The Marine pilot featured in an award-winning documentary about the fall of Saigon is an Iowa native. The documentary “Last Days in Vietnam” aired nationally last night on PBS and it featured a number of key figures, including Marine Corporal Gerald Barry.
Barry, a helicopter pilot in Vietnam, flew non-stop for 18-and-a-half hours to evacuate Americans and South Vietnamese allies who were in Saigon.
The U.S. Ambassador to Vietnam was on Barry’s last flight out on April 30th, 1970. Barry is a graduate of Des Moines Technical High School and he earned a history degree from Simpson College in 1967. He lives in Florida now and is an airport security consultant.