“Operation Babylift” adoptees talk about their experience 50 years later

By Anne Makovec

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    SAN FRANCISCO (KPIX) — At San Francisco’s Crissy Field, an old building sits largely unnoticed. But 50 years ago, inside Harmon Hall, an event unfolded that changed the lives of thousands of people, including the lives of three little girls.

“You know we all went through a lot of trauma,” said Lara Price.

“I find that I think about it less and less,” noted Wendy Norberg.

“The fall of Saigon was happening, and they had to get everyone out,” remarked Tricia Houston.

Leading up to the fall of Saigon, for most of April 1975, the U.S. government airlifted nearly 2,600 Vietnamese children to America for adoption. The series of 32 flights was part of “Operation Babylift.”

The first flight was unauthorized and occurred on a World Airways DC-8. Norberg arrived on this flight which landed late at night at Oakland International Airport.

The first authorized flight crashed soon after takeoff and killed dozens of children. Lara Price survived the crash.

Price was then put on the next flight, along with a very tiny baby who in the U.S. became known as Tricia Houston. Tricia was very sick and at 6 months, only weighed 9 lbs.

All three babies arrived at Harmon Hall, along with hundreds of other Vietnamese children — all bearing adoption papers thanks to the Babylift.

President Gerald Ford, who authorized the multi-million-dollar effort, arrived with his wife Betty at SFO, where he took a baby off the plane.

Price, now a musician, was adopted by a military officer and his wife. They traveled around as his duties changed.

Tricia Houston, an elementary school teacher, found a new home with a family in Orange County.

And Wendy Norberg, an accomplished photographer, was embraced by Ralph and Marilyn Norberg.

But the mission was not without controversy.

At Harmon Hall, as the children were processed some of the volunteers spoke Vietnamese to the children.

“They discovered that a significant number of them had families and that they were not orphans,” remarked East Bay Attorney Thomas Miller.

Miller, along with the Center for Constitutional Rights, immediately filed a class action lawsuit against the US government to determine who was eligible for adoption. The lawsuit Nguyen Da Yen v Kissinger argued that the detention of the children was unconstitutional, and the lawyers sought to reunite the children with their families.

Miller told CBS News Bay Area that some of the Vietnamese parents put their kids on a plane to save them, hoping to join them once the children escaped immediate danger.

He likened their action to throwing a child out of a burning building and if the parent survived, they would want their child handed back to them.

“All of this would have been preventable if the U.S. government had operated responsibly right from the beginning, remarked Miller.

A judge denied the lawsuit and sealed the records.

Years later, international family law and immigration expert Rong Kuhtz took a deeper dive.

“I discovered widespread misconduct,” Kuhtz said.

Kultz researched federal, state, and court records involving the Babylift. Miller supplied her with everything he had on the case.

She discovered nearly half the children arrived with forged or fake identities, and that there is no paper trial to find who they are or where they came from, and that their actual identities are unverifiable.

“I feel a grave sadness,” reacted Kuhtz.

Today, many of the adoptees have turned to DNA tests to uncover their past.

Houston’s results had a match. Her biological father had also taken a test.

“He was looking, searching for 35 years,” said Tricia, amazed at his perseverance and effort in trying to locate her.

Price’s parents remain unknown. She had a childhood fantasy that one day they would be reunited.

“I was hoping that my parents would see me singing on TV, and they would come find me and we’d live happily ever after,” smiled Price.

As for Norberg, she told CBS News Bay Area that he had no desire to find any biological relative.

“To me, that’s not important,” remarked Norberg.

All three clearly love their adoptive parents. Norberg remains busy at work and with her photography.

Houston earned a master’s degree in education, met her biological father, and adopted a child.

“I’ve had a great life in America and a great life with my family,” exclaimed Houston.

Some of the adoptees suffered abuse after arriving in the U.S., including Lara Price who recounted how she was sexually abused as a young child by individuals close to the family. She now uses her music to help foster and adopted children who have similar trauma.

“It’s my superpower and if I can make change with music with other adoptees or foster kids or survivors, I would like that,” explained Price.

The end of the war was just the beginning for three very different women whose life stories are still being written.

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