Sentimental Journey To Vietnam

Thirty Years On, Children Of 'Operation Babylift' Return To Homeland

(AP) 
During their two-day visit, they'll visit an orphanage and a center for disadvantaged children. Mostly busy professionals, they'll start making the long journey home Friday.

"Coming back here, it's just a great opportunity to learn more about my culture," said Jared Rehberg of New York City, who composed and recorded a CD, "Waking Up American," dedicated to those involved with "Operation Babylift."

Bill Keating, a pilot on the original flight, recalled taking off without lights to foil North Vietnamese anti-aircraft fire - and without clearance from the American authorities. The airline initially faced sanctions for defying U.S. officials, but support from the American public ensured the flights continued almost until Saigon's fall on April 30.

For Keating and other former crew members, the memories are still vivid. Former flight attendant Janice Wollett still has pictures from that night, faded images of babies strapped into nylon webbing or playing on the floor of the plane with smiling airline employees.

"The world is too small not for all of us to care for each," Wollett said. "There was so much pain here."

Not all the children survived the trips. One C5-A cargo plane used in a later flight crashed, killing nearly half the 330 children and adults on board.

Those who made it became more curious about their past as they grew older, said Timothy Linh Holtan, of Wheaton, Md. Coming back to visit helps soothe those yearnings, he said.

Yet for Tanya Dilbeck Bakal of Alpharetta, Ga., the questions aren't ever answered completely.

"Each time you come, you find answers to questions you didn't even think of, or you experience some kind of emotion, or you see something that triggers something down here that all of a sudden you have no control over," said Bakal, 31. "There's still that part of you that you'll never be able to fill, that you've missed."