were Filipinos sadly, though, after wed returned home from Wake we had learned that nearly half of them who wed met were killed in a plane crash on their way home for their own R&R. Two C130 missions evacuated Vietnamese refugees from Vung Tau on the coast, but other flights took escapees out of Saigon. But in October of 2002, during the week when my wife and I were splitting up and I was moving out, I received an email from Derek (originally Du~ng) Hoang, brother and cousin to those names mentioned above. Either bring the screen close to their tank, or fetch them, briefly, in a transparent bowl, and bring them to the screen. It is an unorganized United States territory, with no permanent residents, just members of the U.S. military and civilian contractors who manage the facility. Not for a moment. The program included members of the Vietnamese-American Community of Kansas City telling their story of relocation and transition, as well as reading poetry reflecting that experience. Tens of thousands of Vietnamese civilians clamored outside a US facility in April 1975, hoping to secure a helicopter seat to freedom. I tried to make their stay at Clark comfortable. He is truly the greatest man I have ever known. It was signed by Dizzy Gillespie. You all helped us get on our feet to start a life anew here. Dont know the whole story but am familiar with the baby lift at the beginning. However, as a pediatrician at Tachikawa AFB, we received the second plane load of children following that first crash. On December 11, 1941, Wake Island was the site of the Japanese Empire's first unsuccessful amphibious attack on U.S. territory in World War II when U.S. Marines, with some U.S. Navy personnel and civilians on the island, repelled an attempted Japanese invasion. Anyways a very long story short there are so many stories I could share but, two stand out a 15 year old boy bringing his family through the processing line they were amongst the ones we knew as the boat people because they escaped Name on their fishing boats. I'd still be using it happily had I not dropped it in Swan Creek, in southern Missouri, while canoeing in the summer of 1979. Its possession by Japan had no significance on the outcome of the war. Ronald, reading your comment lead me to document and experience that I had with my Blue Ribbon Aircraft recovery team in Apr of 75 at Fort Smith AR. Photo: Wikimedia, Public domain. When Operation New Life concluded, it had compiled a record of 201 C141 flights and 174 C130 sorties. The Pulau Bidong refugee camp in Malaysia was typical of the conditions faced by many refugees. On April 4, a C-5 Galaxy from the 60th Military Airlift Wing, which had just delivered howitzers to Tan Son Nhut AB in Saigon, loaded more than 300 passengersincluding at least 230 orphansfor a flight to the Philippines. Though theyd managed to get on board a destroyer because of the massive number of boat people clambering to board our ships a decision was made to hold of medical treatment until they arrived at port Wake island. You read the number of flight and over 25,000 refugees in about 30 days. 4.78 Rating by CuteStat. They were officially refugees. I wrote that preceding paragraph in the summer of 2001. Welcome to Wake Island, rich in history and yet little known. Greg was on Wake when I got there, and was still there when I left, but he didn't last much more than another year there. Chau Mai it was me and my Air Force Blue Ribbon Team that blocked your planes in and helped you off at Fort She is an automotive journalist and author for the China Automotive News, in Beijing, and is currently working on a book for her publisher concerning one element of the history of the Chinese automotive industry. The position of Bidong Island is located 45 km off the coast of Terengganu in the South China Sea. If the CEO of, say, Harper/Collins happens to be surfing the Web in his abundant leisure time, keeping tabs on the state of expression in the English language, I feel I must note that I already have written three books of over 100,000 words each in urgent need of publishing. Within a few years, the music budget of Parks and Recreation was slashed, and the great sounds that came from our parks each summer had changed. He had discovered this site and quickly called his sisters and brother. Chris is a Vietnam vet who has put together a Web site (www.vietnamsoldier.com) for his outfit, the 25th Artillery Division, and has stories more harrowing than ones of being chased by marauding gangs of hermit crabs at sunset by the lagoon at Wake Island. The president of World Airways, Ed Daly, originated the idea, and the U.S. ambassador in Saigon, Graham Martin, advocated the use of Air Force aircraft in addition to commercial contract airliners. At 3 a.m. on December 11, a Japanese invasion task force commanded by Rear Adm. Sadamichi Kajioka, consisting of a light cruiser, six destroyers, two troop carriers and two armed merchantmen, confidently approached Wake's beaches. Every man was needed for the final battle, and forces were gathering offshore. We had never met, but he had seen a story about me and my Wake Island pictures in a newspaper in Laredo, Texas. So this site is my love letter to you. Posted On 7, 2022. It's called Love is in the Air, Along with Some Other Pollutants. I still have photos. The Vietnamese evacuation airlift operations demonstrated the utility of a single theater airlift manager, the effectiveness of integrating strategic and tactical airlift resources, and above all, the critical contribution of ground support personnel to mission success. 