Guam and Operation New Life (1975)

The Pacific island that became the first stop for more than 100,000 people leaving Vietnam.

The first stop

When Saigon fell in April 1975, the United States needed a place to receive tens of thousands of evacuees quickly. Guam, a U.S. territory in the western Pacific, became that place. Under Operation New Life, military crews built tent cities, most famously at Orote Point, and processed arrivals around the clock.

Scale

From April to the fall of 1975, more than 100,000 refugees passed through Guam. Wake Island served as a smaller staging point. From the islands, most refugees flew on to reception centers on the U.S. mainland.

What it meant

For many families, Guam was the first place they slept in safety. It was also where the long work of resettlement began: registration, medical checks, security screening, and matching with sponsors.

Connected stories

Hoa Tran passed through Guam and Wake Island as a seven-year-old before her family resettled in Atlanta. Claire Duong, whose father worked for the U.S. Defense Attaché in Saigon, spent about two weeks on Guam in April and May 1975.