What was Operation Babylift? All about the airlift of Vietnamese orphans during the fall of Saigon 

Operation Babylift is a significant event covered in Turning Point: The Vietnam War, which draws survivor testimony and archival sources to cover its legacy and impact. Operation Babylift involved the mass evacuation of South Vietnamese children at the end of the war.

At the fall of Saigon in April 1975, the US government arranged flights to take thousands of Vietnamese orphans overseas. These flights offered the children new lives in countries like the United States, Canada, and others. The program was proposed as a humanitarian endeavor intended to rescue kids from war conditions and an uncertain future under a new political regime.

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The origins and execution of Operation Babylift

Operation Babylift was initiated in response to the deteriorating situation in South Vietnam in early April 1975. Saigon fell under attack, and the South Vietnamese government was on the verge of collapse. President Ford declared that the United States would start an emergency airlift of orphans out of the country.

As per the Gerald R. Ford Museum, the mission was orchestrated with the assistance of adoption agencies and humanitarian groups. They appealed to the government to send out the children in their custody. The airlift was a series of flights in U.S. Air Force cargo aircraft, including C-5A Galaxy and C-141 Starlifter. It also included civilian aircraft chartered by private groups and individuals.

Throughout the operation, over 3,000 children were evacuated from Vietnam. The majority were flown to the United States, with others being flown to Australia, Canada, France, and West Germany. The children were welcomed by adopting families and lodged in hospitals for medical examination on arrival.

Many had health problems, and others faced difficulties adjusting to new surroundings. The adoption processes were conducted by agencies that had already screened families for international adoptions.

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The first flight and its aftermath

The initial flight of Operation Babylift, an American, was a US Air Force C-5A Galaxy that departed from Saigon on April 4, 1975, with more than 300 individuals on board, of whom at least 230 were orphans, volunteers, and crew.

According to the Defense Intelligence Agency, the rear cargo door locks failed about 12 minutes after departure. It resulted in explosive decompression and extensive damage to the aircraft's flight controls. The pilots attempted to make an emergency landing but crashed in a marshy area near Tan Son Nhut Airbase.

The crash killed 138 individuals, including 78 children and 35 American crew members. The survivors were transported to hospitals, and the accident put a cloud over the operation. Despite the loss, Operation Babylift resumed with other planes finishing the evacuation during the subsequent weeks.

The crash became a watershed moment of the operation. The crash, as per Turning Point: The Vietnam War, brought focus to the danger and urgency of the evacuation as well as the sacrifices made by those involved in the mission.

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Controversies and criticisms surrounding Operation Babylift

Operation Babylift faced significant criticism from the outset. According to the New York Times' archived reports on May 9, 1976, one major point of contention was the claim that the evacuation may not have fully prioritized the interests of the children. This concern arose as some of those evacuated were not orphans.

The operation sparked debate about its underlying motivations. Questions were raised that some children may have had living parents or relatives who couldn't take care of them due to the war. The urgency to evacuate resulted in chaos and errors in identifying and matching children with adopting families.

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Operation Babylift was a mass evacuation of Vietnamese children in the last days of the Vietnam War. For more details, watch Turning Point: The Vietnam War on Netflix.