I was at Ft. Benning, Ga. when these orphans arrived. They were housed in a remote area of the military base, in an unused school. There was a call out for people to help care for the children and babies. Many of us Army wives volunteered, myself included. We were shuttled into the secluded area by MPs by the car load.
The children were scared in played amongst themselves....you could tell they'ed been through bad times. They just didn't have the typical playfulness of children not exposed to war and hard times. None were nearly as healthy looking as portrayed in the film. The babies were so small compared to my knowledge of American children. The name tags or records on the beds would give ages, and most children that were two or three appeared very small, like 6 month olds. These kids were malnourished and many had intestinal problems. They kept us hopping caring for them and the orderlies and staff from the nearby army hospital were always there to help when we ran into a situation we were not familiar with.
It was interesting for me to stumble upon a movie made about this event. We caretakers had no idea what really transpired in Saigon before their arrival in the spring of 1975. So now I know most of the story. All the children were adopted out and I found that they had a 35 year anniversary in 2010.
The children were scared in played amongst themselves....you could tell they'ed been through bad times. They just didn't have the typical playfulness of children not exposed to war and hard times. None were nearly as healthy looking as portrayed in the film. The babies were so small compared to my knowledge of American children. The name tags or records on the beds would give ages, and most children that were two or three appeared very small, like 6 month olds. These kids were malnourished and many had intestinal problems. They kept us hopping caring for them and the orderlies and staff from the nearby army hospital were always there to help when we ran into a situation we were not familiar with.
It was interesting for me to stumble upon a movie made about this event. We caretakers had no idea what really transpired in Saigon before their arrival in the spring of 1975. So now I know most of the story. All the children were adopted out and I found that they had a 35 year anniversary in 2010.