It has become a bit of a trope in media that various people were on the last helicopter out of Saigon when the US left Vietnam during the war. But I'm curious as to who exactly would have been on the last one.
Just watched this last night.
Last helicopter took out 11 marines who were stuck on the roof of the embassy and had to blockade the doors from the stairwell to keep out the crowd of Vietnamese who had been left behind in the embassy compound.
Apparently, the ramp closed with only 10 marines on board and, when the count was done, they opened it again to find the 11 man hanging on to it. Last man off: MGySgt John J. Valdez
The tale of the fellow who got out of his flight suit while hovering his Chinook near USS kirk and then tilted it one way while he dived out the other side is well worth hearing.