This page is a summary of news from across the world on the 35th Anniversary of the End of the Viet Nam War and Operation Babylift highlighting the community activities and perspectives of Vietnamese adoptees and their supporters. Enormous congratulations and thanks to Operation Reunite, Project Reunion II, VAN, Origines Vietnam and others (such as ICASN for adoptees from all countries) for keeping us all in touch. For faster and more frequent updates please also visit the AVI Facebook Page.
Personal Reflections of VN Adoptees AVI Members
Short contributions to 35th Anniversary Reflections page by Adopted Vietnamese from war years before and during Operation Babylift are now online on the AVI website. Enormous thanks to all who shared their valuable and insightful views with our community, supporters and generations of younger VN Adoptees that follow us.
35th Anniversary Personal Reflections
Creative
Anh Ðào Kolbe – Portraits of Vietnamese Adoptees
Anh Ðào Kolbe has photographed over 50 Vietnamese adoptees from around the world who attended the Operation Reunite and Project Return II Reunion events in Vietnam, and some taken in the US for an upcoming portrait photography book and exhibition.
Email: radvads@gmail.com
Website: www.vadportraits.wordpress.com
Music
Jared Rehberg
Jared Rehberg is a singer/songwriter/guitarist who was on Operation Babylift and has performed songs about this part of adoptee history at numerous events.
Fan Page: www.facebook.com/pages/Jared-Rehberg/24263847723
Web: www.jaredrehberg.com
Blogs
Various blogs by adoptees are can be found on the List of Adoptee Blogs & Websites page, some of who blogged during the 35th Anniversary.
Books
The Life We Were Given
Dana Sachs released a book about Operation Babylift called “The Life We Were Given: Operation Babylift, International Adoption, and the Children of War in Vietnam.” She has a facebook page “Dana Sachs Books,” or you can read about the book at www.danasachs.com with stories about adopted Vietnamese including Anh Hansen.
Documentaries
Dowry of the Meek
Hoa Stone and Operation: Babylift By David Robert Wagoner
Sneak Preview: sundaytown.com/projects/dowry-of-the-meek/
Special Delivery
by Viktoria Cowely: www.youtube.com/watch?v=8GdwPVj6bV0
Operation Babylift: The Lost Children of Vietnam
Special re-screenings across the USA: www.thebabylift.com
Operation Reunite documentary
Congratulations to Dominic Golding who presented an excellent paper on ‘VAD reunion’ (and screened a preview of his documentary on the Operation Reunite participants) at The Vietnam Inheritance Symposium at Monash University in Melbourne 30th April, 2010. Australia
www.arts.monash.edu.au/psi/vietnam/index.php
C5 Crash Annivesary and Memorial News
“Tôi rất yêu người mẹ tôi chưa bao giờ biết mặt” (article in Vietnam)
Vietnamese interview & article of some of the VN adoptees that visited the C5 plane crash site on the anniversary:
tuoitre.vn/Chinh-tri-Xa-hoi/371825/Giao-luu-truc-tuyen-“Babylift-–-35-nam-ngay-tro-ve”.html
(For rough Google Translated version click here)
C-5A Galaxy BABYLIFT Crash FB Group
See news and visit the group founded by Bud Traynor, pilot and survivor of the ‘C-5A Galaxy BABYLIFT Crash’ at www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_31158998509
Find at more at the C5 Galaxy Crash AVI page.
Events & Vietnamese Adoptee Focused Groups
Vietnamese adoptees in Australia participated in informal and fun group dinners around the 35th anniversary in Brisbane (with John Dougals, one of the Australian Operation Babylift pilots) and in Melbourne (with a few fellow transnational adoptees from Korea), and a couple also attended a formal dinner organized by Dai Le, director of the Australian ‘Operation Babylift’ film, at Parliament House. Thank you for all who came and wrote in and shared their wonderful stories and experiences. For more info see the Australia – 35th Anniversary Events AVI page.
Special acknowledgement and congratulations to Operation Reunite and Project Return II, founded by Trista Goldberg and Le-Thanh, with Safi Dubb, respectively with a team of adoptees, who organised various reunion activities for over 40 adopted Vietnamese in Vietnam in April 2010, and to Kim Nguyen Browne who organized a trip for visiting adoptees to the Go Vap orphanage to volunteer and for a Care Day with orphans. Also to Jason Robertson and colleagues who organized a big event for An Lac adoptees in the USA, the bloggers who wrote about their time during the anniversary and many others in our adoptee community. Apologies for not having updates on non-English speaking adoptee groups but please check out the links below.
