Name: Operation Babylift: New Perspectives
Start: 2025-02-06T17:30:00-07:00
End: 2025-02-06T20:30:00-07:00
Location: Dayton Memorial Library

Operation Babylift: New Perspectives exhibit opens on February 1 at the Dayton Memorial Library at Regis University, Denver, CO
About this Event

Operation Babylift: New Perspectives marks the beginning of an archival project led by Devaki Murch, a Vietnamese adoptee and survivor of the tragic plane crash in April 1975 that occurred during Operation Babylift - the mass airlift evacuation of Vietnamese children from Vietnam to the United States and other Western countries to their adopted families.

In commemorating the event’s 50th anniversary, Devaki shares the deeply personal reflections she has gathered from the Babylift community, making available to the public, for the first time, insights beyond mainstream media depictions.

The exhibit will be open to the public February 1 - February 28, 2025. A special opening reception will be held at 5:30 PM on Feb. 6 at the Dayton Memorial Library at Regis University in Denver.

Following the reception, Sister Mary Nelle Gage will share her experiences about her time in Vietnam with Friends For All Children, a Vietnam War- era adoption assistance agency that was based in Boulder, Colorado. She will also share insights from her ongoing work with the agency’s adoptees over the past 50 years. (www.operationbabylift.net)

Center for the Study of War Experience, Regis University

Stories from Wartime, a unique undergraduate course open to the public, delves into the human dimensions of war and conflict through a multidisciplinary lens. As participants—both students and the broader community—engage with these narratives, they explore what it means to bear individual and collective witness to historic and modern warfare.

Facilitated by the Center, Stories from Wartime is a space where veterans and civilians can share their experiences openly. Doing so fosters rich dialogue, empathy, and understanding about the complexities and nuances of war experience. Over its 30-year history, the course has hosted a range of notable speakers, including authors Ocean Vuong, Adam Hochschild, Roberto Lovato, and Alex Kershaw, and has featured guest lecturers and local viewpoints.