John Riordan

John Riordan

(John Riordan with some of the Vietnamese Families he saved in the 1970s.)

He is known as the Oskar Schindler of the Vietnam War.

In April 1975, Riordan was an Assistant Manager at Citibank in Saigon, South Vietnam (modern-day Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.)

He was ordered to evacuate along with other Americans as North Vietnamese Communist Forces approached the city (then the Capital of South Vietnam) during the final days of the Vietnam War.

Riordan initially obeyed the evacuation orders and was flown to nearby Hong Kong (then a British Colony.)

In Hong Kong Riordan worked to find ways for his South Vietnamese Co-Workers to flee (they were not eligible to be evacuated by the Americans and the North Vietnamese Communists would have imprisoned or killed them for working for the Americans.)

Citibank eventually told him to stop trying to help the people or he would lose his job.

On April 19, 1975, Riordan flew back to Saigon alone.

He gathered all of his South Vietnamese Co-Workers and their Families (105 People in total) and hid them in his villa and a nearby villa near the city.

Facing no other options, Riordan decided to claim the 105 People as his Dependents so that they would qualify for evacuation aboard US Military Cargo Planes.

He claimed the South Vietnamese Men as his Sons.

He applied at the Evacuation Office ten separate times, listing several of the 105 as his Dependents each time.

(John Riordan recently.)

Riordan himself flew out with the last Group a few days before the Fall of Saigon.

Citibank, instead of terminating Riordan, praised his efforts and worked to resettle all of the South Vietnamese Workers and find them new jobs.

Nevertheless, his story was largely unknown until October 2013 when Riordan was profiled on “60 Minutes.”

John Riordan is openly Gay.