(NEXSTAR) – As the end of the conflict in Vietnam drew near, the U.S. government launched an ambitious plan to give a brighter future to the most vulnerable people in the path of the conflict: orphaned Vietnamese babies.
The mission became known as Operation Babylift. The first plane to leave as part of that mission took off on April 4, 1975, just a few weeks before the fall of Saigon. But shortly into the flight, a malfunction caused the cargo doors to blow open and forced the pilot, Captain Dennis “Bud” Traynor, to crash-land the C-5 cargo plane into a nearby rice paddy. For many, it was the darkest tragedy in a brutal campaign.
“I stood on the runway and watched as the first planeload of orphans – the one I had begged to be on – crashed after takeoff, killing half of the 300 babies and volunteers onboard. And when that plane crashed so did I,” Babylift volunteer LeAnn Thieman recalled in a recent interview with Nexstar.
The death toll included 78 children and about 35 Air Force personnel. More than 150 survived.
Even as investigators sifted through that wreckage, volunteers resumed the work to rescue hundreds more children.
In the full broadcast special at the top of this page, journalists from Nexstar talk with a number of people involved with Operation Babylift, including the adoptees, their parents, and pilot Bud Traynor, who survived that C-5 crash. We also talk with the Nun who was stationed in Saigon and worked with the orphans, and remains in touch with many of them to this day.
The special is part of our parent company’s comprehensive coverage marking 50 years since the end of the Vietnam War. In an earlier special presentation, Nexstar’s reporting team joined veterans returning to the battlefields of Vietnam and learned about the emotional and physical scars they carry decades after the war imprinted on their youth. You can delve deeper into the topic and our original reporting by visiting the Vietnam section on this website.
