Fifty years ago today, on March 31, 1975 (February 19, 1975 lunar calendar), the North Vietnamese army approached Saigon and the South Vietnamese army retreated in a panic. The Vietnam War ended. On March 31, 1975, the North Vietnamese army approached Saigon, and the South Vietnamese army retreated in a hurry before the North Vietnamese army launched an attack. Its president, Nguyen Van Thieu, planned to set up a defensive line on the periphery, but it was too late. When the North Vietnamese army attacked the periphery of Saigon, there was little resistance. Nguyen Van Thieu ordered to hold the line to the death, but the South Vietnamese army had no intention of resisting and fled to Danang, the second city of South Vietnam. Tens of thousands of refugees fled to the coastal cities under the fire of the North Vietnamese army, mingling with the South Vietnamese defeated army. Within days of the defeat, the Viet Cong flag was raised at the presidential palace in Saigon; Nguyen Van Thieu, who had been president for only nine days, surrendered unconditionally. American officials and desperate South Vietnamese followers in Saigon fled in panic at the end of the Vietnam War