With tension increasing in the country as Northern Vietnamese forces spread to the south, humanitarian groups working with orphans in Vietnam, including Holt International Children's Services, Friends of Children of Viet Nam, Catholic Relief Service, International Orphans, and the Pearl S. Buck Foundation began planning ways to evacuate the caretakers and children. At this same time, U.S. President Gerald Ford announced his plans for a strategic removal of the orphans. His plan, called Operation Babylift, would use military airplanes to fly several thousand children from orphanages in Vietnam to the United States.

At the conclusion of the mission, at least 2,700 children were flown to the United States and approximately 1,300 children were flown to Canada, Europe and Australia. These children were placed in foster homes and adopted by families to start their lives again in new countries a world away from their homeland.