As the war in Viet Nam neared its end, thousands of children were left in the orphanages around the country. Many were of mixed race, which was considered a disgraceful heritage; they faced lives of abuse and servitude if the communists succeeded. In addition, children around the country were suffering from heart conditions that required medical treatment only available in other countries. Le-Thi Bach-Thuy grew up in Viet Nam during World War II and the years and wars that followed. She became a social worker with Partners Aiding Children Today, helping pediatric heart patients obtain care in the United States. She also worked with Friends of Children of Viet Nam (FCVN), helping with the documentation and placement of orphans with new families abroad. She adopted two children of her own while helping raise her sisters' families and care for her mother. Her second adopted child, a son, joined her family in March 1975; just weeks later she put him on the historic World Airways flight that brought 57 orphans to the United States and inspired the creation of Operation Babylift. That program went on to rescue another 3,300 orphans within just a few short weeks. With no foreseeable means of escape herself, Bach-Thuy stayed in Saigon helping care for the orphans streaming into FCVN Center and finding ways to get her daughter, nieces, and nephews to safety in the United States. As more and more cities surrendered to the communists, she feared being left behind when her American colleagues were evacuated. She would be viewed as an enemy by the North Vietnamese and likely imprisoned or killed for her work sending children out of the country. Thanks to the help of her friends, she was able to escape just days before Saigon fell. Yet her story does not end there. Her life and work in America continued to focus on assisting and supporting Vietnamese refugees as they adjusted to their new lives, helping them learn new trades and get their papers in order. The 40th anniversary of Operation Babylift in April 2015 has brought new attention to this forgotten piece of Vietnamese and American history, and Le-Thi Bach-Thuy's story is an amazing, emotional, personal account of life in Viet Nam in those years. Her life, work, and spirit are indomitable.
About the Author: Le-Thi Bach-Thuy left Viet Nam one week before the end of the war in April 1975. She resettled in Denver, Colorado, with her two children, her sister, and her sister's three children. She continued to work for Friends of Children of Viet Nam to help place orphans with new adoptive families. In 1977, at age 37, she returned to school to study at the Colorado Women's College. She earned a bachelor's degree in sociology in June 1979. After graduation she continued her education at the University of Denver and earned a master's degree in social work. While in school, she met and married a fellow Vietnamese refugee, Tran Nhu Chuong, who had a doctorate of philosophy in psychology and worked as a consultant for Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service in Tampa, Florida. After her graduation in June 1981, she and her children joined her new husband in Tampa. Unable to find a suitable job in social work, she took a job as an interpreter for the Vietnamese refugees who were learning new trades at the Pinellas Vocational Technical Institute (PVTI) in Clearwater, Florida. Her duties there were to help the trainees learn new concepts for welding, machine trade, and mechanics. It was not easy to translate the technical terms, so she attended the classes with the trainees, took notes, read the textbooks, asked questions, and was present in the shops every day. Within a few months her notebook was filled with information that she had to revise and translate to help the trainees understand. She knew that her translations and explanations would help more refugees in the future, so in 1982 she published The Technical Terms of Welding, and in 1984 she published a second booklet, Manual for Auto Mechanics. She and her husband later started a business helping immigrants obtain the necessary documents to work and live in America. Her husband Tran Nhu Chuong passed away suddenly in 1994, and she maintains their business to this day. Her daughter, Le Thi Bach-Uyen, became a family practice physician and married a U.S. Marine officer (Lieutenant Colonel, Retired). They have four daughters. Her son earned his bachelor's degree at UCF; He married a fellow Vietnamese adoptee and settled in Caledonia, Michigan. They have two young, lovely daughters and a third on the way. He also has another daughter from a previous marriage. Le-Thi Bach-Thuy has written this memoir especially for her family. She wanted them to know about the fascinating life of their mother and grandmother.