4.18.Vietnam War refugees and Operation New Life [Kaunting pagbabago o pagkakabago ] Sa tagsibol ng 1975 ang populasyon ng Wake Island ay binubuo ng 251 militar, gobyerno at sibilyan na mga tauhan ng kontrata, na ang pangunahing misyon ay upang mapanatili ang paliparan bilang Mid-Pacific emergency runway. That story must have made the Knight-Ridder wire circuit and ended up in Laredo, as well as other places perhaps. The Kansas City, Missouri, Parks and Recreation Department used to sponsor free concerts each summer in the various parks owned by the city. Wheels down we disembarked and headed to base you couldnt help but see hundreds, more likely nearly 1,000 (+) Vietnamese people lined up awaiting transportation and being screened by Security Police personnel. The most common activities were going to the outdoor movies and drinking, sailing on the lagoon and drinking, going to the bowling alley and drinking, visiting the American Legion hall and drinking, sitting outside under palm trees in the fading light of evening and drinking. Out of 120 people, only 15 men survived. However, there's something of a lesson in that scene, I believe, and it applied to Wake Island only in a less extreme version. ^ N. Mark Shelley, "Building Community from 'Scratch': Forces at Work among Urban Vietnamese Refugees in Milwaukee," Sociological Inquiry 71 (Fall 2001): 474. My friend Kiemhue, who, with her husband and sister, came through Wake in June and July of 1975, has done that for her daughters and it will provide an important link between her past and their future. But other Vietnamese not In the camp are living primitively . wake island vietnamese refugees. They include the book I wrote concerning my trips to China beginning in 2003, Love is in the air, along with some other Pollutants. After returning to the U.S. and abject unemployment in 1997, I began writing Nodding Off in the Unemployment Line. The airlift operations also exposed weaknesses in emergency airlift evacuation procedures, aircraft structures, and diplomatic relations. The refugees were attacked by pirates and were trafficked and sold into slavery and prostitution. This site literally would not exist without his help and encouragement. When Guam filled with refugees, a newer processing camp on Wake Island went into operation. here were 2 great jazz periods in the history of Kansas City. In February of 2001, a strange man left both voicemail and e-mail messages for me at the college. wakeisland1975.com is 2 decades 10 months old. I looked at his book. Aloha! I stupidly volunteered (didnt realize the Air Force wouldnt allow me to do so). Photos of Vietnamese refugees who came to Wake Island in 1975 after the fall of Saigon and the end of the Vietnam War. $230.00. Since, without a greater influx of funds into my coffers I am likely to end my life living under a bridge, I would appreciate your understanding and respecting my need for momentary solvency. In these operations, the Air Force, working with the Navy and private contractors, flew more than 50,000 refugees from southeast Asia to islands in the Pacific Ocean and eventually to new homes in the United States. What a wonderful story John Spade and Chau Mai. No sooner had we settled into our quarters when SSMSgt rounded us all up and ordered us to the chow hall where we met some of the nicest group of civilian personnel. Anh, born in 1962, grew up in Saigon, where her parents moved as refugees from the north when the country partitioned in 1954. It's like trying to work out Fermat's Last Theorem on an abacus. The 60th, 62d, 63d, 436th, 437th, and 438th Military Airlift Wings and the 314th Tac Alft Wg employed C141s, C130s, and C5s to airlift refugees from the Philippines, Guam, and Wake through Hickam, Norton, Travis, and McChord AFBs to processing centers at Eglin AFB, Florida; Fort Chaffee, Arkansas; Camp Pendleton, California; and Fort Indiantown Gap, Pennsylvania. If you were on Wake Island you know that I gave you copies of these pictures the day after I took them. Top ways to experience Galang Vietnamese Refugee Camp and nearby attractions. To have lived in Kansas City at that time, going to clubs around 18th and Vine, hearing the great sounds pour out into the street every night, to just be alive with (pardon me, Oscar Hammerstein) the sound of music; that must have been a wonderful era in which to be a jazz lover. A couple I've sold to friends. Air Force cargo planes airlifted more than 50,000 passengers from Saigon in 375 Operation New Life flights. From 1979 to 1996 the 80-hectare refugee camp processed between 122,000 and 145,000 people, most of them Vietnamese refugees who had arrived by boat directly from Vietnam or had been rejected by Malaysia prior to reaching Indonesia. In our private hells that emerged once everyone else had staggered off to their rooms, we were a forlorn and morose lot, living there because the money was good and the world was at bay. Dennis Traynor tried to fly the disabled plane back to Saigon. