Saving the Vietnamese Orphans

Book excerpt: Operation Babylift was one of the largest humanitarian efforts of the 20th Century. As American troops were pulled out of Vietnam, the vulnerable bui doi orphans were left exposed to the dangers presented by the North Vietnamese invasion. These children, many of whom were of mixed race, had nowhere to go and their caretakers in the orphanages were overwhelmed with the tasks of both caring for small children and defending them from the perils of war. President Gerald Ford made a decision to airlift these innocent children out of Southeast Asia. Would there there be enough time and resources available to get these children out of the country and into the arms of loving, adoptive families? Saving the Vietnamese Orphans is the true story of this compassionate and dangerous effort on the parts of thousands of military personnel, civilians, and humanitarian workers to rescue these precious children from the terrible fate that awaited them if they remained.