HOLMDEL – The New Jersey Vietnam Veterans' Memorial Foundation is hosting a program entitled “Celebrating the 30th Anniversary of Operation Babylift, Vietnam (1975-2005).”  The program will take place at the Vietnam Era Educational Center, adjacent to the New Jersey Vietnam Veterans' Memorial in Holmdel, on Saturday, April 2, 10 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.  The public is invited to attend.  Reservations are recommended.

      On April 3, 1975, President Gerald Ford announced Operation Babylift would fly some of the estimated 70,000 Vietnamese babies and children who were left orphaned by the Vietnam War to safety.  Thirty flights, combining private and military planes, transported at least 2,000 children to the United States and another 1,300 children to Canada, Europe and Australia.

      Toddlers and older children, frightened and strapped in with seat belts along hard aluminum benches, filled the cabin of each Operation Babylift aircraft.  Down the center isle of each plane ran a row of 2-foot square cardboard cradles, each containing two or three babies.  As the planes shuddered into the sky over Saigon, these children were leaving war-torn Vietnam and were on their way to new lives in a distant country.

      Now, thirty years later, The New Jersey Vietnam Veterans' Memorial Foundation offers a program of diverse speakers to reflect upon this important historical event.  Some of the presenters include: LeAnn Thieman – Author of This Must Be My Brother.  Thieman assisted in the evacuation in April 1975; Jennifer Nguyen Noone – Babylift adoptee and social worker.

Jonathan Groth – Babylift adoptee , Tia Keevil – Babylift adoptee, Lana Noone – Author of Global Mom: Notes From a Pioneer Adoptive Family.   Classical flutist emphasizing traditional Vietnamese music; Phil Wise – Medical technician who survived a Babylift plane crash, Jared Rehberg – Babylift adoptee and singer-songwriter, Janet Gardner – Director and co-produced Precious Cargo: Vietnamese Adoptees Discover Their Past along with Chi Potter and the Vietnamese Homeland Dance Group performing traditional Vietnamese dances.

      “We are pleased to host the 30th Anniversary of Operation Babylift program,” said Kelly Watts, executive director of the New Jersey Vietnam Veterans' Memorial Foundation.  “This program, along with our on-going lecture series and educational seminars, allows us to further explore issues relating to the Vietnam Era.  The Educational Center provides a wonderful setting for us to keep alive for future generations the stories and memories of those who lived through this time.”