{"product_id":"the-life-we-were-given-operation-babylift-international-adoption-and-the-children-of-war-in-vietnam-9780807001240","title":"The Life We Were Given: Operation Babylift, International Adoption, and the Children of War in Vietnam","description":"In April 1975, just before the fall of Saigon, the U.S. government launched \"Operation Babylift,\" a highly publicized plan to evacuate nearly three thousand displaced Vietnamese children and place them with adoptive families overseas. Chaotic from start to finish, the mission gripped the world-with a traumatic plane crash, international media snapping pictures of bewildered children traveling to their new homes, and families clamoring to adopt the waifs. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eOften presented as a great humanitarian effort, Operation Babylift provided an opportunity for national catharsis following the trauma of the American experience in Vietnam. Now, thirty-five years after the war ended, Dana Sachs examines this unprecedented event more carefully, revealing how a single public-policy gesture irrevocably altered thousands of lives, not always for the better. Though most of the children were orphans, many were not, and the rescue offered no possibility for families to later reunite. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eWith sensitivity and balance, Sachs deepens her account by including multiple perspectives: birth mothers making the wrenching decision to relinquish their children; orphanage workers, military personnel, and doctors trying to \"save\" them; politicians and judges attempting to untangle the controversies; adoptive families waiting anxiously for their new sons and daughters; and the children themselves, struggling to understand. In particular, the book follows one such child, Anh Hansen, who left Vietnam through Operation Babylift and, decades later, returned to reunite with her birth mother. Through Anh's story, and those of many others, \u003ci\u003eThe Life We Were Given\u003c\/i\u003e will inspire impassioned discussion and spur dialogue on the human cost of war, international adoption and aid efforts, and U.S. involvement in Vietnam.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/sureshotbooks-com.myshopify.com\/search?type=product%2Carticle%2Cpage\u0026amp;q=AUTH-16603779\"\u003eDana Sachs\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Beacon Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 07\/26\/2011\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 280\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.91lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.63d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780807001240\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN10:\u003c\/b\u003e 0807001244\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBISAC Categories:\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e- \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/sureshotbooks-com.myshopify.com\/search?type=product%2Carticle%2Cpage\u0026amp;q=CAT-HIS\"\u003eHistory\u003c\/a\u003e | \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/sureshotbooks-com.myshopify.com\/search?type=product%2Carticle%2Cpage\u0026amp;q=BISAC-HIS027070\"\u003eWars \u0026amp; Conflicts | Vietnam War\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cbr\u003e- \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/sureshotbooks-com.myshopify.com\/search?type=product%2Carticle%2Cpage\u0026amp;q=CAT-HIS\"\u003eHistory\u003c\/a\u003e | \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/sureshotbooks-com.myshopify.com\/search?type=product%2Carticle%2Cpage\u0026amp;q=BISAC-HIS036060\"\u003eUnited States | 20th Century\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cbr\u003e- \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/sureshotbooks-com.myshopify.com\/search?type=product%2Carticle%2Cpage\u0026amp;q=CAT-FAM\"\u003eFamily \u0026amp; Relationships\u003c\/a\u003e | \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/sureshotbooks-com.myshopify.com\/search?type=product%2Carticle%2Cpage\u0026amp;q=BISAC-FAM000000\"\u003eGeneral\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eDana Sachs \u003c\/b\u003ehas written about Vietnam for twenty years. The author of \u003ci\u003eThe House on Dream Street: Memoir of an American Woman\u003c\/i\u003e \u003ci\u003ein Vietnam \u003c\/i\u003eand the novel \u003ci\u003eIf You Lived Here, \u003c\/i\u003eand coauthor of \u003ci\u003eTwo Cakes Fit for a King: Folktales from Vietnam, \u003c\/i\u003e she teaches at the University of North Carolina-Wilmington and lives in North Carolina.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Beacon Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44537398460653,"sku":"9780807001240","price":33.33,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0550\/8097\/6621\/products\/img_bc8892f6-5319-4c40-a297-9198b8ad790e.jpg?v=1701442220","url":"https:\/\/sureshotbooks.com\/products\/the-life-we-were-given-operation-babylift-international-adoption-and-the-children-of-war-in-vietnam-9780807001240","provider":"SureShot Books Publishing LLC","version":"1.0","type":"link"}