Vietnam Babylift
in
Friends of the Museum

Article by Lana Noone in the Newsletter of the Friends of the Vietnam War Museum

January, 2008

Vietnam "Operation Babylift"
By Lana Noone,
Author, "Global Mom: Notes From a Pioneer Adoptive Family"

The Vietnam "Operation Babylift" (OBL) was an extraordinary humanitarian effort that took place in April, 1975 during the final weeks of the Vietnam War.

During the Operation, over 2,500 Vietnamese War orphans, under the age of ten years old, were evacuated from Vietnam and placed with adoptive families throughout the United States and several other countries. It began when Ed Daly, President of World Airways, successfully flew 57 orphans to the United States at the end of March, 1975. Arriving in Oakland, California on April 2nd, the "maverick" flight, which left Tan Son Nhut Airport without approval from either government, inaugu- rated the entire event. The following day, President Gerald R. Ford, himself an adoptee, signed the "Operation Babylift" Executive Order. It stipulates American military aircraft for the evacuation, and provides two million taxpayer dollars to pay for the cost.

On April 4, 1975, the first OBL official military transport plane, a C5A Galaxy with 343 people on board, departed from Tan Son Nhut Airport. In addition to the orphans and their volunteer escorts, several women and dependents from the Defense Attache Office were also being evacuated via the flight. Tragically, twelve minutes after taking off, the rear cargo doors opened, and the pilot lost rudder control. He almost managed to pilot the plane back to the airport, bounced over the Saigon River, and landed in a rice paddy field. Through his heroic effort, he saved the lives of nearly half of those on board the plane. Sadly, 37 of the 54 American civilian women who died during the entire Vietnam War, died in the crash. President Ford appeared on TV that night and said that although the C5A crash was a terrible tragedy, Babylift would continue. In all, there were 26 flights, with the final flight leaving Vietnam on April 26, 1975, three days before the Fall of Saigon.

My husband, Byron and I became involved in Operation Babylift when we were approved to adopt a baby from Vietnam via Friends of the Children of Vietnam (FCVN) Adoption Agency in February, 1975. Our first Babylift daughter, Heather Constance Noone, was scheduled for the C5A flight on April 4th. However, FCVN was "bumped" from the flight, and the orphans on board were all from Friends for All Children (FFAC) Agency, a change we didn't know about until nearly 24 hours after the crash. Instead, Heather left Vietnam via the next flight on April 5, 1975. She was hospitalized at Clark Air Force Base in the Philippines, then sent on to Long Beach Hospital, Long Beach, California and finally to Denver Children's Hospital, Denver, Colorado. Byron and I knew she was very ill and waited to find out if we'd be allowed to travel to help care for her or if the doctors would approve her flight to New York. We received the call on April 22, 1975. Heather was approved for travel and would arrive at JFK the next day. She was still very ill and our pediatrician hospitalized her again on April 29, 1975, the same day as the Fall of Saigon. Heather, who weighed under six pounds, and suffered from severe malnutrition, dehydration, pneumo-cystis carini pneumonia, an enlarged heart and several other medical conditions, died on May 17, 1975 at 4:30 PM.

I loved her then, I love her now and I've always been grateful to everyone who cared for her on her journey home to us. When Heather died, three babies remained in-hospital in Denver. The adoption agency phoned the night of Heather's funeral to tell us that two of the babies were ready to be discharged in the next day or so, but we explained our grief would take awhile for us to bear and we couldn't accept another baby so soon. We were told the third baby was very ill and the doctors would need to stabilize her for several weeks before she could be discharged for travel. That baby, who arrived at JFK on June 5, 1975, became our daughter, Jennifer Nguyen Noone. Jen is the final baby placed from "Operation Babylift". She is now 32 years old and works as a social worker in New York. Jen plans a volunteer trip to Vietnam in March, 2008 to teach English for a year.

In June, 2005, Jen and I participated in World Airway's reunion trip to Vietnam, the trip of a lifetime. We brought a small soil sample from Heather's gravesite to Vietnam and held a memorial service for her in a lovely garden area outside our hotel. We sang "Amazing Grace" and prayed for all who died during Babylift. Several Babylift adoptees attended the service and I am grateful to Jen for helping me make a promise I made to Heather come true. Two days before her death, the doctors told me there wasn't anything more they could do for Heather, and that her death was imminent. I promised Heather I would do all I could to make certain Babylift and her short life would not be forgotten. I also told her I would do my best to bring her back to Vietnam some day when there was peace between the two countries. The Memorial Service allowed me to make good on that promise.




Jennie and Lana Noone on the World Airways Reunion trip to Vietnam, June, 2005

Byron and I didn't want Jennie to be raised as an only child so, in 1979, we adopted our son, Jason Paik Noone from South Korea. Today Jay is a 30 year old high school Social Studies teacher. He and his wife, Rosie, are the parents of "my" grandchildren - Heather, four, and Jayden, one. Heather and Jayden are my little "angels" and the light of my life. Sadly, my beloved husband Byron died of cancer in 2002. Byron always encouraged my Babylift work and I have continued it in his memory.

My Babylift speaking engagements include:

• The Vietnam Veterans National Art Museum, Chicago - "Children of War" Exhibit;
• The Vietnam Era Educational Center, Homdel, New Jersey - several Babylift programs;
• Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library, Wallace Educational Center, Hyde Park, New York;
• Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum, Grand Rapids, Michigan - tribute ceremony including the posthumous Heather Constance Noone Memorial Award presentation and Vietnam veteran Bernie Duff's "Welcome Home" painting unveiling. OBL is now part of he Museum's permanent Collection;
• Sharon Ann Lane Day, Canton, Ohio - special award tribute;
• Several schools, universities, libraries, community and church groups, among others.

A music performance, art and artifacts exhibit, and the World Airways Telly Award-winning film of the 2005 reunion trip to Vietnam are included in my program. I also participated in The Tenth Anniversary of the Vietnam Civilian Women's Memorial, Washington, DC and the 25th Babylift Reunion, Baltimore, Maryland and Washington, D.C., at which General Homer G. Smith spoke to the Babylift families during a private program at the Wall.

In 2003, Vietnam veteran Charlie Wilber created our website at <www.Vietnambabylift.org>. It is the only website that includes all those involved in Babylift. I cordially invite you to visit the site and sign the guestbook. Charlie Wilber is also the designer of the Heather Constance Noone Memorial Award.

Please feel free to contact me at <Lana@Vietnambabylift.org>. I welcome any assistance with my plans for upcoming presentations.

And, to all Vietnam veterans . . . Welcome home!