New Jersey 30th Anniversary Vietnam “Operation Babylift” Event – April 2, 2005
LOCATION: The New Jersey Vietnam Era Educational Center, Holmdel, New Jersey
WEBSITES: www.njvvmf.org and www.Vietnambabylift.org
TIME: 10:00 AM-5:00 PM (Intermission from 12:00-1:00 PM).
PROGRAM; Participants include, Tia Keevil (Tribute to Rosemary Taylor, Babylift adoptee), Jennifer Nguyen Noone (MSW, CSW, Babylift adoptee), Lana Noone (“Global Mom: Notes From a Pioneer Adoptive Family”), Adam Pertman (“Adoption Nation”, Chi Potter (Vietnamese Homeland Dance Group), Jared Rehberg (Singer-Songwriter, Babylift adoptee), LeAnn Thieman “This Must Be My Brother”), Phil Wise (C5A survivor)…with additional participants to be announced.
Perkasie – commemorate the 30th anniversary of the Vietnam Baby Airlift – 9 April, 2005
Please join Pearl S. Buck International to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the Vietnam Baby Airlift on Saturday, April 9, 2005 from 1-5 at our office in Perkasie, PA. Pearl S. Buck International was one of seven organizations licensed by the Vietnamese Government to airlift children out of Vietnam in April 1975.
This event will include:
a. Presentation – Lana Noone, Vietnam Baby Airlift Historian, will share her memories.
b. Reunion – Adoptees, Adoptive Parents, Former Staff and Volunteers of Welcome House and the Pearl S. Buck Foundation will be holding a reunion after Ms. Noone’s presentation.
All are welcome!
For more information please contact Jane Cramer at 215-249-0100 ext. 148 or jcramer@pearl-s-buck.org. For directions, please visit our website www.pearl-s-buck.org.
Boston, MAVietnamese Adoptee Network hosts the 3rd International Gathering – April 16 & 17, 2005
Bridging the Gap: Connection, Community & Identity for First and Second Generation Vietnamese Adoptees.
The goal of the 2005 VAN conference is to bring together adult adoptees from Vietnam, and families who have adopted children from Vietnam, with the mission of exploring the adoptee experience – a cumulative gathering of staff and members from VAN (Vietnamese Adoptee Network), as well as members of APV (Adoptive Parents from Vietnam) and AVI (Adopted Vietnamese International).
This conference will also be poised as an opportunity for adult adoptees to reflect upon their experience growing up adopted in America and the impact that the airlift had on their lives – on this the 30th Anniversary of Operation Babylift – in 2005.
All who are interested in the Vietnamese adoptee experience are welcome to attend.
Washington DC Pan Am Vietnam Reunion Celebration – 22- 24 April 2005
During the weekend of April 22-24, 2005 we are planning a 30th anniversary celebration to mark the final departure from Vietnam on Clipper Unity N653PA. It was on April 24th thirty years ago that we successfully evacuated our Saigon staff and their families, just six days before the North Vietnamese tanks rolled into downtown Saigon .
This evacuation was no easy task and we will never forget, that without our pilots and flight attendants, volunteering to fly in and rescue us, the ending for us might have been a totally different and tragic story. Our crew members flew in and out of Saigon during those final days, under high risk war time conditions.
This celebration next April will be held in Washington, DC during the weekend of April 22-24, 2005. It is our mission to reach out all across Pan Ams former world, and bring together all those who had a connection with Pan Am and Vietnam . This event will include a number of the infants/orphans who survived the C-5A crash and 24 hours later they were aboard a Pan Am 747 winging their way across the Pacific to freedom and to begin a new life in America . Again, all volunteer crew members operating under exhaustive & dangerous conditions to make this happen. We are hopeful that the word will reach as many of those crew members as possible so they can join us in Washington next April.
The Pan Am Historical Foundation (panam.com) is cosponsoring this celebration. The Foundation continues it’s quest to establish a Pan Am Museum which will house historical artifacts and documents as a lasting legacy to the airline. The Foundation is also considering the establishment of an annual scholarship fund for a Vietnamese student or perhaps supporting an orphanage in Vietnam.
We have contacted some of the survivors of that C-5A crash (now 30 years old) and they will be there to share their stories with us.
We are still finalizing program details for the weekend celebration. All of the details will soon be available on our website. We are planning to have the site up and running no later than November 1st.
Mary Goshgarian from Pan Am AWARE will be there with a wide selection of Pan Am memorabilia.
World Wings Seattle has committed and they will wrap up the weekend with their now infamous Uniforms on Parade program narrated by World Wings Int’l president Joanne Swift at a Sunday brunch. The weekend will kickoff with a welcome reception on Friday evening followed by authentic Vietnamese fashions and a viewing of the film Last Flight Out, starring Richard Crenna, Hang S. Ngor and James Earl Jones.
On Saturday, plans call for sharing memories from those with stories to tell and some free time to see the sights in Washington . This will be a time of special camaraderie and bonding (panel discussions) from a historical moment in the life of Pan Am. We are hoping to reach as many of those crew members who actually flew on the “Last Flight Out” of Saigon . An awards banquet will be held on Saturday evening wrapping up the days’ activity.
All attendees will receive a registration packet containing some keepsake items that will serve as a lifetime reminder of this gathering. A special lapel pin has already been produced and will be given to all attendees.
Anyone needing more information can send an email to: yclipper2@aol.com, For those without email access, write to:
PAAVN,
PO Box 771992
Miami , FL 33177
for a registration application. Regristration forms are also available on the PAAVN web site.
The reunion will be held at the Crystal Gateway Marriott Hotel (www.marriott.com) in Crystal City , just minutes away from Reagan National and downtown Washington via the Metro System. We have arranged for a special room rate of $99.00 per night, per room. The Marriott has made this special rate available for those who wish to arrive a day earlier, Thursday 4/21/05 and checkout a day later on Monday 4/25/05 . Access for room reservations will be available on the website.
All former Pan Amers now working for DL and UA, please help us get the word out to our former Pan Am colleagues. We look forward to welcoming a very special portion of the Pan Am family at this celebration. If you have contacts for other colleagues, please send us their email or home address and we can add their names to our mailing list.
Thanks for your interest and continued support.
Allan (Al) Topping
Chairman , Vietnam Commemoration Planning Committee
Former Pan Am Director – Vietnam & Cambodia