June 3, 2025 • 9 mins
On this episode of Our American Stories, Major Buang-Ly was a pilot working with the United States military during the Vietnam War. When the U.S. began evacuating, he knew he had to get his family out. Historian Hill Goodspeed from the National Naval Aviation Museum brings us this incredible story of a father doing whatever it took to save his family.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
And we continue with our American stories. Today, we have
a history story brought to us from the Naval Aviation
Museum in Pensacola, Florida. In April of nineteen seventy five,
the United States was engaging in an evacuation of Saigon,
which at the time was the capital of South Vietnam.
(00:30):
This evacuation plan, known as Operation Frequent Wind, came as
the North Vietnamese were closing in on South Vietnam. Here's
historian Hill good Speed with the story.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
So there were US nationals who were still in Saigon,
and there were also other people wanting to get out,
and the embassy, of course needed to be evacuated. So
the US Navy sent a fleet of ships and they
operated off the coast of South Vietnam, and there was
pretty much an aerial shuttle is the best way to
(01:05):
describe it, of Marine Corps and Navy helicopters flying in
country and landing primarily on the grounds of the US
embassy to pull people out. Amidst this operation, there was
one man, a South Vietnamese pilot, who decided to take
into his own hands the safety of his family. Major Bungley,
during the long involvement of US forces in Vietnam. There
(01:29):
was a training program that existed to integrate South Vietnamese
personnel military forces into US operations. Certainly a big part
of that was training pilots to fly various missions, and
they formed the South Vietnamese Air Force. There was also
a group called the ARVIN, which is Army of the
Republic of Vietnam, and so these individuals served alongside American
(01:53):
forces US advisors during the course of the Vietnam War.
And he was at the time of the fall of Saigon.
He came up with the idea that he needed to
get out, and especially with his military affiliation and with
the ability to fly, he commandeered an aircraft which is
in South Vietnamese Air Force markings, I mean it's still
(02:15):
displayed in the museum in those markings. He commandeered that
aircraft and loaded his wife and five children on board,
and it was a two seat aircraft. The aircraft is
a light observation plane, so it's not unlike the small
civilian aircraft you see flying around small airports or around
(02:35):
the country here in the United States.
Speaker 3 (02:37):
Being only a.
Speaker 2 (02:38):
Two seater, the children were stuffed back into the fuselage
at the airplane behind the cockpit area. And so I
can't even imagine what it must have been like for them,
being so young in this really chaotic scene, to be
all of a sudden find themselves in a just stuffed
into a darkened compartment, and off they go into the air.
(03:00):
I'm not sure whether any of them had ever even
flown before. I mean, he may have been the only
one aboard the aircraft that he had been in the
air before, I'm not certain. And then off they went
with only a really only a promise of something that
might happen. I can't even imagine you're flying out over
the water, and there was no guarantee he could land
on a ship out there, or no guarantee of what
(03:22):
the future held. But it just goes to show whatever
uncertainties lay in the future, it was better than the
situation that awaited them if they stayed behind. As he
flew out over the Pacific, he eventually happened upon the
US fleet of ships, and one of the ships there
(03:43):
was the USS Midway, which is an aircraft carrier, and
it's actually a ship that is still in existence. It's
a floating museum in San Diego. But he came upon
the USS Midway, and he flew low over the deck
and he dropped a note onto the deck, which was
routine at that time. From a low flying aircraft and
a very slow aircraft like that, you could deliver messages
(04:06):
in those ways in that way.
Speaker 3 (04:08):
And the note.
Speaker 2 (04:09):
Luckily for those on board the Midway, they were evacuating
a lot of Vietnamese nationals, so there was no problem
getting the note translated as to what he wanted to do.
And he indicated essentially that I want to land. I've
got here's who's aboard this airplane, and here's who I am,
and I would like to land on the USS, land
on this ship. And at that point the commanding officer
(04:34):
had a decision to make. And the commanding officer was
a guy named Captain Lawrence Chambers, and he was actually
the first African American to command a US aircraft carrier,
so he was pretty unique in history.
Speaker 3 (04:44):
At that time.
Speaker 2 (04:46):
But if you look at what his situation he faced,
he had the array of helicopters coming in and landing
on his ship just I mean, it was a constant
stream of him. A carrier flight deck, even though it
looks really big, is a relatively limited space if you
(05:08):
compare it to say an airport airfield, so space is
at a premium and you have to clear a certain
amount of space to operate aircraft. And so he had
a decision to make on how he was going to
try to meet the wishes of this individual who wanted
to land. And first of all, he had to have
concern that this individual's never landed on an aircraft carrier before.
(05:33):
I don't know what his proficiency is, whether he'll be
able to do it or not.
Speaker 3 (05:37):
Could it could be dangerous to those on the deck.
Speaker 2 (05:40):
Maybe I'll have him ditch the airplane in the water
and we can send somebody, send a boat or send
a helicopter to go rescue the family. But the problem
with that is the one bird dog is an airplane
that has fixed landing year for one and when you
land when if he would have tried to ditch the
(06:02):
airplane in the water with fixed landing gear, that landing
year would have dug into the water as it as
it hit it and probably would have flipped.
