Fifty years is a long time (a half-century), but Rene Fougeray remembers the events of April 30, 1975, like they happened yesterday.

Although American military involvement in the Vietnam War ended officially on March 29 of that year, Fougeray was part of a small, heroic Air Force team that landed on a dangerous mission at an airport runway in Saigon a month later. The team succeeded in rescuing 189 children and about 50 to 60 adults.

Some of the babies were just a few weeks old, wearing just a diaper or less. The oldest kids were about 6.

Many of the children were ill. Some were vomiting. Some had diarrhea. There was hepatitis and other diseases.

Adding to their misery, the cargo plane that transported them had temperatures dropping to 45 degrees at flight elevations. When the plane reached 35,000 feet, some children began having respiratory problems. One baby stopped breathing.

Fougeray, now 80, recalls anxiously tapping on the child’s chest until a breath was felt, then handed the baby to a Vietnamese woman on board.

For the mission, Fougeray, who left the Air Force with the rank of master sergeant, received an Air Force Commendation Medal.

It was more rewarding to him, though, when he got the opportunity to meet some of those he rescued years later.

Operation

Babylift

Fougeray’s mission was part of Operation Babylift, a mass evacuation of over 3,000 Vietnamese orphans to the U.S. and other countries.

Although the U.S. fighting in Vietnam officially stopped on March 29, Vietnam was still a divided country, with the communist North gradually forcing the South into submission. On April 30, the South Vietnamese government surrendered, and enemy tanks rolled into the heavily surrounded city of Saigon.

On that date, the plans for Fougeray were to fly mattresses to Guam, but he was told that there was an immediate change of orders.

“We were to go into (Saigon) and save some people,” he said. “Frankly, we were not even sure if we could get into the country.”

A four-point formation with four aircraft was established. Three of those planes landed at Tan Sun Nhut Air Base in Saigon, a location where several periods of heavy fighting occurred during the course of the war.

“There was no base security and limited visibility,” Fougeray recalls. “I told the pilot the quickest way for me to do this was to open the back of aircraft.”

The C-141, cargo plane was white and had no seats. Fougeray suggested the headsets of all crew members be kept turned on for communication because of the lack of security and danger of attack.

“I looked over the horizon and saw vehicles headed our way,” he said. “I was armed with an M-16 (rifle). A white flag came out of a bus. It turned out to be a diaper.”

The first person out of the bus was a Lutheran minister from the Pearl Buck Foundation. He told Fougeray that “the bad guys had already taken over the base.”

The minister said all the occupants on the bus were orphans.

“Can you vouch for these people?” Fougeray asked the reverend. “Yes, I can,” he replied.

As the desperate group came toward the plane, the rest of the small flight crew left their posts and assisted. The cargo straps were strategically placed across the hard floor “because we had to make a maximum power takeoff.” The F-141 is capable of taking off almost vertically.

“We didn’t know where to go after taking off,” he said. “We were supposed to go to Guam, but Guam couldn’t accommodate us. So, we were sent to the Philippines. We landed in the Philippines, then we went on with our lives.”

There was no way for the crew to accommodate for the cold and overcrowded conditions on board. But everyone survived the trip.

Looking back, he said, “the emergency rescue was hectic. There were no rules or regulations. This was not a planned mission.”

It was the last Operation Babylift out of Vietnam.

Rescue remembered

Throughout the years since then, Fougeray said he has been wondering what happened to all the people who were rescued. Where did they go?

“There was no paperwork on any of the children we had,” he said.

Fougeray, a retired Realtor, is a native of Horsham, Montgomery County. He moved to the Lehighton area in the late 1970s and founded Century Evergreen 21 Real Estate and Carbon Appraisal Service, which he owned and operated for several decades, retiring five years ago.

He graduated from Abington High School and attended two semesters at Penn State University before getting drafted. He then joined the Air Force, remaining in the service for 26 years, “loving every minute of the military and visited 97 countries.”

He and his wife, Paula, have been married for 37 years.

About 20 years ago, Fougeray received a telephone call, asking if he was on Operation Babylift from Saigon. He was told there was a reunion of some of the rescued people, and they wanted him to attend.

“They wanted me to come and just be there,” he said. “At that meeting there, I met a guy. I looked at him and he looked at me. He was a South Vietnamese ranger who was a translator for the U.S. Special Forces. He said, ‘If you didn’t show up, I was dead.’ ”

Two of the children Fougeray met were brothers who were maybe 2 or 3 when they were pulled from the ravages of war. Both now are practicing physicians in the Washington, D.C., area.

The group of those rescued holds a Vietnam Veterans Appreciation Day every year. Fougeray said, “April 30 is our official day for the end of the Vietnam War.”

Another person Fougeray met was 2 when he was airlifted from Vietnam. He was named Steve Harman and was adopted by a family in Warminster. He became a singer/songwriter and wanted to meet with the people who had saved him.

“He actually wrote a song to thank members of the armed forces; thanking the people who saved his life with that rescue mission,” Fougeray said.

In 2020, Hartman wrote a personal letter to Fougeray, thanking him for “countless acts of kindness and bravery during a time when lives depended on you willingness to answer that call.”

The letter said:

“Because of you and those few like you, I was given a chance at life full of love and opportunity. I was raised up in Bucks County, PA, with my two older brothers, where I found family, friendship and music. I attended Berklee College of Music, the Restaurant School of Philadelphia and now reside in the Burlington area of Vermont with my beautiful 10-year-old son.

“There are so many things I could say to express my thanks to you for things so many take for granted and others wouldn’t understand.”

Fougeray said today that only three members of Operation Babylift crew — including himself — are still alive.

Commander’s

summary

The aircraft commander’s report of Fougeray better summarizes Operation Babylift.

It states:

“TSgt. Rene J. Fougeray performed in an outstanding manner on this 13-day trip to Southeast Asia. Due to the rapidly changing situation during the last days before the fall of Saigon, he was called upon to give that extra effort.

“Even under the most difficult times, TSgt. Fougeray performed in the professional manner expected of a MAC flyer. On the last minute notice, the crew was diverted to Saigon where they airlifted the last orphans out of Vietnam.

“There were 89 babies age 7 weeks to one year, 100 children age 4-7 years, and 128 adults. This unusual load required the expertise of seasoned MAC airmen at each position.

Under the constant threat of communist shelling at Ton Son Nhut Air Base, the plane was loaded and departed for Guam. The flight was diverted to Clark AB, Philippine Island, which had the facilities to handle the babies.”

A feature was done on the military in a SmithKline publication during which Fougeray is mentioned.

The lead to the article states:

“At a District Sales Manager for Menley & James Properties, Rene Fougeray’s territory covers Eastern Pennsylvania and Delaware. As a flight engineer for the U.S. Air Force, his territory is the world.

“Food supplies are needed for flood victims in Nicaragua. Cargo has to be flown to the Middle East during the Arab-Israeli conflict. Orphaned infants must be airlifted out of war-torn Vietnam. Rene Fougeray is there.”