Rear Admiral Lawrence Cleveland Chambers, the first Black captain of a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier, ordered crew to push helicopters overboard during the 1975 Saigon evacuation to land a South Vietnamese pilot's plane carrying his family. Defying orders cost him nothing: he got promoted instead of court-martialed, and the rescued families stayed in touch for decades.
Chapters
It was one of the most iconic images at the end of the Vietnam War— perfectly good helicopters being pushed overboard as the U.S. fled Saigon. But what many people don't know is the story behind it. In this morning's Beautiful People, I speak with the Bay Area man who gave the order to push those helicopters into the sea and about the lives his decision saved that day. In 1975, these powerful images of American soldiers pushing helicopters into the ocean as the U.S. withdrew during the fall of Saigon were seen by some as symbols of defeat. But when the truth was revealed, they weren't images of failure at all. They represented a choice to save lives in the middle of a retreat.
My name is Lawrence Cleveland Chambers. I'm a retired Rear Admiral in the United States Navy.
Chambers was the first African American to ever command a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier, but that was far from the thing that made him famous. It was his orders to toss those helicopters into the South China Sea. He was just 30 days into being the captain of the USS Midway.
No mission is so important that you're gonna not take care of human life.
The US Navy was tasked with quickly evacuating Americans and Vietnamese as Saigon fell to the North Vietnamese. Thousands of evacuees and dozens of helicopters would eventually overload the Midway. Then the crew noticed a small aircraft frantically circling the warship. It was a South Vietnamese Air Force officer. He tossed a note onto the deck of Chambers' ship.
Before we got his note, we knew that there were at least 4 souls on board. And when we got the note, we knew that there were 7.
One of them, an infant.
That's what he dropped from his aircraft.
Chambers showed me the note. It read, "Can you please move the helicopters to the other side? I can land on your runway. Please rescue me. Major Buang Lee, wife and 5 child." Against orders, Chambers had his men push millions of dollars of helicopters overboard to make room so Major Lee could land his plane.
I don't have a clear deck, and if I'm going to give him a chance, I've got to clear the deck.
One after another, then more. As Chambers disobeyed orders, he thought his career was over.
Now, I said, you push him over the side. 8 more over the side isn't going to make any difference in my court-martial. I mean, I'm guilty. So that decision was easy.
Amid turbulence, Major Lee stuck the the landing. Under Chambers' command, thousands of lives were rescued that day, plus 7 more.
Fortunately, Major Lee was a damn good aviator because he actually saved my butt by being successful.
At 95, Chambers lives in the Bay Area and still speaks often about his decision that day and how doing the right thing is never a hard decision at all.
My grandmother was whispering in my head, look, idiot, I didn't teach you to be in charge of anything and let women and children drown. I mean, it's that simple.
Yeah. Grandma looked like an angel on his shoulder, always talking.
Those words will stick.
Absolutely. Chambers was never court-martialed. In fact, he was given a promotion. Major Lee, by the way, still alive, lives here in Florida, and the pair still talk from time to time.
Wow. That is amazing. What an incredible story. What an incredible guy.
Absolutely. And some of the refugees who were really little at the time on that ship have reached out to him over the years saying that, you know, he saved their lives that day and have given them a life here in the United States.
