P.S. Reader Commentary
Published in the July/August 2009 Humanist
The theme of the May/June Humanist was “(Mis)education,” questioning assumptions that certain educational practices are in children’s best interest. In his article, “Operation Babylift: An Adoptee’s Perspective,” Kevin Minh Allen shared a unique and very personal outlook regarding the efforts to rescue babies from war-torn countries. Because the Humanist is a magazine of critical inquiry and social concern, the editors felt it worthwhile to explore the idea that the United States may have misstepped in its zeal to Americanize young survivors without nurturing some familiarity with their native culture, or showing more sensitivity or humility regarding the circumstances that forced these children to lose their family and their heritage in the first place. After receiving a good number of letters in response to the article, we decided it was equally valid to share some of them.
After reading Kevin Minh Allen’s article, I became very depressed and disappointed in his take on Operation Babylift—a view which is totally at odds with my “rescuer’s” perspective.
The Vietnam war was waged during a part of my twenty-two years as manager of the Red Cross in Alameda, California. I partook in many protests against the war and our government’s policies. But when Ed Daly of World Airways took it upon himself to “rescue” Vietnamese orphans by flying them to Oakland and San Francisco, our Red Cross was called for help. Our volunteers scrambled to grab hundreds of babies off the planes, pulling them from luggage compartments, from under seats, and stuffed six or seven in the passenger rows. We carried them to buses (many trips, many planes) and tended to them in our laps on the way to the San Francisco Presidio barracks. There we placed the babies on mattress pads laid out in long rows on the floor, and we watched and cared for the infants until others came to take our places. I noticed a high percentage of babies had cleft lips and reported this to the University of California doctors (I suspected Agent Orange spray as well as other factors). Doctors used triage to take the worst diarrhea cases to hospitals. Most of these “orphans” had been tagged and adopted sight-unseen by families—lots of the arrangements made through the Methodists, I heard. I also heard that many Vietnamese mothers begged to get their own babies onto these planes—out of harm’s way. And finally, as David Lamb writes in his investigative piece, “Children of the Vietnam War,” published in the June 2009 Smithsonian magazine, Amerasians left behind in Vietnam faced horrible discrimination and abuse.
It was a desperate time and many mistakes were made. We civilians could protest but, in what felt like a strange interlude, all I could do was try to help these innocent victims of war. A Vietnamese boy of eighteen and his twenty-year-old sister lived with me for several months until they were able to join the rest of their family who escaped, again via the auspices of the Methodists. (I’m an atheist, but so what?!) All this chaos was just one facet of the entire foul-up. However, I’m surprised and saddened that this now grown-up survivor claims he and all the other babies should have been left in Vietnam. I know that many would have died there or been abused if not for the altruism, misguided or not, of the many U.S. citizens who volunteered.
Martha Killebrew
Oakland, CA
Has Kevin Minh Allen gone back to Korea or Vietnam to observe the condition of Amerasians? I recall Americans were told at one time that in Korea, the mixed-race kids would never be allowed to reach a reproducible age. What should our response have been? At the time it seemed appropriate to bring some of the thousands of orphaned or abandoned children, most of them fathered by American G.I.’s, into our families. I’m sorry that Allen is left with such bitter memories and attitude. What can we do now, and what can be learned in order to be prepared for a possible repeat of this situation?
Reno Kuehnel
Wausaukee, WI
“Operation Babylift” brings a thought provoking, important piece to the discussion on adoption. I think Allen is asking us to get off the high horse and to see our “good deeds” in the context of our military actions around the world. Keep on speaking out, Kevin!
Elena Sante
Denver, Colorado