Operation Babylift

Operation Babylift was the name given to an effort to bring South Vietnamese orphans to the United States in the closing days of the Vietnam War (1954-1975). Thousands of children were evacuated when North Vietnamese troops moved on the South Vietnamese capital of Saigon in April 1975. The airlift was approved by US President Gerald Ford and carried out by military personnel and volunteers from airlines and other sources.

The effort was applauded by some and criticized by others. Those who supported the airlift saw it as a humanitarian effort to protect vulnerable children; others claimed that some of the children were not orphans and were inappropriately removed from their families. In addition, the first plane to lift off in the weeks-long effort suffered a catastrophic equipment failure and crashed, killing dozens of the children and their rescuers. Most of the children in Operation Babylift were eventually adopted, and decades later, some were reunited with family members left behind during the evacuation.

Background

The Vietnam War was a conflict between communist forces that controlled the northern part of Vietnam and anti-communists in the southern part. The struggle had its origins in World War II (1939-1945) when the Japanese invaded Vietnam and fought against French colonial rule. Communist revolutionary Ho Chi Minh opposed the presence of both the French and the Japanese. When the Japanese surrendered at the end of World War II, they withdrew their forces from Vietnam. Ho Chi Minh seized the opportunity and captured the northern city of Hanoi and established the Democratic Republic of Vietnam with himself as president.

Ho Chi Minh’s troops battled French colonial forces until May 1954, when his army defeated the French at Dien Bien Phu. The resulting treaty split the country into North Vietnam and South Vietnam. At the same time, the United States and the Soviet Union were embroiled in what was known as the Cold War (1947-1991), an ideological battle for military and political supremacy among the superpowers. The Soviet Union supported the communist forces in North Vietnam, while the United States supported South Vietnam, which favored capitalism and a democratic form of government.

During the next decade, the United States provided increasing support to South Vietnam, based on concerns that if communism gained a strong foothold in the country, it could spread rapidly to other Asian nations. After a November 1963 coup resulted in significant political instability in South Vietnam, the United States increased its military presence in the area. Direct US military involvement continued until April 1975, when it became apparent that the North Vietnamese were going to take the southern capital of Saigon. As the communist forces neared Saigon, concern for the safety of South Vietnamese children left orphaned by the fighting led to the implementation of Operation Babylift.

Overview

President Gerald Ford ordered the humanitarian effort known as Operation Babylift in early 1975. With the reluctant support of the South Vietnamese government and funding from a foreign aid fund designated to protect children, the plan called for airlifting up to three thousand South Vietnamese orphans to the United States and other countries. Once in their new homes, the children would be adopted. The operation was the first of several efforts to evacuate refugees from the advancing North Vietnamese forces as the war came to an end.

Ed Daly, an American businessman and president of World Airways, came up with an idea to airlift orphans with a combination of military aircraft and commercial airliners. President Ford announced the airlift on April 3, 1975, one day before the effort officially began. American adoption agencies helped to arrange families in the United States and elsewhere to take the children, who were flown to military bases in California and Washington, DC.

The operation got off to a tragic start when the first plane of children and caregivers experienced a malfunction with its cargo doors. The doors exploded from their hinges, severing part of the tail and causing catastrophic decompression in midair. The C-5 cargo plane, which was overloaded with hundreds of children, most of them under the age of two, was forced to crash land in a rice paddy. The children in the passenger compartment mostly survived. However, in an effort to evacuate as many children as quickly as possible, children had been placed in the cargo hold in makeshift restraints. Many were killed on impact. About 138 people, including 78 children were killed in the crash. More than 170 people on board the plane survived. There was some speculation at the time that sabotage was involved, but no sabotage was ever proven.

Following this heartbreaking beginning, Operation Babylift continued until April 26, 1975. Civilian volunteers and military personnel crammed as many children as possible into every flight. Photos from the time document children strapped two to an airline seat, or packed into airline bassinets that were lined up end to end. In some cases, airline seats were moved so that the back of one seat touched the front of another, forming a makeshift crib to protect the infants buckled into the seats. Those who assisted with the flights reported handing children one after another up the steps of the planes as if part of a bucket brigade, all in an effort to get as many children as possible out of the area before communist forces arrived.

In the aftermath of Operation Babylift, some people criticized the effort. Some of the children claimed they had living parents, leading to allegations that the children may have been forcibly removed from their families. Some children were later reunited with their families in Vietnam. Overall, Operation Babylift cost about $2 million and resulted in around 2,500 Vietnamese children being adopted in the United States. An additional 1,300 found new homes in Australia, Canada, and parts of Europe.

Bibliography

Haulman, Daniel. “Operation Babylift and & New Life.” Air Mobility Command Museum, 2019, amcmuseum.org/history/operation-babylift-and-new-life/. Accessed 26 Feb. 2019.

Manney, Kathy. “Operation Babylift: Evacuating Children Orphaned by the Vietnam War.” Historynet, 13 Sept. 2006, www.historynet.com/operation-babylift-evacuating-children-orphaned-by-the-vietnam-war.htm. Accessed 26 Feb. 2019.

Martin, Rachel. “Remember the Doomed First Flight of Operation Babylift.” National Public Radio, 26 April 2015, www.npr.org/2015/04/26/402208267/remembering-the-doomed-first-flight-of-operation-babylift. Accessed 26 Feb. 2019.

Moritz, John. “Operation Babylift Kids, Veterans Reunite 40 Years Later.” Military Times, 25 April 2015, www.militarytimes.com/news/your-military/2015/04/25/operation-babylift-kids-veterans-reunite-40-years-later/. Accessed 26 Feb. 2019.

“Operation Babylift.” Gerald Ford Library and Museum, www.fordlibrarymuseum.gov/museum/exhibits/babylift/. Accessed 26 Feb. 2019.

Rotter, Andrew J. “Causes of the Vietnam War.” Illinois University, 1999,www.english.illinois.edu/maps/vietnam/causes.htm. Accessed 26 Feb. 2019.

“Vietnam War.” History.com, 22 Feb. 2019, www.history.com/topics/vietnam-war/vietnam-war-history. Accessed 26 Feb. 2019.

Wright, Andy. “After the Vietnam War, America Flew Planes Full of Babies Back to the U.S.” Atlas Obscura, 21 Sept. 2016, www.atlasobscura.com/articles/after-the-vietnam-war-america-flew-planes-full-of-babies-back-to-the-us. Accessed 26 Feb. 2019.