Operation Babylift
3,347After 20 years of savage conflict, Vietnam was reduced to wasteland and debris. What remained of the war-torn country was a terrible famine and an unprecedented refugee crisis. Meanwhile, the North Vietnamese forces continued to advance largely unopposed towards Saigon, counting down more and more closely to the inevitable fall of Vietnam.
After decades of lackluster results, the US troops had been ordered to retreat from the country, and the only mission left was to evacuate US citizens and high-risk Vietnamese citizens.
In an unprecedented humanitarian effort, the US then led a final massive endeavor to evacuate thousands of Vietnamese children. It would be known as Operation Babylift.
As the curtains fell on the Vietnam conflict, the world united to achieve the impossible, but the operation would be anything but simple. The impending invasion from the North gave US authorities and world humanitarian organizations little time and limited resources to execute the massive endeavor.
And as one of the rescue planes fell from the sky in a horrible crash, the world would question if the US and its allies were really saving the children or if they were taking them from their home just to save face.
Only time would tell…
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