Military Operations

Operation Babylift

Contemporary

Citation Formats

General Reference

War and Military Atlas. "Operation Babylift." Accessed September 8, 2026. https://military.interactiveatlas.org/military-operations/operation-babylift.

APA Style

War and Military Atlas. (n.d.). Operation Babylift. Retrieved September 8, 2026, from https://military.interactiveatlas.org/military-operations/operation-babylift

BibTeX

@misc{warandmilitaryatlas-operation-babylift,
  author = {War and Military Atlas},
  title = {Operation Babylift},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://military.interactiveatlas.org/military-operations/operation-babylift},
  note = {Accessed September 8, 2026}
}

Operation Babylift was the mass evacuation of more than 3,300 children from South Vietnam to the United States and allied countries in early April 1975, in the final weeks before the fall of Saigon. U.S. military and chartered civilian aircraft flew orphans out of Tan Son Nhut Airport for adoption abroad; the effort was marred when the first flight, a C-5A Galaxy, crashed shortly after takeoff on 4 April 1975, killing 138 people, including 78 children.

Facts

Operation Type

Evacuation (humanitarian, child welfare) 1

Start Date

1975-04-03 1

End Date

1975-04-26 1

Location

Tan Son Nhut Airport, Saigon, South Vietnam, to the United States and other countries 1

Participants

U.S. 62nd Airlift Wing and Military Airlift Command, private adoption agencies, Pan American World Airways 1

Objective

Evacuate Vietnamese orphans and vulnerable children from Saigon before the city fell to North Vietnamese forces 1

Outcome

Approximately 2,500 to 3,300 children were relocated and adopted internationally; a C-5A Galaxy crash on the first flight killed 138 people, including 78 children 1

Cross-Tradition Connections