It is April 4, 1975, a beautiful, sunny day in Saigon – soon to be renamed Ho Chi Minh City. But there is violence and turmoil in the air. The Vietnam War is in its final weeks, and North Vietnamese forces have surrounded the city, inciting chaos as the South Vietnamese populace and its US allies scramble to evacuate those most at risk of reprisals.
Untold numbers will ultimately be left behind, but more than 100,000 politicians, military figures, and others associated with the now-rapidly losing side will be airlifted for resettlement. Among the latter are dozens of orphaned infants and children, many of whom are “Amerasians” born of relationships between Vietnamese mothers and American soldiers, now destined for placement with families in the United States and other countries around the world.
