Betty Tisdale and An Lac Orphans Reunion

Betty Tisdale and An Lac Orphans Reunion (Added: March 30, 2010)

The weekend was filled with hugs and memories for over sixty orphans from Vietnam who were airlifted to Columbus 35 years ago (more)

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By: Phil Scoggins | WRBL News 3
Published: March 30, 2010

Former Columbus resident Betty Tisdale flew back to the fountain city from Seattle for a weekend reunion with some of those she rescued. Betty's scrapbook chronicles her life's work helping orphans, especially those at a South Vietnamese orphanage called An Lac. Betty arranged for 219 of those orphans to be flown out of Saigon just before it fell in April of 1975. The orphans arrived at Fort Benning where they were cared for until they were adopted, which thanks to Betty only took one month.
Over the weekend Betty and her "children" visited meaningful sites in the area that the orphans needed to see as adults. Saturday morning the group visited Park Hill Cemetery and the grave site of Madame Ngai who ran the An Lac orphanage. They held a memorial service and laid red roses on her grave.
From there it was on to the place where the orphans were cuddled and cared for on post: the former Wilbur Elementary School, now headquarters for the Fort Benning school system. Saturday afternoon the group toured the National Infantry Museum. Betty got a personal tour, including a stop at the Columbus time line where there's a photo and an inscription noting her heroic efforts on behalf of the orphans. Saturday evening Betty and her "children" were treated to a sumptuous banquet at First Presbyterian Church in their honor. As the banquet concluded Betty, in speaking to the adopted orphans, said, "I just want you to know that even when you were babies and you didn't know it, you were being helped by our great, great Army. And you were helped by so many people especially here in Columbus, Georgia."