Remembering Operation Babylift - March 26- April 27, 1975.
As the NVA closed in on Saigon, President Ford ordered the evacuation of Amerasian and Vietnamese orphans. Over 3,300 were rescued during the operation, to be adopted by families in the US, Australia and elsewhere.
On 4 April 1975, a C-5A departing Tan Son Nhut Air Base with child evacuees and their US caretakers suffered a catastrophic failure after takeoff, losing most flight control. While trying to return to TSN, it crashed, killing 138 including 75 children and infants and 38 caretakers, women from the Defense Attache Office, Saigon.
God bless you, sisters, soldiers and the children. Rest in peace.
Operation Babylift Exhibit at the Gerald Ford Museum
Defense Intellegence Agency - We Remember
Operation "Baby Lift” concludes after flying 2,600 South Vietnamese orphans to the U.S.