President Gerald Ford green-lit Operation Babylift, which evacuated 2,547 orphans via airlift. As North Vietnamese troops prepared to topple Saigon, rumors circulated that the incoming Communists would slaughter anyone connected to America. In 1970 the Defense Department defended its stance, stating that orphans' wellbeing "has never been and is not now considered an area of government responsibility." That tune changed in 1975. refused to pay attention to the children's pain. One former bully recalled that the forlorn orphans "would just look down and walk away." Many wished to walk away from Vietnam altogether and find their American fathers. Peers picked on them for being poor and parentless. Even those who were adopted were sometimes given away by their new parents. The Vietnamese dubbed them "children of the dust." They became vagabonds and beggars. Society also regarded the kids as garbage.
Despite pushback from the Pentagon, the commandos eventually won a court battle for back pay. After months of media coverage, in 1996 the government begrudgingly confirmed the cover-up. After the war, 281 survivors sought payment, but their service was no longer officially acknowledged. They withstood years (sometimes decades) of torture. The commandos were actually under duress. Moreover, the mission had been a humiliating failure, and officials worried the commandos were undercover Communists. Declaring the POWs deceased allowed the military to stop monthly payments to the deceived and grieving families. Ex-intelligence analyst Sedgwick Tourison explained that the military wanted to save money. military had taken charge and started telling the relatives of captive commandos that their loved ones died in the line of duty. Every commando that entered North Vietnam got captured or killed. The operation ran like a legless racehorse.
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