HONORED ON PANEL 1W, LINE 122 OF THE WALL
MARY THERESE KLINKER
WALL NAME
MARY T KLINKER
PANEL / LINE
1W/122
DATE OF BIRTH
CASUALTY PROVINCE
DATE OF CASUALTY
HOME OF RECORD
COUNTY OF RECORD
STATE
BRANCH OF SERVICE
RANK
ASSOCIATED ITEMS LEFT AT THE WALL
REMEMBRANCES
LEFT FOR MARY THERESE KLINKER
POSTED ON 4.18.2000
POSTED BY: CLAY MARSTON
" BABYLIFT " SURVIVORS RETURN TO VIETNAM
" BABYLIFT " SURVIVORS RETURN TO VIETNAM
HO CHI MINH CITY - 4 APRIL 2000
by
TINA TRAN
ASSOCIATED PRESS
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
David Shakow recalls the day 25 years ago when he heard
the radio report: A cargo plane loaded with Vietnamese
orphans had crashed in Saigon, killing 144 people.
His heart dropped. His adopted son, Jeffery, was on board.
For weeks, Shakow and his wife lived in agony as reports
filtered in that their baby was among 76 infants killed
in the crash 26 days before the end of the Vietnam War.
" We kept hearing that he was dead, then alive, then dead again,"
Shakow recalled. " That was a tough time."
But a month later, 13-month-old Jeffery arrived in the
United States, his eyelashes burned off, his bangs singed,
and his cheek and back scarred.
Yesterday, father and son returned to Vietnam for the first time
as part of a memorial tour led by Sister Mary Nelle Gage,
an organizer of the evacuation.
In the final days of the war, more than 2000 Vietnamese children
were airlifted to safety from Saigon, now Ho Chi Minh City, as
part of " Operation Babylift ".
Gage, who now lives in Denver, hopes the two-week tour will help
the participants - including 15 former Vietnamese orphans now in
their mid-20's to early 30's - come to terms with their past.
Many were adopted by American families.
For Shakow, 57, of Saratoga Springs, New York, the trip brought
back memories of the painful days following the crash when
Jeffery's very existence was in doubt.
" He just disappeared for awhile. There were rumours that he
was in the hospital, badly burned," Shakow said.
" Then others swore that he was on the manifest of those killed.
The world was falling apart there and we couldn't get any
information."
Today, the group, including Jeffery Shakow, 26, and two other
survivors, will hold a memorial service at the crash site.
On April 4, 1975, a giant C - 5A cargo jet sped down the
runway of Saigon's Tan Son Nhut Airport carrying more than
300 children and their caretakers.
Shortly after takeoff, an explosion blew out the rear doors.
The pilots were able to turn the aircraft around and
crash - land two miles from the airport.
Virtually everyone in the bottom cargo compartment was killed
- the majority of them children age 2 and under.
Jeffery Shakow, born Luu Khiet Minh, survived, but his twin
sister did not.
By the time their son arrived in New York, the Shakows
saw an emaciated, undernourished toddler
who couldn't walk.
After Jeffery's arrival, the Shakows discovered from his birth
certificate that he had had a twin sister, Luu Le Quyen.
Shakow spent the next 20 years trying to find her.
He finally discovered the two children had been
separated at the orphanage but had ended op on the same
disastrous flight. Luu Le Quyen, he learned from an orphanage
official, was listed on the official manifest as one of the
children " who did not return."
For father and son, the return to Vietnam has been worthwhile.
" He needed to come back to see this," the elder Shakow
said. " You can see pictures of Vietnam all you like,
but until you walk around the streets here, there would
be pieces you would miss."
His son agrees.
" It's good that I came back. It means a lot to me to
be here now."
HO CHI MINH CITY - 4 APRIL 2000
by
TINA TRAN
ASSOCIATED PRESS
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
David Shakow recalls the day 25 years ago when he heard
the radio report: A cargo plane loaded with Vietnamese
orphans had crashed in Saigon, killing 144 people.
His heart dropped. His adopted son, Jeffery, was on board.
For weeks, Shakow and his wife lived in agony as reports
filtered in that their baby was among 76 infants killed
in the crash 26 days before the end of the Vietnam War.
" We kept hearing that he was dead, then alive, then dead again,"
Shakow recalled. " That was a tough time."
But a month later, 13-month-old Jeffery arrived in the
United States, his eyelashes burned off, his bangs singed,
and his cheek and back scarred.
Yesterday, father and son returned to Vietnam for the first time
as part of a memorial tour led by Sister Mary Nelle Gage,
an organizer of the evacuation.
In the final days of the war, more than 2000 Vietnamese children
were airlifted to safety from Saigon, now Ho Chi Minh City, as
part of " Operation Babylift ".
Gage, who now lives in Denver, hopes the two-week tour will help
the participants - including 15 former Vietnamese orphans now in
their mid-20's to early 30's - come to terms with their past.
Many were adopted by American families.
For Shakow, 57, of Saratoga Springs, New York, the trip brought
back memories of the painful days following the crash when
Jeffery's very existence was in doubt.
" He just disappeared for awhile. There were rumours that he
was in the hospital, badly burned," Shakow said.
" Then others swore that he was on the manifest of those killed.
The world was falling apart there and we couldn't get any
information."
Today, the group, including Jeffery Shakow, 26, and two other
survivors, will hold a memorial service at the crash site.
On April 4, 1975, a giant C - 5A cargo jet sped down the
runway of Saigon's Tan Son Nhut Airport carrying more than
300 children and their caretakers.
Shortly after takeoff, an explosion blew out the rear doors.
The pilots were able to turn the aircraft around and
crash - land two miles from the airport.
Virtually everyone in the bottom cargo compartment was killed
- the majority of them children age 2 and under.
Jeffery Shakow, born Luu Khiet Minh, survived, but his twin
sister did not.
By the time their son arrived in New York, the Shakows
saw an emaciated, undernourished toddler
who couldn't walk.
After Jeffery's arrival, the Shakows discovered from his birth
certificate that he had had a twin sister, Luu Le Quyen.
Shakow spent the next 20 years trying to find her.
He finally discovered the two children had been
separated at the orphanage but had ended op on the same
disastrous flight. Luu Le Quyen, he learned from an orphanage
official, was listed on the official manifest as one of the
children " who did not return."
For father and son, the return to Vietnam has been worthwhile.
" He needed to come back to see this," the elder Shakow
said. " You can see pictures of Vietnam all you like,
but until you walk around the streets here, there would
be pieces you would miss."
His son agrees.
" It's good that I came back. It means a lot to me to
be here now."
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POSTED ON 9.12.1999
POSTED BY: Kenneth W. Cahall
Snowballs for the Phillipines
In 1975, I was a young airman stationed at Misawa AFB in Japan, As a medical corpmen, one of my duties was to meet the "Airevac" plane from Clark AFB. Capt. Klinker was on board several times. I only knew her as an acquaintance, but one thing I recall is her gathering snow in Japan for the people back at Clark! I guess she made a snowball. Kenneth W. Cahall
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