This Must Be My Brother; The Daring Rescue of Innocent Children in the Final Desperate Hours of the Vietnam War

182, [2] pages. Cover has some wear and soiling. Autographed sticker on front cover. Inscribed with sentiment on the half-title page by the author (Thieman). Inscription reads: Barb, Peace! LeAnn Thieman. In early April 1975, two housewives, LeAnn Thieman and Carol Day, were asked to fly into Vietnam and bring back six babies for adoption. As the fall of Saigon became imminent, however, President Ford approved a massive "baby lift," and the six babies became two hundred. Ms. Thieman has been a nurse for thirty years and coauthor of Chicken Soup for the Nurse's Soul, LeAnn Thieman knows first hand the "war zones" of healthcare today. As a renowned motivational speaker, LeAnn shares life-changing lessons learned from her daring Operation Babylift adventure, when she helped to rescue 300 babies as Vietnam was falling to the communists! Believing we all have individual "war zones," she inspires audiences to balance their lives, truly live their priorities and make a difference in the world. 'Did you hear the news? President Ford okayed Operation Babylift. Instead of taking out 6 babies, you'll help us take home 300!' 'With that exciting announcement, all the questions about why two Midwestern homemakers would fly into a war zone were answered. Their mission at last was clear. But nothing in their pasts had prepared them for what they were about to see and experience. Saigon was falling to the Vietcong. And the lives of thousands of orphan children hung in the balance. Operation Babylift was the name given to the mass evacuation of children from South Vietnam to the United States and other countries (including Australia, France, West Germany, and Canada) at the end of the Vietnam War (see also the Fall of Saigon), on April 3-26, 1975. By the final American flight out of South Vietnam, over 3,300 infants and children had been evacuated, although the actual number has been variously reported. Along with Operation New Life, over 110,000 refugees were evacuated from South Vietnam at the end of the Vietnam War. Thousands of children were airlifted from Vietnam and adopted by families around the world. With the central Vietnamese city of Da Nang having fallen in March, and with Saigon under attack and being shelled, on April 3, 1975, U.S. President Gerald Ford announced that the U.S. government would begin evacuating orphans from Saigon on a series of 30 planned flights aboard Military Airlift Command (MAC) C-5A Galaxy and C-141 Starlifter cargo aircraft operated by 62nd Airlift Wing of the United States Air Force under the command of Major General Edward J. Nash. Service organizations including Holt International Children's Services, Friends of Children of Viet Nam (FCVN), Friends For All Children (FFAC), Catholic Relief Service, International Social Services, International Orphans and the Pearl S. Buck Foundation petitioned the government to help evacuate the various orphans in their facilities in Vietnam. Flights continued until artillery attacks by North Vietnamese Army and Viet Cong military units on Tan Son Nhut Airport rendered airplane flights impossible. Over 2,500 children were relocated and adopted by families in the United States and by its allies.…