Email: jm.mc@bigpond.com

Melbourne
Victoria
Australia

I hope this email finds you well. I am writing to ask for your assistance in any form in relation to helping my husband and myself trace his past. He is a child of Operation Babylift. His name was Ri Van Ri Nguyen and he was on the first flight to Australia and the only child to go to Alice Springs in the northern territory of Australia.

Like most all of the children we have very few facts and all of my searching has been based on what his adoptive mother can tell me and his memories alone. I have been in touch with a few adoptees who are doing fabulous things such as Dai Le who is of great inspiration to myself. She is in the process of digging the names list out of the children on the Australian flights and has all but confirmed his name being on the first flight.

His adoptive mother told me he was from an orphanage. My husband is now very adamant that he was not. His memory is of living with a lady he called Aunty( which in itself I know is common) and with two other older boys whom he was very close to. He feels that they were likely brothers and that he may have been a cousin to them or possibly even a younger brother. He remembers he woke up one day and those two boys were no longer there and has no memory of explanation for this. He is adamant that this lady was not his mother, but feels she may have acutally been an aunty. He remembers being sent to school in the day which he walked to and after school being sent to the rubber trees to collect, well rubber :) . He remembers they lived directly opposite a church, in a village. I asked him if he was absolutely sure he wasn't in an orphanage and he said, "If by orphanage you mean lots of children then yes, I am sure." After those two older boys went away it was just himself and the lady he called aunt. One day a man came to this house and that night in the village there was a celebration of sorts where a big projector was set up and they watched a film or something and the children were given candies. He is adamant these were Vietnamese candies. The next morning he was woken very early and a man told him they had to go now that, they had a very long journey and needed to leave. He remembers not wanting to go but they were insistant he must go. He was told he has a long journey to go on and he would be going on a plane to a new better life. The man took him on a motorcycle on a very long trip. Eventually they came to a house on a river. He says he is sure he called this man "Dad" and that he treated him as if he was his son. He is also sure that he did not spend more than two nights there but says it may have been only the one. He said on the morning/day of the airlift this man was very much in a hurry. He remembers everyhting was a rush. There was a short ride to the airport where the man hugged him, etc. and handed hin to the air hostess.

Given that his memories are from many years ago and that he was very young I know we could be chasing our tails, but I have made a promise to him that I will give this absolutely every ounce of brain power I have. We have three children of our own now and I think that urge to know about yourself just becomes that much stronger. It is my hope that if he wasn't part of an orphanage that perhaps he was one of the many children whose parents had to make that decision to get their child on the plane and to safety. It also gives me an inkling of hope that if he spent his time wth these two people then surely if they see photos they would have to remember him , providing off course they are still around to do so.

I have looked into the rubber trees and it seems Chu Ty is known for this and is also very close if not on the border of Cambodia. We are led to believe that Ri is a Cambodian name and given his appearance we think he may be half Cambodian which, I guess, would fit if this was the area in which he lived. I was wondering if you knew of anymore areas like this. I assume there is more than one rubber tree plantation in all of Vietnam but you know what they say about assuming!

I am not sure what if anything you can do to help us, and I do not expect you to look at a photo of a small child and be able to tell me his life story up to the point of the picture being taken (although I wouldnt be adverse to that at all. LOL!!!) I am just hoping you can give some help or advice or point us in the right direction; just anything really.

I am presantly trying to trace down an air hostess by the name of (name ommited for privacy reasons) who was still living in Melbourne, Australia in 2004. She was able to assist another adoptee who has also been back and been in touch with a sister, who I heard was instrumental in chosing children to airlift. She was able to help him imensely and I'm hoping she may be able to do the same for us. I am also in touch with *** (since last night only) and am eagerly awaiting an email reply as to wether he is still in touch with either of those two women.

I thank you very much for your time and inspirational work. We love everything you do.

Yours sincerely,
Meagan and Justin Mcnamara (Ri Van Ri Nguyen) (Nguyen Ri Van Ri) The spelling we're not sure of.

PLEASE feel free to post this on your site!