More than 100 Vietnamese adoptees, along with their children and relatives, on Friday gathered at the site where the first plane carrying Babylift orphans crashed in District 12, Ho Chi Minh City on April 4, 1975 to commemorate those died in the tragedy.

Early in the morning, Trista Goldberg, president of the nonprofit organization Operation Reunite, along with her sister Monica Cuc Nguyen and other Vietnamese adoptees, such as Jim Ducas, Tara Linh, and Steve George, arrived at Ben Thanh Market in District 1, Ho Chi Minh City to buy fruits and flowers, and brought them to District 12.

In District 12, they gathered with over 100 other adopted Vietnamese children to memorialize the Babylift victims who perished in the crash of the C-5A Galaxy military plane.

As one of the first Vietnamese adoptees to be reunited with her biological family, Goldberg deeply understands the yearning to return to one’s roots among those in the same situation. 

Over the past 25 years, she has actively organized events for Babylift children and hundreds of Vietnamese adoptees worldwide who long to return to their homeland.

Goldberg shared that during her first return trip 15 years ago, with the support of Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper, she and her collaborators organized press conferences and meetings with Vietnamese parents who lost contact with their children, gathered DNA kits from both Vietnamese parents and Vietnamese adoptees around the world, and hosted online exchanges, helping many reunite with their biological families.

During the 35th anniversary of their return, they visited the crash site, which at the time was still a vegetable field covered in plants. Now, numerous buildings have been constructed, making it difficult to locate the site. 

"Fortunately, a local resident helped us, as the engine of the plane fell on his land. Thanks to him building a shrine and preserving the engine, we now have a specific place to visit and remember those who had the same situation as us," Goldberg said.

George shared that he was grateful to everyone involved in helping them. 

“It’s very special to hear the names of those we want to remember being read out, 50 years after they tragically remained in our motherland due to that ill-fated flight," he said.

Since 2010, Vietnamese adoptees have consistently visited District 12 each April to remember those who passed away in the crash. This year, the gathering was larger with many first-time attendees.

Aryn Lockhart, a 51-year-old Vietnamese-American woman and one of the few surviving children from the 313 passengers on the ill-fated flight, said she feels incredibly fortunate. 

"And it’s also very sad, very emotional to return after 50 years, to remember those who flew with me on that plane," she said with her eyes welling up with tears.

During this return trip, Lockhart chose to wear a yellow ao dai (Vietnam's traditional long gown) with black pants. She shared that she has one week to visit her homeland. 

"On April 5, I will head to Vinh Long [in southern Vietnam], hoping to find my biological mother and family," Lockhart said.

Like Lockhart, 51-year-old French-Vietnamese Stephanie Racine also expressed feeling incredibly lucky to be among the surviving Babylift individuals from the plane crash and to participate in this meaningful remembrance. 

“Being able to return to my homeland and stand here today with hundreds of other Vietnamese adoptees is a great fortune," she said, adding that her 20 French-Vietnamese adoptees joined this return trip.

Sandie Lafon, a French-Vietnamese woman, stated that she brought her husband, Jean Michel Lafon, and their two sons, Oscar Lafon, nine, and Arthur, 13, to join the memorial for those who passed 50 years ago.

"I’m very happy to be here, reunited with adoptees from all over the world, children like I once was. I also want to express my deepest condolences to those who tragically didn’t make it," she said. 

Sandie Lafon and her family planned to spend four weeks in Vietnam to allow her children to explore the culture and people of Vietnam, a country always close to her heart.

Kevin Maes, 50, a Vietnamese-American man, took his two daughters to the memorial, saying that this was their first visit to Vietnam, and they were happy to have made the trip planned in 2019. 

Monica Cuc Nguyen, deeply moved at the memorial, said, "I don’t know how to express it, but perhaps being alive, being healthy, and standing here at this moment are happier than anything else."

Mary Nelle Gage, one of the nuns involved in caring for orphans in Saigon before 1975 and assisting with adoptions, despite being elderly, returned to attend the memorial. 

At the event, she read the names of the victims who lost their lives in the tragic plane crash and offered condolences. 

On April 4, 1975, the humanitarian mission known as 'Operation Babylift' -- a mass evacuation of Vietnamese children to the U.S. and other countries ordered by President Gerald Ford in the final days of the war in Vietnam -- began in tragedy.

About 20 minutes after taking off from Tan Son Nhat Airport, a C-5A Galaxy military transport plane carrying 313 people crashed into a field in District 12 around 4:00 pm.

One hundred and seventy-five people survived the accident while 138 died in the crash.

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