Speaker 3 (06:11):
The airplane over on its back. So you have a situation.
Speaker 2 (06:14):
Where the kids stuffed in the back of the fuselage.
Speaker 3 (06:18):
There would be a.
Speaker 2 (06:18):
Big, a good chance that they may not be able
to make it out of the airplane.
Speaker 3 (06:22):
Then he had to consist.
Speaker 2 (06:23):
So that was an option that, even though he considered it,
was one that was not going to bring the result
that needed to be that was going to be a
positive result. So then his next decision was to clear
the deck. He was going to have to push some
of the helicopters over the side, and there may have
been some expense to that, but with all that was
(06:44):
going on, a lot of the military equipment being used,
I mean, it was a minor expense to pay in
his mind to save the lives of some individuals. So
he ordered some helicopters pushed over the side to clear space.
And then most aircraft or all aircraft generally have to
land on an aircraft carrier. They have to be brought
(07:06):
to a stop with a tailhook that's located on the
underside of the fuselage and it engages a wire that
is strung across the deck. Well, in this case, this
aircraft was so light he wouldn't need a way to
he wouldn't have to stop it in that manner. He
brought the airplane in after you receive word that he
could land. When it hit the deck, he was able
(07:27):
to bring it to a stop in a relatively short distance.
Speaker 3 (07:30):
He was also aided by.
Speaker 2 (07:31):
The fact that the aircraft carrier was turned to the wind,
so there was wind coming across the deck and that
helped slow him as well. And the crew ran out
was able to help bring the airplane to a stop.
And there's a famous photograph that was taken on the deck.
You can see him emerging from the airplane. You can
see his wife as well, and there's a throng of
(07:54):
crewmen surrounding this tiny airplane on the flight deck and
its real inspiring shot to see because of one just the.
Speaker 3 (08:05):
Smiles that are on the crew.
Speaker 2 (08:07):
I mean, it was such a It was such a
momentous moment for them because and really the whole time
and that their whole day had been spent Normally the
crew would be launching combat aircraft in the action, but
here they were that whole day. They knew that they
were literally the passage to freedom for a lot of people,
(08:28):
and to see they were, you could just see the
looks of joy on their faces in this particular case
of what this family did to and what they accomplished
to get out of South Vietnam that day.
Speaker 1 (08:41):
And a special thanks to Madison on the storytelling and
the interviewing, and on the production, special thanks to Faith
and also a special thanks to historian Hill good Speed
who tells this remarkable story of American generosity and heart
in the end, the story of Major Bunley, also the
story of Captain Lawrence Chambers who issue that order. Here
(09:04):
on our American Stories
And we continue with our American stories. Today, we have
a history story brought to us from the Naval Aviation
Museum in Pensacola, Florida. In April of nineteen seventy five,
the United States was engaging in an evacuation of Saigon,
which at the time was the capital of South Vietnam.
(00:30):
This evacuation plan, known as Operation Frequent Wind, came as
the North Vietnamese were closing in on South Vietnam. Here's
historian Hill good Speed with the story.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
So there were US nationals who were still in Saigon,
and there were also other people wanting to get out,
and the embassy, of course needed to be evacuated. So
the US Navy sent a fleet of ships and they
operated off the coast of South Vietnam, and there was
pretty much an aerial shuttle is the best way to
(01:05):
describe it, of Marine Corps and Navy helicopters flying in
country and landing primarily on the grounds of the US
embassy to pull people out. Amidst this operation, there was
one man, a South Vietnamese pilot, who decided to take
into his own hands the safety of his family. Major Bungley,
during the long involvement of US forces in Vietnam. There
(01:29):
was a training program that existed to integrate South Vietnamese
personnel military forces into US operations. Certainly a big part
of that was training pilots to fly various missions, and
they formed the South Vietnamese Air Force. There was also
a group called the ARVIN, which is Army of the
Republic of Vietnam, and so these individuals served alongside American
(01:53):
forces US advisors during the course of the Vietnam War.
And he was at the time of the fall of Saigon.
He came up with the idea that he needed to
get out, and especially with his military affiliation and with
the ability to fly, he commandeered an aircraft which is
in South Vietnamese Air Force markings, I mean it's still
(02:15):
displayed in the museum in those markings. He commandeered that
aircraft and loaded his wife and five children on board,
and it was a two seat aircraft. The aircraft is
a light observation plane, so it's not unlike the small
civilian aircraft you see flying around small airports or around
(02:35):
the country here in the United States.
Speaker 3 (02:37):
Being only a.
Speaker 2 (02:38):
Two seater, the children were stuffed back into the fuselage
at the airplane behind the cockpit area. And so I
can't even imagine what it must have been like for them,
being so young in this really chaotic scene, to be
all of a sudden find themselves in a just stuffed
into a darkened compartment, and off they go into the air.
