Tearful memories are still fresh in Haltom City, 50 years after Saigon fell
When An Truong got orders from his superiors to fly his fighter jet to a U.S. Air Force base in Thailand 50 years ago, he had no idea that was his last mission serving in the South Vietnamese Army.
A day later, on April 30 1975, Saigon fell, which changed the lives for Truong and countless numbers of people who either fled or stayed behind.
Truong, who is now the mayor of Haltom City, described how American soldiers stripped him of his weapons and removed the South Vietnamese insignia from his fighter jet after he landed in Thailand.
“I walked to the ocean, and I cried, I lost my country today,” Truong recalled during a ceremony Wednesday to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the fall of Saigon to the North Vietnamese Communist regime.
Around 150 people gathered in the Haltom City council chamber and another 100 people, many older Vietnamese Americans, stood in the lobby as veterans and officials observed the somber occasion.
Truong described how his wife and two young children were put on a bus two weeks before Saigon fell. He worried about them going to a country where they didn’t know the language and didn’t know the culture.
Truong said he wanted to honor the families of the U.S. soldiers, and the allies who gave their lives for freedom.
He also paid tribute to the men missing in action and to those who are no longer coming home.
Truong and his family came to the United States as refugees and settled in Haltom City after starting out in Pennsylvania.
He worked as a Fort Worth police officer, and helped infiltrate Vietnamese gangs because of his knowledge of the language and culture.
Truong, the first Vietnamese American mayor in Haltom City, was elected in 2019.
Meanwhile, during the ceremony, some in the audience wiped away tears as they listened to the speakers.
Steve Chapman, chairman of the Haltom City Veterans Memorial Committee, described how the fall of Saigon was a “humiliating defeat” for the United States, ending in chaos with allies left behind and a “haunting image” of helicopters lifting Americans from rooftops, Chapman said.
It was more than the end of a war.
“It was the breaking of promises, the scattering of lives, the beginning of a painful legacy that still lingers even today. The Vietnam War was a conflict shaped by political miscalculation, misunderstanding and mismanagement,” he said.
Chapman said people must not forget how the war impacted the South Vietnamese who no longer had a country and the U.S. veterans who were ridiculed when they came home.
The losses in the war were also staggering, he said.
“History has shown us that wars are waged by governments, but their consequences are born by the soldiers, the families and the innocent caught in between,” Chapman said.
During the ceremony, veterans were recognized and received commemorative coins.
Another speaker, Rex King, who joined the Navy in 1965 and served in Vietnam, described how he was shunned when he returned to the United States, but South Vietnamese refugees befriended him.
King described how he was at a “low point” healing from his wounds.
“I became their friends, and they became mine, and I’m here to thank you, 50 years later,” King said.
Trong Phan, president of the Vietnamese American Community in the USA, who gave the closing speech, said one of the most difficult chapters following the end of the Vietnam war was the refugee crisis.
Known as “boat people” thousands of Vietnamese fled in over-crowded boats that were not sea worthy. Those who were lucky were saved and resettled in “western countries,” with the United States welcoming many of them, he said.
Phan was among the lucky ones who escaped after several failed attempts. His boat made it to Singapore where he was rescued by the U.S. Air Force.
After arriving in the United States, Phan worked for the Air Force for over 30 years.
“The Vietnamese diaspora has made substantial contributions to this great country, enriching the cultural and economic landscapes,” Phan said.
This story was originally published April 30, 2025 at 4:35 PM.