

(Monday, April 28, 1975, 5:00 p.m. Saigon Standard Time; during the 1975 Spring Offensive of the Vietnam War, part of the Indochina Wars and Cold War) — General Duong Van Minh, known widely as “Big Minh,” was sworn in as president of South Vietnam today, as Communist forces moved to within barely a mile of Saigon’s city limits.

Video: 'The Fall Of Saigon (Part 2)' (Apr. 28, 1975, at 0:00)

In a last-ditch effort to end the war on Communist terms, South Vietnamese leaders ousted 71-year-old President Tran Van Huong, who had taken office only a week earlier. Minh, a former military leader, was seen as the government’s final hope to negotiate a ceasefire and prevent further bloodshed.

Video: 'Vietnam The Ten Thousand Day War 12of13 Surrender' (Apr. 28, 1975, at 32:11)

As Minh concluded his acceptance speech at Independence Palace, a formation of four A-37 fighter planes—captured earlier from the South Vietnamese Air Force—bombed Tan Son Nhut Airport, underscoring the rapid collapse of government control.

Meanwhile, U.S. forces accelerated evacuation efforts, and streets in Saigon swelled with thousands of civilians desperate to escape the city as the North Vietnamese tightened their encirclement.