Baby #32 is now 40

It’s been 38 years since a large group of malnourished toddlers found a new home in Canada. In “Operation Babylift”, 57 Vietnamese orphans were loaded onto a Canadian forces plane just before the fall of Saigon. Baby number 32 is now 40-years old and lives in Hamilton. He’s sharing his story in a new book.

“Even though bullets flew from the anti-airplane they never penetrated and missile explode short distances away.”

Thanh Campbell describes what it was like being on that plane all those years ago. He was one of 57 children who were rescued from Vietnam. Campbell was adopted by his Canadian parents when he was just two years old. He now shares his life story in a book titled “Orphan 32”, the number he was given.

“I thought that writing the book was going to be easy, because I shared the story all the time on stage. But actually being able to go through the process, dealing with some of the feelings, that I never knew I had, like my mom and never having met her. I would actually be typing and my hands would come off the keyboard. I would have to stop.”

Even though he was part of Operation Babylift, Campbell was never actually an orphan. It was a mix up. His Vietnamese parents were in the military helping the American army. He was taken away by mistake. But a few years ago, he was reunited with his birth father and it was captured on camera.

“Something that an orphan always dreams about, thinks what do they look like, do I have brother and sisters. That opportunity to meet them was fantastic, it really was, and I had my whole family with me at that moment.”

Unfortunately his birth mother died before he reconnected with his family, and its those experiences he now shares on paper.