Support this work by helping gather the missing pieces of history. Your donation preserves fragile records, returns original files to adoptees, and honors the caregivers and communities whose care shaped our lives by ensuring these stories are protected, shared, and never lost again.

MY NAME IS MIMOSA.

It is not the name I was given at birth.

It is not the name I go by today.

It is the name that was given to me when I learned to survive.

I was born in the Mekong Delta and raised in a Friends For All Children nursery in Saigon. I was matched for adoption by a family in Hawaii. In April 1975, President Ford initiated Operation Babylift, a large-scale evacuation of children from Vietnam to their matched families abroad. On April 4, 1975, 314 passengers (mostly children) were loaded onto a C-5A cargo plane - infants in the troop compartment and older children below in the cargo compartment. The plane was in the air for 12 minutes when the misrigged rear ramp locks failed under pressure, causing the entire rear ramp and pressure door to blow out, taking with them 2 of the 4 hydraulic systems. Pilot Col Bud Traynor turned the plane around and maneuvered back towards Saigon. The plane crashed, losing its landing gear, and went over the Saigon River and broke into parts upon landing. Of the 324 passengers, 178 survived. I was one of them.

MY NAME IS MIMOSA is an exhibit that brings together the fragmented pieces of the puzzle that is our origin story. My origin story that has been crafted by the media and told by others, never by me. It is a collection of archives gathered over the years, the only record of my past available: books. videos, articles, and documentaries. This has evolved over the years to include memoirs, books, and films. In recent years, social media has given this story a whole new dimension. The images that we have seen for our entire lives now have commentary, adding details about the plane crash, identifying families that were lost - no longer lists of names, but people that are missed every day.

In 2024 I was asked to help steward the last remaining files from the adoption agency that I was brought over through - Friends For All Children. I had been to Vietnam with Sister Mary Nelle Gage in 2005. She has all the boxes in her home in Colorado and needs help figuring out what to do with them in the future. She also wants to connect as many of the files as we can with the adoptees they belong to.

THE OPERATION BABYLIFT COLLECTION

What started out as a conceivably simple organizing project ended up being Archives 101 and a history internship. We have processed and scanned many of the transportation records, the passenger manifests, nursery logs, and records. In January 2026, a research trip linked the flight lists with the MAC (Military Air Command) flights, and the photographs shot by local journalists with articles documenting the children's arrival in Seattle, McChord AFB, San Francisco, and Travis AFB. This context gave meaning to the lists and a broadened understanding of the scope and scale of Operation Babylift.

We have delivered several adoptee files to individuals and have many more in the queue. We are delivering the files in person to ensure a supported experience that does not exacerbate the trauma, anxiety, and confusion, but offers care, respect, and resources through respect, context, and individualized support.

The Operation Babylift Collection will develop an archival collection that will be turned over to Texas Tech University as the repository to ensure future accessibility, preservation, security, and privacy.