April 14

This Day in History

Also on This Day

Lead Story
Lincoln is shot, 1865
American Revolution
First American abolition society founded in Philadelphia, 1775
Automotive
Pontiac Solstice stars on "The Apprentice", 2005
Civil War
President Lincoln is shot, 1865
Cold War
President Truman receives NSC-68, 1950
Crime
John Wilkes Booth shoots Abraham Lincoln, 1865
Disaster
Explosion on cargo ship rocks Bombay, India, 1944
General Interest
RMS Titanic hits iceberg, 1912
U.S. fliers in first dogfight over western front, 1918
U.S. bombs Libya, 1986
Soviets to withdraw from Afghanistan, 1988
Hollywood
Katharine Hepburn and Barbra Streisand tie for Best Actress Oscar, 1969
Literary
Webster's American Dictionary of the English Language is printed, 1818
Music
Country legend Loretta Lynn is born in Butcher Hollow, Kentucky, 1935
Old West
A major Dust Bowl storm strikes, 1935
Loretta Lynn is born, 1935
Presidential
President Lincoln is shot, 1865
Sports
Montreal Canadiens win fifth consecutive Stanley Cup, 1960
Vietnam War
173rd Airborne Brigade ordered to South Vietnam, 1965
Operation "Baby Lift" concludes, 1975
World War I
Battle of Lake Naroch ends, 1916
World War II
U.S. Fifth Army joins in Italian offensive, 1945

Vietnam War

Apr 14, 1975:

Operation "Baby Lift" concludes

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The American airlift of Vietnamese orphans to the United States ends after 2,600 children are transported to America. The operation began disastrously on April 4 when an Air Force cargo jet crashed shortly after take-off from Tan Son Nhut airbase in Saigon. More than 138 of the passengers, mostly children, were killed. Operation Baby Lift was initiated to bring South Vietnamese orphans to the United States for adoption by American parents. Baby Lift lasted 10 days and was carried out during the final, desperate phase of the war, as North Vietnamese forces were closing in on Saigon. Although the first flight ended in tragedy, all other flights took place without incident, and Baby Lift aircraft ferried orphans across the Pacific until the mission concluded on April 14, only 16 days before the fall of Saigon and the end of the war.

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This Week in History, Apr 14 - Apr 20

Apr 14, 1965
173rd Airborne Brigade ordered to South Vietnam
Apr 14, 1975
Operation "Baby Lift" concludes
Apr 15, 1967
Antiwar protests held in New York and San Francisco
Apr 15, 1970
U.S. 1st Infantry Division withdraws from Vietnam
Apr 16, 1968
Johnson arrives in Honolulu
Apr 16, 1972
United States resumes bombing of Hanoi and Haiphong
Apr 17, 1972
First antiwar protest of the year is conducted
Apr 17, 1975
Cambodia falls to the Khmer Rouge
Apr 18, 1969
Nixon says prospects for peace in Vietnam are better
Apr 19, 1967
Air Force pilot cited for bravery
Apr 19, 1971
Vietnam Veterans Against the War demonstrate
Apr 20, 1970
Nixon announces more troop withdrawals
Apr 20, 1971
"Fragging" on the rise in U.S. units

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