ba van nguyen piloted a military helicopter on his own to save his family during the fall of saigon on april 29 , 1975 .
nguyen flew the helicopter to the south china sea , but had to evacuate everyone when fuel ran low .
he flew towards the uss kirk which was too small to allow the helicopter to land , and so he hoovered over as his family safely jumped out .
he then flew back out to sea and jumped from the helicopter seconds before it crashed into the sea .
he survived the crash and was reunited with his family onboard .
he kept his identity a secret until a 2009 ceremony commemorating the event .