Latest news with #Saigon
CBS News
10-06-2025
- General
- CBS News
The lasting impact of Operation Babylift 50 years after the end of the Vietnam War
In April 1975, during the chaotic final days of the Vietnam War, there were some 3,000 babies in the country that had been fathered by U.S. servicemen. "Dad felt very responsibly that he wanted to get those babies out," Steve Ford told CBS News — "dad" in this case being then-President Gerald Ford. "The word was once the North got into Saigon, that these babies would be possibly slaughtered, killed," Steve Ford said. President Ford moved urgently, and Operation Babylift was born, flying more than 2,500 of those children to the United States. But the first flight in the operation crashed just minutes after takeoff, killing 78 of the nearly 250 children on board. The president was undeterred, and the flights resumed the very next day, filled with cardboard file boxes that had been repurposed into makeshift cradles. "Dad met the first plane, and one of the best pictures for me is seeing him carrying that first baby off the plane," Steve Ford said. Thuy Williams, then just 5 years old, was on that flight. "There's actually a picture of me reading a book to the little kid next to me and I just look calm," she told CBS News. Williams had originally been placed on the first flight — the one that crashed — but was pulled off at the last moment due to overcrowding. Her mother, who brought her to the plane, believed she had died in the wreckage. It wasn't until decades later that the two were reunited in Vietnam. Even beyond the tragedy of the crash, the mission has drawn some criticism over the years. Not all of the children airlifted were orphans. Some had been temporarily placed in orphanages by parents desperate to get them to safety, believing they might be reunited someday. In a small number of cases, children were evacuated without parental or family consent, fueling debate over the ethics of the operation. "My mom gave me up to save my life," Williams said when asked about some of the problems with the operation. "A lot of those kids, their parents gave them up to save their lives. Yes, I know that some were taken that weren't supposed to, that parents expected to get their kids back, but the reality is, what would their life have been like if their parents did get them back, you know? They wouldn't have had the opportunities that they had here in the U.S." Steve Ford acknowledged, "Anytime you have a mission like this, is it gonna be 100%? Absolutely not. That's- this is war. You're trying to do the best you can very quickly." "I can not imagine what that mother would have to process to make that decision," he said of women like Williams' mother, who gave their kids up to get them out of the country. Williams was adopted by a couple in Portland, Oregon, and said she began to consider herself an American "pretty much probably right away." "When your first memories are seeing people killed, those are things you wanna leave behind," she said. Ten years after her arrival in the U.S., Williams made the under-18 National Soccer Team. She then spent eight years in the Army, built a construction company and started a nonprofit that takes kids to Africa. To this day, she coaches soccer, track and lacrosse, and she's so close to her players that she's officiated weddings for two of them. "I understand the opportunities that I had being here in the U.S. I just wanted to serve," she said. Steve Ford and Williams recently had a chance to meet at the Gerald Ford Museum. "My dad would love her story. It would bring tears to his eye to see what she's done with her life," Steve Ford said. "Someone said to me, I'm not sure they'd come get those babies today. I think back on dad. He had the moral clarity to go save those babies. And we had an obligation to do something, to help them," he added.
Yahoo
01-06-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Highlights: St. Louis CITY SC 2-1 San Jose Earthquakes (MLS)
This man can't return to his homeland of Vietnam. Still, he's proud of his heritage Fifty years after the fall of Saigon, Dong Van Tran is grateful for the life he has in Canada. His journey to Saskatoon wasn't easy.
CBC
31-05-2025
- General
- CBC
This man can't return to his homeland of Vietnam. Still, he's proud of his heritage
Fifty years after the fall of Saigon, Dong Van Tran is grateful for the life he has in Canada. His journey to Saskatoon wasn't easy.
New Straits Times
30-05-2025
- Business
- New Straits Times
Vietnam seizes fake Rolex, Prada items in counterfeit crackdown, state media reports
HANOI: Vietnamese authorities have seized thousands of fake products, including imitation Rolex watches and Prada handbags, during a raid at a shopping mall in business hub Ho Chi Minh City, state media reported today. The raid at Saigon Square Shopping Mall comes as Vietnam steps up its fight against counterfeits and digital piracy, after the United States accused the country of being a major hub for these illegal activities and threatened crippling tariffs. Earlier in May Reuters reported fake luxury goods were on display in the mall, which is on the list of "notorious markets for counterfeiting" published in January by the US Trade Representative. The items seized also included alleged fake products of other brands, including Longines, Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Dior and Hermes, state radio broadcaster VOV reported. "All of these products show signs of counterfeiting genuine goods, seriously affecting the interests of consumers as well as the reputation of protected brands in Vietnam," the report cited the Trade Ministry's market surveillance department as saying. An employee of the mall today confirmed the raid. "We lease the space to the sellers and are not aware of the origins and authenticity of the products they sell," the employee, who declined to be named, said by phone.
BBC News
30-05-2025
- General
- BBC News
Vietnamese orphan celebrates 50 years in Oxfordshire
A family is marking the 50th year since a personal tragedy led to them adopting a baby from officer Mike Pritchard and his wife Jacquie - from Chalgrove in Oxfordshire - lost their baby son Steven to cot death while they were in Singapore in a tragic twist, Mrs Pritchard had been to hospital that same day for a sterilisation operation. During the grief that followed they decided to do something positive. Knowing that the war in Vietnam had created many orphans, they made enquiries about adoption."A photograph was sent to us saying 'this is the baby you can have'," said Mrs Pritchard. Mr Pritchard flew to Saigon to collect the boy, who they named Matthew. "I held Matthew for the first time. His little eyes, I said 'you're the one for us'. Great, rubber stamped, done," explained Mr Pritchard. But there was a snag. The paperwork would take six weeks, so Mr Pritchard had to fly back to Singapore without Matthew and wait. Shortly afterwards, the couple heard news that a transport plane carrying orphan babies to America for safety had crashed with great loss of life. They feared Matthew might have been on board. Mr Pritchard flew back to Saigon and learned that Matthew was safe. But he had been flown on a different plane to Sydney, Australia. It was then that Mr Pritchard saw another opportunity. "I said 'look I know I'll get out of here somehow. Do you want me to take some babies?" he said. "I was asked, would I also take a 10-year-old blind boy?"I said yes of course! We headed for Hong Kong. All my babies in front of me in cardboard boxes. "A lot of people say I was very brave to do that. I just think I did what I needed to do." The babies were eventually flown to Britain where they were collected by their new parents. "Once I knew that these babies were safe with their adoptive families I thought 'this is where you step back'," said Mr Pritchard. Back in Singapore, the couple waited for the plane that brought Matthew to them. "We saw this woman walking along carrying this baby, she popped him in my arms and it was amazing," said Mrs Philip and Matthew grew up together, attending boarding school and university in England. Matthew remembers that as a child he attracted some attention. "Looking back, I can understand people's curiosity. I'm Vietnamese and I've got British parents. But I just felt like a normal child that was loved and brought up", he said. "The aspect of being rescued from a war zone never really crossed my mind. I feel very British. But I'm also very proud of my heritage and culture."Matthews parents reflect with mixed emotions on the events of 1974. "The tragedy of Steven dying. He didn't die in vain," said Mr Pritchard. "Good always comes out of bad."
