Vietnamese Americans in Orange County commemorate 50 years since fall of Saigon

Hundreds of Vietnamese Americans gathered Wednesday morning at Sid Goldstein Freedom Park in Westminster for the city’s annual Black April ceremony, marking 50 years since North Vietnamese forces captured Saigon and ended the Vietnam War. The remembrance included a wreath-laying, prayers and a flag-lowering of the former South Vietnamese banner, flown at half-staff for the occasion.

The park ceremony capped a slate of commemorations that began two weeks ago, when officials unveiled signs renaming a two-mile segment of Interstate 405 the Little Saigon Freeway and rededicated the Bolsa Avenue post office as the Little Saigon Vietnam War Veterans Memorial Post Office.

“Fifty years ago, we lost Saigon, but we did not lose our hope,” said State Assemblymember Tri Ta during its unveiling of the Little Saigon Freeway sign on April 18. “Today, we honor the courage and sacrifice of over 58,000 American service members and more than 250,000 South Vietnamese soldiers who fought side by side in the pursuit of freedom.”

The fall of Saigon on April 30, 1975, triggered one of the 20th century’s largest refugee crises. Tens of thousands fled by air and sea; many resettled at Camp Pendleton before building what is now Little Saigon in Westminster, Garden Grove and surrounding cities. A similar migration pattern produced thriving enclaves in San Jose and Houston, among others.

For 71-year-old veteran Kiệt Huynh, who attended the freeway dedication, the milestone is bittersweet: “It reminds me how many people in Vietnam died that day, and how many children,” he said.

Community leaders say preserving those memories now falls to the U.S.-born generation. Local nonprofits are launching oral-history workshops, while a state law (AB 1039) requires California to complete a model curriculum on the Vietnamese American refugee experience by the end of 2026. Westminster officials confirmed that the city’s Black April observance will return on April 30 next year, part of what organizers call “an unbroken promise to remember.”