Escape from Saigon by Andrea Warren

Author:Andrea Warren
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)

Volunteers help settle children before takeoff aboard one of the military cargo planes that participated in Operation Babylift

Holt staff, escorts, and the flight crew hurried through the aisle, trying to get everyone in a seat so the plane could take off. They counted the children, and then counted again. Long knew they were worried the enemy would start shelling the airport. He was too. Hurry, hurry!

More buses arrived, more children and adults. He saw Tai come on board and waved to her, but she didn’t notice him. She was taken clear to the front of the airplane. Over and over the children were counted. Finally the counting stopped and Long returned to his seat and settled in. It was really going to happen! He was going to America!

The view from his window was one of the gigantic wings. As he looked at it, he suddenly realized that enemy soldiers could climb right onto it and break the windows and get in! What should he do?

The sound of the engines revving up startled him. It was so loud, he put his hands over his ears. Frightened by the noise, several children around him became hysterical. Escorts tried to comfort them. Suddenly, the wing flaps began to drop. To Long it looked as if the wing was broken. That meant the plane was like a bird with a broken wing, and it would crash, just like the plane did yesterday! He tried to swallow his fear, but his heart was beating hard. Maybe he should tell the pilot. No, he would be watchful. If it looked like the plane couldn’t fly, he would let the pilot know.

When the plane started to taxi down the runway, Long held his breath and tightly gripped the arms of his seat. He kept an eye on the ground outside, watching to make sure enemy soldiers didn’t start to throw grenades or fire rockets or storm across the tarmac to capture the plane.

The huge jet began to lift into the air. The angle of takeoff was so sharp that Long felt blood rush to his head. The skin on his face felt pulled and taut. It was almost as though he was lying on his back. Now even the crying children grew quiet.

Long thought his ears would explode. The roar of the plane was so loud, he couldn’t hear anything else. Finally the plane began to level out. For a moment everyone on board was silent. Then, as if on cue, the adults broke out in spontaneous cheering. “We’re safe now,” someone said. “God bless the Vietnamese people, and God bless America,” someone else said. Through his window, Long checked the wing. No enemy soldiers. No one trying to get in. They were safe!

As he joined the cheering around him, he realized he hadn’t been the only one to feel afraid. Now he could smile again. He was leaving a land of war and heading to a land of promise and peace.

When the air-conditioning system finally began to fill the cabin with cooling air, Long heard adults sighing with relief.

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