As the Vietnam War came to an ugly end, confusion reigned as the U.S. rushed to evacuate Saigon in those last days of April 1975. In the shock and chaos, our Australian airmen and civilian countrymen responded marvelously. They were a part of Operation Babylift, an airlift mission that evacuated thousands of Vietnamese babies and children. Geoff Rose, a pilot who flew alongside fellow airman John Stone, vividly recalls the harrowing experiences during this critical time.
On April 30 th , North Vietnamese tanks crashed through the gates of the presidential palace. This daring step constituted the closing shot in the battle. The last missions in the run up to that day were filled with danger and uncertainty. The psychological toll between being a soldier and a humanitarian was significant. Not every member of the RAAF escaped the emotional damage.
The Turmoil of April
On April 8, with Rose and Stone completing their pre-departure checks for a convoy supply run, they were shaken by the sound of a cannon-like explosion.
“A jet went flying over, I felt the blast and thought, ‘I hope this is not an attack on the city,’” – Geoff Rose
Their environment was apocalyptic, to put it mildly. Loadmaster Noel Darr recalled the heartrending scene on the airport tarmac. During the closing weeks of the war, thousands of panicked families scrambled to secure whatever methods of departure were available. They desperately wanted to escape their disintegrating country. We learned how children were not just evacuated, but often tossed or dropped from aircraft doors into waiting arms.
“They were desperate to get out and babies were just being thrown over in the paratroop door,” – Noel Darr
Their missions were urgent and the risk was real, both for the RAAF personnel conducting the flights and those in danger surrounding them. David Nicholls, aircraft captain, remembers standing on a green roof. He liked drinking beers while discussing the uncertainty that was hanging above them like a sword of Damocles.
“But in the distance, we could hear the gunfire and explosions.” – Captain David Nicholls
Operation Babylift’s Legacy
The mass evacuation of the orphaned children began on April 4, 1975 when a Lockheed C-130 Hercules took off packed with children destined for airlift. During this operation as many as 3,000 children were evacuated out of Vietnam—but not without major controversy. Others asked if it was morally justifiable for America to forcibly remove these children from their families and native country.
Less than a week later, Geoff Rose had his own doubts crystallized amid this political turmoil. He described as a “crisis or problem” the complexities of what they were doing.
“I’m not sure the South Vietnamese really wanted their children taken away,” – Geoff Rose
Even though he had misgivings, Rose and other RAAF personnel were devoted to their mission. Yet one of the other airmen who’d played a role in Operation Babylift, John Stone, reiterated that their motivations were humanitarian.
“We knew what would have happened to them if they had stayed behind.” – John Stone
The mission was not without its tragedies. A crash involving one of the aircraft killed 138 people, including two Australians—nun Margaret Moses and nurse Lee Makk—who were part of a larger tragic narrative surrounding the war.
Reflections and Connections
Years after the conference, Geoff Rose had the chance to meet Nguyen Thanh Trung. Trung had an enormous impact on the conflict by dropping bombs on the presidential palace. Their meeting illustrated the intricacies of friendships developed during such a transformational time.
“I don’t know whether it was a joke amongst the other blokes, but they allocated me to train him,” – Geoff Rose
Trung’s fiery destruction of the invading Chinese troops instantly turned him into a national hero among the elite of the Northern regime. Operation Babylift from two different points. The experiences of those who helped carry out the mission and those who stood against the mission form a complex and deep historical tapestry.
As he processed what he had witnessed, Rose struggled with questions that would be asked long after the war was over.
“Why did we go to a war zone to pick up the cargo and who made those decisions? I guess I’ll never know.” – David Nicholls
The cumulative burden of these experiences is still felt by survivors today.