(03:00):
I'm not sure whether any of them had ever even
flown before. I mean, he may have been the only
one aboard the aircraft that he had been in the
air before, I'm not certain. And then off they went
with only a really only a promise of something that
might happen. I can't even imagine you're flying out over
the water, and there was no guarantee he could land
on a ship out there, or no guarantee of what
(03:22):
the future held. But it just goes to show whatever
uncertainties lay in the future, it was better than the
situation that awaited them if they stayed behind. As he
flew out over the Pacific, he eventually happened upon the
US fleet of ships, and one of the ships there
(03:43):
was the USS Midway, which is an aircraft carrier, and
it's actually a ship that is still in existence. It's
a floating museum in San Diego. But he came upon
the USS Midway, and he flew low over the deck
and he dropped a note onto the deck, which was
routine at that time. From a low flying aircraft and
a very slow aircraft like that, you could deliver messages
(04:06):
in those ways in that way.
Speaker 3 (04:08):
And the note.
Speaker 2 (04:09):
Luckily for those on board the Midway, they were evacuating
a lot of Vietnamese nationals, so there was no problem
getting the note translated as to what he wanted to do.
And he indicated essentially that I want to land. I've
got here's who's aboard this airplane, and here's who I am,
and I would like to land on the USS, land
on this ship. And at that point the commanding officer
(04:34):
had a decision to make. And the commanding officer was
a guy named Captain Lawrence Chambers, and he was actually
the first African American to command a US aircraft carrier,
so he was pretty unique in history.
Speaker 3 (04:44):
At that time.
Speaker 2 (04:46):
But if you look at what his situation he faced,
he had the array of helicopters coming in and landing
on his ship just I mean, it was a constant
stream of him. A carrier flight deck, even though it
looks really big, is a relatively limited space if you
(05:08):
compare it to say an airport airfield, so space is
at a premium and you have to clear a certain
amount of space to operate aircraft. And so he had
a decision to make on how he was going to
try to meet the wishes of this individual who wanted
to land. And first of all, he had to have
concern that this individual's never landed on an aircraft carrier before.
(05:33):
I don't know what his proficiency is, whether he'll be
able to do it or not.
Speaker 3 (05:37):
Could it could be dangerous to those on the deck.
Speaker 2 (05:40):
Maybe I'll have him ditch the airplane in the water
and we can send somebody, send a boat or send
a helicopter to go rescue the family. But the problem
with that is the one bird dog is an airplane
that has fixed landing year for one and when you
land when if he would have tried to ditch the
(06:02):
airplane in the water with fixed landing gear, that landing
year would have dug into the water as it as
it hit it and probably would have flipped.
Speaker 3 (06:11):
The airplane over on its back. So you have a situation.
Speaker 2 (06:14):
Where the kids stuffed in the back of the fuselage.
Speaker 3 (06:18):
There would be a.
Speaker 2 (06:18):
Big, a good chance that they may not be able
to make it out of the airplane.
Speaker 3 (06:22):
Then he had to consist.
Speaker 2 (06:23):
So that was an option that, even though he considered it,
was one that was not going to bring the result
that needed to be that was going to be a
positive result. So then his next decision was to clear
the deck. He was going to have to push some
of the helicopters over the side, and there may have
been some expense to that, but with all that was
(06:44):
going on, a lot of the military equipment being used,
I mean, it was a minor expense to pay in
his mind to save the lives of some individuals. So
he ordered some helicopters pushed over the side to clear space.
And then most aircraft or all aircraft generally have to
land on an aircraft carrier. They have to be brought
(07:06):
to a stop with a tailhook that's located on the
underside of the fuselage and it engages a wire that
is strung across the deck. Well, in this case, this
aircraft was so light he wouldn't need a way to
he wouldn't have to stop it in that manner. He
brought the airplane in after you receive word that he
could land. When it hit the deck, he was able
(07:27):
to bring it to a stop in a relatively short distance.
Speaker 3 (07:30):
He was also aided by.
Speaker 2 (07:31):
The fact that the aircraft carrier was turned to the wind,
so there was wind coming across the deck and that
helped slow him as well. And the crew ran out
was able to help bring the airplane to a stop.
And there's a famous photograph that was taken on the deck.
You can see him emerging from the airplane. You can
see his wife as well, and there's a throng of
(07:54):
crewmen surrounding this tiny airplane on the flight deck and
its real inspiring shot to see because of one just the.
Speaker 3 (08:05):
Smiles that are on the crew.
Speaker 2 (08:07):
I mean, it was such a It was such a
momentous moment for them because and really the whole time
and that their whole day had been spent Normally the
crew would be launching combat aircraft in the action, but
here they were that whole day. They knew that they
were literally the passage to freedom for a lot of people,
(08:28):
and to see they were, you could just see the
looks of joy on their faces in this particular case
of what this family did to and what they accomplished
to get out of South Vietnam that day.
Speaker 1 (08:41):
And a special thanks to Madison on the storytelling and
the interviewing, and on the production, special thanks to Faith
and also a special thanks to historian Hill good Speed
who tells this remarkable story of American generosity and heart
in the end, the story of Major Bunley, also the
story of Captain Lawrence Chambers who issue that order. Here
(09:04):
on our American Stories
Host
Lee Habeeb
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