<div><strong>A Journey Beyond Expectations</strong>
</div>
<div>What began as a simple idea - a small binder of thank-you notes - has become something transformative. Instead of just collecting memories, we are witnessing lives changing, hearts healing, and connections being made that many of us never imagined possible.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>2026 offers an extraordinary opportunity to carry this work forward. Over the last 18 months, we’ve laid crucial groundwork: organizing archives, identifying their origins, and understanding their significance. 
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Now we’re connecting the dots between stories, records, and lived experiences.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>In March 2024, when I received the USAID list of survivors from the C-5A crash, I saw my name on an official record for the first time. It placed me in a specific moment in history. A few months later, while sitting with Sister Mary Nelle, she brought up a stack of files from the basement. When I asked if my file might be there, she simply said, “Somewhere.” The very first folder I opened held a letter written by my mother - her request to adopt. These are profound experiences for an adoptee, and made even more mind-blowing as a survivor of Operation Babylift. 
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div><strong>Down the Rabbit Hole</strong>
</div>
<div>The past year has been extraordinary, in no small part thanks to donors and sponsors like Torrey House. Our exhibits and galleries opened meaningful conversations, including with students at Regis University whose reflections bridged decades of history. At every event, veterans have shared stories they’ve held for 50 years. Everywhere, new friendships are forming, deepening understanding of Operation Babylift and the lives it forever changed. 
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Imagine being somewhere, hearing one side of a story, realizing you hold the missing piece that can heal decades of unresolved regret, and then being able to bring those stories together. It’s extraordinary. And it keeps happening.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Films like “On Healing Land, Birds Perch” (Naja Lockwood) and “We Were Soldiers, Too” (Thanh Tan) helped expand understanding of South Vietnamese and ARVN (Army of the Republic of Viet Nam) experiences, reminding us how incomplete most public narratives have been. It was this awareness of the full scope of history that changed my perspective on the war.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div><strong>The Year Ahead</strong>
</div>
<div>2025 marked 50 years since Viet Nam’s reunification and, for many of us, 50 years since our arrival through Operation Babylift. That reality, paired with today's divisiveness, reminds us all that love, human connection, and shared truth are more important than ever.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div><strong>In 2026, we put that into action.</strong>
</div>
<div>I’m applying for the Notre Dame Social Innovation Fellowship to develop a Love Ethic Framework for Archival Practice, inspired by bell hooks and grounded in scholarship and lived experience. This work is not simply about archives; it is about how records are delivered, how people are cared for through emotional discovery, and how dignity is upheld in the telling of our shared history.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>This means traveling to meet adoptees, collaborating with museums and cultural organizations, engaging with academics, and building systems that honor humanity, not just documentation. I’ll be hosting community events in 2026 and attending the Texas Tech Vietnam Center conference in Hanoi in June and the Society of American Archivists conference in New Orleans in August. These stories will culminate in an anthology to be released on Veterans Day 2026.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>I need your support to tell these crucial stories.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>We will host a four-day gathering, Invisible Threads, April 9–12, 2026, centered around a three-week exhibit at East Window Gallery in Boulder, Colorado, a meaningful return to the former home of Friends For All Children and Friends of Children of Viet Nam. 
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div><strong>The gathering will include:</strong>
</div>
<div>An evening with Sister Mary Nelle Gage
</div>
<ul>
<li>StoryShare reception with the Operation Babylift community
</li>
<li>Writing workshop and book presentation with Andrew Lam
</li>
<li>BookTalk featuring Operation Babylift authors
</li>
<li>Screening of We Were Soldiers, Too
</li>
<li>Conversation on birth family connection with Huyen Friedlander
</li>
</ul>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>As we close out 2025, I’m asking for your help. The time is now. Many who cared for us as infants are aging. Many stories remain unheard. Many adoptees still long for clarity, grounding, and acknowledgment.
</div>
<div>This project is far more than a notebook of memories. It is about finding one another. It is about witnessing truth. It is about love, care, and connection. And it takes a caring community to make it happen.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div><strong>How You Can Support</strong>
</div>
<div>Your donations make this work possible. Contributions will help us:
</div>
<ul>
<li>Travel to reunite adoptees with their records and histories with care and compassion
</li>
<li>Build a comprehensive records database
</li>
<li>Prepare archives for permanent preservation with dignity
</li>
<li>Participate in essential conferences and learning opportunities 
</li>
<li>Host the Invisible Threads gathering and exhibition
</li>
<li>Produce the Invisible Threads anthology
</li>
<li>Develop and implement the Love Ethic archival framework
</li>
<li>Sustain the operational infrastructure needed to carry this forward 
</li>
</ul>
<div><br />
</div>
<div><strong>Every gift matters </strong>
</div>
<div>Your financial support helps fund this project. So does sharing our story, or joining us in Boulder for Invisible Threads. Together, we honor the people who cared for us, the histories that shaped us, and the communities still healing.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Because when we reconnect the invisible threads of our past, we create a future grounded in truth, care, and love.a
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div><br />
</div>

