Vern Jumper, Navy commander who helped evacuate 3,000 during fall of Saigon, dies in La Mesa at 93

Vern Jumper, Navy commander who helped evacuate 3,000 during fall of Saigon, dies in La Mesa at 93

Vern Jumper, the courageous Navy commander who helped more than 3,000 Americans and South Vietnamese refugees flee Saigon during the final hours of the Vietnam War, died at home in La Mesa on July 4. He was 93. As air boss of the USS Midway, Jumper guided scores of evacuation helicopters onto the aircraft carrier’s deck during a chaotic, hair-raising 30-hour period in April 1975, as North Vietnamese forces were taking control of Saigon. “At one …