You can explore more updates about 35th anniversary events by various groups at:
Adoptees from Providence Orphanage Can Tho, Vietnam:
www.facebook.com/group.php?v=photos&gid=80577890955
In The Arms of Grace:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOVHlDNSsfI
Project Return II: Out of the Ashes:
www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=79350081910
Operation Reunite:
www.facebook.com/pages/Operation-Reunite/126854462775
Operation Babylift 1975/Project Vietnam Orphans 1975:
www.facebook.com/pages/Operation-Babylift-1975Project-Vietnam-Orphans-1975/48642461245
Orphans of the Vietnam War – Voices Today:
www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=52986353693
Betty’s Tisdale’s An Lac Orphans:
www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=182668901730
Operation Babylift: The Lost Children of Vietnam movie screenings:
www.facebook.com/TheBabylift
VAN | Vietnamese Adoptee Network:
www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=150497638969
CamRanh Orphan:
www.camranh75.com
General adoption from all countries of origin see:
ICASN:
www.icasn.org
Media Stories on Vietnamese Adoptees on 35th Anniversary
Babylift Articles/General
‘Babylift’ orphans make journey to Vietnam, ABC USA (News video & article):
abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/assignment_7&id=7365551
An Lac Reunion
An Lac orphans reunite in Columbus today after 35 years in Ledger Enquirer
An Lac Orphans Reunite at Fort Benning in Fox News:
liveshots.blogs.foxnews.com/2010/03/30/vietnam-war-orphans-reunite-at-fort-benning/?test=latestnews
Betty Tisdale and An Lac Orphans Reunion | WRBL Series Part 1 (news video & article): www2.wrbl.com/rbl/news/local/article/betty_tisdale_and_an_lac_orphans_reunion/141360/
Remember When: Rescued Orphans from Vietnam | WRBL Series Part 2 (news video & article): www2.wrbl.com/rbl/news/local/article/remember_when_rescued_orphans_from_vietnam/135162/
TheBayonet.com | 03/25/2010 | An Lac orphans return to Fort Benning for reunion:
www.ledger-enquirer.com/2010/03/25/1064626/an-lac-orphans-return-to-fort.html
Beth Douple kindly sent news about An Lac adoptees including herself who were interviewed for by ABC Nightly News as a tribute to Betty Tisdale and her work done 35 years, ago. It was aired Friday, 4/30/10 on ABC Nightly News at 6:30pm
Read more about the An Lac Orphanage AVI page.
Adoptee Reunions in Vietnam, Stories on Australian Adoptees
Tuổi Trẻ Online – Hội ngộ baTuổi Trẻ Online – Hội ngộ babyliftbylift on Dominic Golding and others (article is in Vietnamese):
tuoitre.vn/The-gioi/Nguoi-Viet-xa-que/371592/Hoi-ngo-babylift.html
(For rough Google Translated version click here)
Sunday Night on Channel 7 at 6.30pm this week about two Vietnamese adoptees from Australia, Jamie Fry and My Huong Le on 9 May 2010:
au.tv.yahoo.com/sunday-night/video/ (see ‘The Lost Children’ section). Acknowledgement to VN adoptee Suanne Prager for her role in the beginning stages and hope her story gets to feature in a future program.
Adoptee Reunions in Vietnam, Stories on USA Adoptees
Operation Reunite Returns Amerasians to Vietnam | Vietnam Talking Points: talk.onevietnam.org/operation-reunite-returns-amerasians-to-vietnam/
Tổ chức Mỹ giúp ‘các em bé babylift’ tìm nguồn cội | VOA Tiếng Việt | VOA Tiếng Việt / link to the Voice of America (Vietnamese Segment) Interview with Operation Reunite Trista Goldberg (Article in Vietnamese):
www.voanews.com/vietnamese/news/a-19-2010-01-23-voa21-82744992.html
(For rough Google Translated version click here)
Group helps adoptees to trace their heritage – pressofAtlanticCity.com : Life www.pressofatlanticcity.com/life/article_2a141cf4-fbf2-11de-a4d8-001cc4c03286.html
Adoptee Reunions in Vietnam, Stories on UK Adoptees
The babies airlifted out of Saigon BBW News Online Article:
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/8352010.stm
Vietnam orphan tells her story 35 years on from Operation Babylift in the Mirror: www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2010/03/28/vietnam-orphan-tells-her-story-35-years-on-from-operation-babylift-115875-22144841/
Legacy of Vietnam war’s ‘baby-lift’ children BBC Report on Viktoria Cowley on You Tube: news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8591470.stm
Former orphan returns to Vietnam in new BBC documentary on Saigon GP Daily:
www.saigon-gpdaily.com.vn/Entertainment/2010/4/80772/
BBC World Service Radio – Friday 16 April 2010 Radio Interview following Viktoria Cowely’s return from the Vietnam Reunion:
www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p0072p4h/Outlook_16_04_2010/
Viktoria Cowely’s Vietnam journey reaches BBC South Today | Sussex Press Agency
sussexpressagency.com/2010/05/viktorias-vietnam-journey-reaches-bbc-south-today/
For more info on Viktoria Cowley’s documentary and journey featured in the media visit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8GdwPVj6bV0
Adoptees Reunions in Vietnm – Combined International Focus
“Tôi rất yêu người mẹ tôi chưa bao giờ biết mặt” (story in Vietnam):
tuoitre.vn/Chinh-tri-Xa-hoi/371825/Giao-luu-truc-tuyen-“Babylift-–-35-nam-ngay-tro-ve”.html
(For rough Google Translated version click here)
The Drive Towards Peace and Meaningfulness by Kevin Minh:
whatsmeaningful.blogspot.com/2005/03/drive-towards-peace-and-meaningfulness.html
People who did not go on reunion trips to Vietnam can still view videos of a ‘searching for family’ TV show posted at Tìm Người Thân Haylentieng (who is on facebook):
www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000531250586
The show episode features many VN adoptees, and was arranged by the amazing Trista Goldberg and co at Operation Reunite. Episode 29 _ p2 [HQ] by Tìm Người Thân Haylentieng (videos)