Anonymous

Canh Oxelson

Ross Meador

Jennifer Lengyel

Linda Boris

Margaret Clark

Victoria O'Malley

Jessica Brassell

Jeffrey Grannis

A Evenden

Invisible Threads:  Stories Connected by Operation Babylift

platform

Platform is iOS

Android

Adyen Google Pay Development Audience

$opt_dummy_attribute

English only

Deprecate Stripe Legacy

dyn_template_ids

Adyen V6 Bene Transfer & MyMoney Campaign Organizers - test01

Bene transfer V6 and AdyenV6MyMoney Campaign Organizers - production

OneTrust next-app audience

fundCountryCode

NextDoor Share Option Users

Fundraisers with Reactions feature capability

fundCurrencyCode

US + Non-charity COs Only

locale

fund country is US and user language is English

personId

comms-internal-person-ids

Enhanced Story Experience Users

Suggested Goal Experience Users

user language is English and fund country: US, AU, DK, FI, IE, NO, SE, CA, GB; 

Poster share - new funds eligible (newest 9/18)

Streaming widgets beta user

paymentProcessor

3DS payment method

user language is English and fundCountry: US, AU, DK, FI, IE, NO, SE, CA, GB; 

GoFundMe Employees

ipAddress

Mark Rieth IP Address

Version 9.2.0 and above

Fund is in English speaking country

desktop

Android v12.11.0 and above

Platform is Android

paymentMethodType

checkoutType

Payment method type group to be vaulted on success

admin pr kit prod

EUR Donation Upsell

Share Text generation Skip Fundraiser

(prod) new funds eligible for amp12 (UGC gallery)

fintrac_cad_idv_form_v2 audience

paymentProcessorAccountId

fallback mode accounts

proCampaignId

p2p legacy startfundraising page

AMP24 New Funds Only PROD (DO NOT MODIFY)

countryCode

charityId

UKCharities

Federated Search Internal Testing

route.pathname community

US Donation Upsell audience 

Auto Thanks Feature Audience

Supporter Comments Eligible Funds

International Only

fundId

braze fundraiser group 

Payment Identity Transfers ATO Risk Check (Targeted) - Production

Fundraiser Saved Payment Method Rate Limit Bypass (Production)

leaderboard-partner-id-audience-givepanel

Version 9.2.1 and above

AUD Donation Upsell audience

fundraiserCountryCode is US/EN

Active Fundraiser - Smart Default Cadence

DAF Internal

Vault on success card payment method

Platform is iOS v11.0.0 and above

Desktop users

Person ids

United States (US) users

allow yuno fundraisers for test

Mexico country code

Posters INTL

NPO Profile Opted-In

iOS at or above 12.4.0

non-US recurring donors

Canada Campaign Owner Group

Fundraiser Without Meta Link

Scheduler payment tester gorup

charityCommunityId

Charities allow to be claimed unclaimed (PRD)

Canada (CA) users

currencyCode

UC Tipping v20250115 International

pymk_production_xplr_fe_team

Android at or above 12.2.0

Profile photo entry point audience

smart goals (fundraiser/manage) on test01

Activity Tracking v1 Beta Testing

writePath

Stream Notification

start gfm intl allowed locales

Platform is iOS v11.2.0 and above

unclaimed charities

prod_ach_audience

AI Chatbot Audience

amp13 only new funds (prod) (anyword auto)

UC Flow Enabled (Prod)

Payment Identity Beneficiary Verification - Production

shared notification bell audience

Custom users

ach frontend audience

Android v11.0.0 and above

Users Receiving Payments Paused Notifications

smart goals test01

Manage Coach - US English Organizers Only + new funds only

Team EGG - IP Address list

Fundraiser Without Instagram Deep Link

Native 11.4.0 and above

UC Tipping v20250107

Users Receiving Braze KYC Validation Failed

Native 11.3.0 and above

Influencer - Prod

US fundraisers and US users

ai_title_page

anyword

openai

control

manual_entry

userEmail

template_id

userId

fundUrl

isCharityCo

email

appVersion

shouldBucketIntoExperiment

partnerId

donationCadence

isActiveFundraiser

isPartner

isMobile

npoProfileOptIn

fundIsLinkedWithMeta

hasSessionDonation

isCampaignOwner

fundHasInstagramDeepLink

Native 11.4.0 and higher

New funds eligible - Video Sharing (PROD)

GB Donation Upsell audience 

Auto Thanks V3 Rollout Audience

Thank you V3 testing whitelist

isRecurringFriendly

Is Recurring Friendly

Excluded funds - Video Sharing

Logged In Users

CH Donation Upsell audience

Android v10.6.0 and above

userCurrencyCode

Localized Currency

v11.5.0 and above

testAudience

pathname

Survicate

appVersion is at or above 12.8.0

Non-charity fund

isChallengeFundraiser

challenge-fundraisers

Payment Identity Launch Verification - Production

New funds eligible - Posters v2

CAD Donation Upsell Audience

Braze Email Tester

NPO Profile Opted-Out

iOS App Version

hasKnownDonors

PYMK has donors

iOS v12.3.0 and above

Invisible Threads: Stories Connected by Operation Babylift

Still $70,942 to go. Help us build momentum.