In 1975,\u00a0as North Vietnamese forces were closing in on Saigon, thousands of\u00a0Vietnamese orphans were airlifted out of South Vietnam. More than 200\u00a0infants and toddlers came to the U.S. — all part of an\u00a0effort known as \u201cOperation Babylift.\u201d<\/p>\n
Saturday, many of these orphans reunited for the first time as adults at Fort Benning, Ga. They did so to thank and honor Betty Tisdale, the woman responsible for bringing them to the U.S.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese children grew up in wonderful, happy American homes,\u201d Tisdale said. \u201cThat\u2019s what we do as Americans, we reach out. You saw what happened in Haiti, we reach out to help other people.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tisdale says she didn’t do it alone. She\u00a0credits the soldiers.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had the best Christmases and\u00a0Thanksgivings all because of our servicemen,\u201d Tisdale said. “[The soldiers] were popular with the children, they could not have survived without the them.\u201d<\/p>\n
One of the An Lac orphans, Jason Robertson,\u00a0organized the reunion.\u00a0He hopes people will remember ‘Operation Babylift’ and look past any negative connotations.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI want people to realize that something positive happened out of Vietnam- see these good positive stories about the soldiers and about the war,\u201d Robertson said.<\/p>\n
The evacuation effort was controversial at times. Not all the children brought to the U.S. were orphans. Vietnamese parents smuggled infants on the flights and documentation was often sketchy or inaccurate. But despite the disorder of the documentation surrounding many adoptions, most were completed without interruption.<\/p>\n
Today, the orphans say they enjoy reunions like the one at Fort Benning. Many say the connection they have between each other is undeniable.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s like an instant kinship,\u201d Robertson said. \u201cI mean we all were together at one time, and the war made us instant brothers and sisters.\u201d<\/p>\n