OPERATION BABYLIFT COLLECTION

*CONNECTIONS

It's what I do best. Stephanie Forté called it in back in 2003 when she said that I was an "Expert at Connecting the Dots". Years later, I produced the "Connect" trade show when I was with Grassroots Outdoor Alliance.

Today I am headed to Long Island to scout out a venue for the upcoming ***CONNECTIONS*** airlift exhibit commemorating 50 years since the fall of Saigon, the fateful C-5A crash and Operation Babylift with the PAN AM HISTORICAL FOUNDATION at the Cradle of Aviation Museum in Garden City, NY.

This is a culmination a lifetime of collecting seemingly random bits and pieces that constructed my life story. It was not until this past year that their puzzle pieces slid together to weave an entirely new tapestry of a collective life story with individuals with whom I shared a history but did not know. I have taken my ultimate OCD organizational skills and unbound curiosity and delved into the last remaining records of the adoption agency that brought me to the US from Vietnam and have uncovered some crazy shit.

The goal is to develop two databases, "The Data Project". One database will create a indexed catalog of the files and documents into an accessible resource for research. The other will be a database of the adoptee files cross referenced the gazillion lists and documents that trace a child's journey though the adoption process until they reached their family destination.

Forgoing all common sense and launching full speed into unemployment like a collie on a good sniff I have been gifted incredible opportunities, connections and tangible pieces of history that have given me the structure to produce what else, exhibits: I couldn't help myself. It's what I know how to do.

Your support in this endeavor means so much to me. I cannot express my gratitude in all of you that have faith in my crazy ideas.

I am looking for volunteers to help transcribe these lists and more lists.

Also please pass on the project to anyone who you know might be interested in the project: operationbabylift.org.

Oh, and funding. Any insight on how to get some kibble for this collie would be greatly appreciated.

Operation Babylift Collection

Col. Bud Traynor

The Pilots Story

Col. Bud Traynor, pilot recounts the fateful day of April 5, 1975 and the C-5A crash

Archives and Records

Operation Babylift Collection project compiles and organizes adoptee records and files into a consolidated archival resource.

OPERATION BABYLIFT COLLECTION

“Operation Babylift Collection” is a project focused on assessing, organizing and cataloging Operation Babylift files into a archival collection and searchable database for research.

In April 1975, as Saigon fell, thousands of children were airlifted to safety in one of the largest wartime evacuations in history. The children were transported to adoptive families worldwide. Despite its historical significance, many aspects of this operation were unknown, and its participants—adoptees, caregivers, and aid workers—often lack a cohesive record of their experiences - until now.

This project will digitize and cross-reference existing records, including flight manifests, nursery logs, adoption files, and personal correspondence and files, to create a cohesive and accessible archive while ensuring security and privacy.

As an adoptee, my story has been unknown. My only past has been the narrative

READ THE FULL STORY HERE