Module 1: "Panic Rises in Saigon, but the Exits Are Few"

Panic is clearly visible in Saigon now as thousands of Vietnamese try desperately to find ways to flee their country.

Although anxiety over the fate of Saigon had been building with the Communists’ inexorable advance down the length of the country since last month, real panic erupted only after President Nguyen Van Thieu’s resignation Monday.

Under South Vietnam’s stringent emigration law, about the only legal way for a citizen to go abroad since the Communist offensive began last month is to be married to a foreigner.

Under South Vietnam’s stringent emigration law, about the only legal way for a citizen to go abroad since the Communist offensive began last month is to be married to a foreigner.

Hundreds of other Vietnamese milled about the entrance to Tan Son Nhut in the afternoon, standing in the broiling sun with small bags, holding their few belongings (evacuees were advised to carry only one small bag apiece).

A South Vietnamese major stationed in Tay Ninh, northwest of Saigon, called the office of an American company for which his son-in-law worked to find out if his wife had been evacuated.