Media/Press Release
- Operation Reunite Announces 2010 Vietnam Adoptee Tour
- Operation Reunite Prepares for 2010 Vietnam Adoptee Tour
Operation Reunite Announces 2010 Vietnam Adoptee Tour
Reunion Trip Commemorates 35th Anniversary of Operation Babylift and the End of the Vietnam/American Conflict
January 25, 2010 (Atlantic City, NJ): Operation Reunite (www.operationreunite.org), a nonprofit organization which provides information and support to Vietnamese adoptees, has announced a Vietnam reunion tour scheduled for April 2, 2010, to commemorate the 35th anniversary of the US sponsored Operation Babylift and the End of the Vietnam/American Conflict. The tour will bring dozens of adult-Vietnamese adoptees returning to their homeland to discover their birth culture, many for the first time, and to search for the birth families.
A diverse group of adoptees from across the globe, from the United States and Britain to Finland and Australia, will travel to Ho Chi Minh City for a two-week tour of Vietnam participating in various cultural and charitable activities, while searching for the birth families with the assistance of Operation Reunite.
“Operation Reunite is not just an organization assisting adoptees with finding their families,” says Trista Goldberg, Founder of Operation Reunite, “we seek to create an awareness and understanding of the whole process, from locating your family, and learning to speak the language, to going to Vietnam. This is an immersive experience and this trip is the culmination of years of work,” she continued.
The two-week trip not only coincides with the 35th anniversary of the famed Operation Babylift, but will also visit the location of the original C5A plane crash – the first plane to depart Saigon in 1975. The plane, carrying nearly 200 adoptees, lost control in a tragic crash and more than half of the passengers died. However a number of the adoptees who survived the crash will be attending the reunion and meeting with the Operation Reunite group.
The itinerary also includes visits to local schools – where the group will play charity soccer games against Vietnamese students –culture and language workshops, and visits to partner orphanages. A DNA project with Family Tree DNA will help to reuniting families separated by the war thirty five years ago. For the close of the trip, Operation Reunite has worked with several Vietnamese orphanages to put together a farewell show, with singing and dancing, as a thank you to participants.
Making the decision to explore ones past and discover ones roots is never an easy one for adoptees, but organizations like Operation Reunite are certainly easing the process.
Contact Information
Trista Goldberg
Founder, Operation Reunite
E: Tristagoldberg@earthlink.net
P: 609-992-7196
Operation Reunite Prepares for 2010 Vietnam Adoptee Tour
Reunion Trip Commemorates 35th Anniversary of Operation Babylift and the Fall of Saigon
January 14, 2010 (Atlantic City, NJ): Opertaion Reunite, a nonprofit organization that provides information and support to Vietnamese adoptees, has announced a Vietnam reunion tour scheduled for April of this year to commemorate the 35th anniversary of the US sponsored Operation Babylift and the Fall of Saigon. The tour will consist of dozens of adult Vietnamese adoptees returning to their homeland to discover their birth culture, many for the first time, and search for the birth families. A diverse group of adoptees, who grew up throughout the world, from US and the UK to Finland and Australia, will travel to Ho Chi Minh City, and undertake a two-week tour of Vietnam . The trip planning stage has already begun and has consisted of detailed surveys on preferences and events for the reunion. Operation Reunite will complete final stages of registrations by November of 2009. The actual reunion will take place over two weeks from April 2nd through April 16th 2010. A detailed itinerary will be provided as the group creates what they want to do together. The timing of the trip is significant as it will begin on the anniversary of the initial Babylift C5A plane crash at its location. This was the first plane that departed Saigon, carrying more than 150 older adoptees that died, while the younger babies on the second floor survived. A number of the individuals who survived the crash will be attending the reunion. The stay will include language lessons, soccor game against Vietnamese Students, and visits to orphanages where we’ve fundraised money to buy supplies. Closing ceremonies will commence with a group of orphans singing the song by ABBA “I have a dream.” This is not only a special symbolic date for adopted Vietnamese but also falls at a time when the potential for international media coverage of our event is at its highest given the interest in these landmark anniversaries.
Contact Information Tricia Houston Media Representative triciahouston74@gmail.com 714-357-0116
Web Site Information Operation Reunite http://www.operationreunite.com/
Vietnamese Adoptee Blog http://vietnameseadoptees.com/