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); document.getElementById( "ak_js_2" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Aloha I was a Sgt assigned to 15th ABWg, Hickam AFB during Operation Babylift On April 27th I received the call that our PERSCO (Personnel In Spt of Contingency Opns) team was being deployed we didnt know where we were headed and thought wed be headed to Nam to assist with Operation Frequent Wind but instead we landed on Wake Atoll (aka Island). Commercial aircraft participated as well, as did U.S. Wake Island is a tiny island in Micronesia in the Pacific Ocean, 2/3 of the way from Honolulu to Guam, best known for its role in World War II. The jazz photos were treated to ICE technology to eliminate scratches and physical imperfections. Their current "professional" SLR costs 20 times what the Pentax SLR I bought in Japan 10 years ago did. As the mid 90s approached, refugee camps on the brink of closure, protests were staged and people were imprisoned. After years of thinking this interview was lost, I discovered it in a long-neglected hard drive. Rick, I was working for Schaefer Ambulance Service from Los Angeles, made 2 Trips to Norton AFB on Operations Baby Lift to Transport babies 2 Different Hospital First load went to Childrens Hospital Los Angeles, 2nd Trip UCLA Hospital West Los Angeles. Adult survivors were frightened that wed remove survivors from the crashed plane on this second flight and hid them in various places on the plane when it landed at Yokota AFB. This boy was placed in charge of his group (mostly family) of 35 people because he spoke the best English of them all his father was killed while they were escaping the Cong chased them down with their gun boat and blasted the groups fishing boat with a couple of rockets dad was killed, a very small baby (@ 6-8 weeks old) had his face smashed in by shrapnel and what wed discovered after this brave young man had got his entire group through the processing line (taking names; billeting; medical assistance; etc.) I long to hear from you, long to hear of you, long to know that life in this country has been good to you, long to see pictures of your children and grandchildren, long to grow old with you as my dearest friends. It is honorable soldiers like you and your departed friend Donny along with so many kind and compassionate American people here in the States who took us in with open arms that make this country so great because of its generosity. The second, Operation New Life, ran from April 23- November 1, 1975, airlifting over 100,000 evacuees and refugees from South Vietnam. ake is located at 19 degrees, 17 minutes north latitude, and 166 degrees, 39 minutes east longitude in the Pacific Ocean. At it's peak in the summer of 1975, nearly 20,000 Vietnamese were living at Camp Pendleton in eight different camps, camps that were about a ten minute drive away from Southern California surfers catching waves, but might has well been a world away. When we landed the plane taxied up and stopped and he told us to grab our tools and bags and get into a Air National Guard truck that was waiting for us, so we did. Her name was Whin Nguyen (sic) Cute kid. According to The Evening News, the first baby born to a Vietnamese refugee was born at 2:45 a.m. May 30. At the time, I was single and unaware he was the uncle of Mata Baker, the woman who would become my second wife in 1984, and my second ex-wife in 2003. It was our responsibility to marshal these military and commercial aircraft in, block them, put power to them, handle any maintenance problems, unload luggage bay and assist the refugees, young or old, should they need it. U.S. cargo planes would transport hundreds of Vietnamese and Cambodian orphans from southeast Asia to the United States. Albion had been contracted by the Air Force to write a history of Wake Island post-1945, and the 1975 refugee operation was a blank spot he was trying to fill. Forty-five years ago in April 75 I was working as an army medic at the Pacific refugee camps. The outcome the AWESOME MASH personnel not only saved this boys life as well as that of the baby, but SAVED HIS LEG! Wake Island is a tiny island in Micronesia in the Pacific Ocean, located 2/3 of the way from Honolulu to Guam, best known for its role in World War II. Mr. Spade, I was just shy of 4 years old when I arrived in Ft Chaffee, Arkansas as a Vietnamese refugee along with my parents and 3 siblings. Commercial use of any of the images or words on this Web site without written permission of the owner is prohibited. Things changed when the refugees and CIA folks came in from all over various places in indochina. wake island vietnamese refugees750 watt step through electric bike. "Commercial use" includes use by any entity that is in business to make a profit, whether or not the material from this site furthers that purpose. The U.S. helicopters airlifted more than 6,000 passengers out of Saigon on April 29 and 30, including over 5,000 Vietnamese. Of course, there was no bomb. Needless to say, I have never been to Laredo, Texas, all the DNA evidence and scurrilous writings on bathroom walls to the contrary. . Marine gunners let them close to 4,500 yards before their 5-inch naval guns opened fire. And it only cost me a stack of CD-ROMs, a meal I prepared in a strange kitchen, and a bottle of 1982 Chateau Gruaud-Larose, most of which I drank, anyway. The entire island is protected by a coral reef that secures the calmness of the lagoon's surface. We had never met, to my knowledge, but she had seen a Wake Island posting I had left at another Web site and decided to contact me. Which doesn't mean that I don't appreciate her for her own individuality and uniqueness; after all, because of her I now have another gray hair! After a few phone conversations, he flew out to Kansas City during my Spring Break and we had two full days of an interview. Two days later, both a C130 and a C141 were hit by bullets near Tan Son Nhut AB. At that time, the island was