In April 1975, in the closing days of the Vietnam War, more than 3000 babies were airlifted from Saigon orphanages and delivered into arms of waiting couples in the US, Canada, Britain, Europe and Australia. It was the largest act of adoption in history.

Went to see a friends new documentary, Operation Babylift tonight at the Chauvel cinema (Oxford Street, Paddington). I’ve heard and had a few misconceptions about the term “Babylift”, one being that it happened on a roof top of the US embassy during the final hours of the war when the US were evacuating people out of Saigon. Operation Babylift really started in early April with the help of a Hercules carriers and Boeing planes. Watching the documentary, I couldn’t help but feel a sense of connection with the grown up children who went back to Vietnam to find their birth mothers and what it feels like to finally meet them.

Operation Babylift, Written and Directed by Dai Le is scheduled to go to air on SBS TV on July 28th, at 8:30pm.

This entry was posted on Sunday, July 10th, 2005 at 10:03 pm and is filed under Happenings, Imagery.