supervised by the U.S. Air Force. Visit www.wakeisland.ws for some stunning aerial photographs of the island. I want to mention the Hoang family. Later in his brief time as a student there, Jake brought home his music theory book and said that "some guy" had come into class that Saturday and talked about music and other "stuff." The Vietnamese refugee airlift, the largest aerial evacuation in history, encompassed a series of overlapping operations that are difficult to separate: Babylift, New Life, Frequent Wind, and New Arrivals. When the proposal to send Afghan refugees fleeing Taliban violence to Guam was floated earlier this year, it brought up memories for many during a similar situation on island 46 years ago. South Korean star Kim Woo Bin's upcoming futuristic drama Black Knight from Netflix, has officially unveiled a new poster!According to the Korean tabloid Soompi, based on a webtoon, Black Knight . It is a domain having com extension. Pictures and kind words flowed back and forth across the aether. The plane closed its doors and flew away. If only the world were like that. If it's none of the above, blame me for saddling him with a lot of impossible demands and incompatible expectations. The closest land to Wake is the Marshall Island of Bikini, 500 nautical miles to the south. That was to be very SHORT LIVED (lol!) They were later transferred to . In the beginning, lots of military planes, but soon the load shifted to the larger commercial aircraft. In 15 days in May, 73 commercial and 123 military flights transported 24,560 passengers to Fort Smith. Apparently, the U.S. was unprepared for the huge numbers of people who were leaving to come to America, and Wake Island was suddenly useful again as an overflow center. I formerly taught meteorology for the National Weather Service Training Center, in Kansas City, and founded and published the now defunct wine newsletter, Hair of the Dog. The helicopters shuttled between the besieged capital and U.S. ships in the South China Sea, including the aircraft carrier USS Midway. Between April 29 and May 9, MAC C141s and C130s transported more than 31,000 Vietnamese refugees from the Philippines to Guam. It reminds me of the scene in the movie To Kill a Mockingbird when Atticus Finch (Gregory Peck) is standing guard at night outside the jail in expectation of a white lynch mob from town. The most recent is a tale of the frustrated search for love and romance in China via Internet contacts. All the pictures on this site, except as noted, were scanned on Nikon Cool Scan film scanner, set to achieve an output definition of 300 dpi, with an output size of approximately 810 inches. The WA plane flight was canceled because of rocket attacks at the airport. Sadly, his life ended during Christmas week, 2001. I've lived a full and interesting life since we met, but not as full and interesting as it could have been with you in it. During the spring of 1975, MAC transported 8,556 tons of cargo to the camps, including beds, mattresses, blankets, tents, rations, evaporated milk, baby food, and insecticides. In late April 1976, a small fishing boat carrying five young Vietnamese refugees sailed into Darwin harbor. It would make me believe in Santa Claus again. Seems like there is no record of our key contribution and as the Team Lead, my guys left it all out on the Fort Smith Airport Tarmac. Amazingly enough, we have remained in contact and have saved the tapes. Do you notice a pattern emerging? In April 1975, communist forces took over South Vietnam and Cambodia (Kampuchea). The island has never had an indigenous human population, though thousands of sea-going birds migrate through, nest there and raise their young. I never saw her again. A July 8, 1979 file photo shows Vietnamese refugees waiting to be collected in the China Sea on board the French hospital ship "Island of Light". The local Air National Guard Unit hosted you until the Army from Fort Chaffee was ready to take you to the camp. Posted 2022610 by 2022610 by We divided up and worked 12-hrs shifts. In its heyday, from the mid-1930s to mid-1960s, Wake supported as many as 5000 people, providing education, medical care, and entertainment for its residents. But some of you are as clear in my mind and my memory as yesterday's sunset. At its peak in 1975, nearly 20,000 refugees were at Camp Pendleton in 8 locations. We scanned the first 200 negatives that weekend and they are on this site. Refugees also found temporary shelter at Andersen AFB. Within a few hours of shooting them, I processed the rolls in a photo darkroom on Wake at the rear of the bar known as the Drifter's Reef. He is also the person who sicced the Ford Library on me, trying, as they do, to grub freebees for the National Archives. Miraculously, more than half of the passengers survived, including 149 orphans. Operation Babylift lasted from April 4 through May 6. But those last few years were heavenly. The island was previously used as a meeting ground between U.S. President Harry S. Truman and General Douglas MacArthur. According to my father, we flew on an Air America C-47 transport to U Tapao, Thailand, spending 2 nights there and then boarding an Air America C-141 Starlifter (or a C-130) to Anderson Air Force Base in Guam. Its possession since 1945 by the United States has been undisputed in international law, though there is a movement in Hawaii to retake what is called by some "Enenkio" to become a member of the Republic of the Marshall Islands.

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