{"id":231469,"date":"2026-03-31T14:03:11","date_gmt":"2026-04-01T00:03:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=231469"},"modified":"2026-04-01T13:21:00","modified_gmt":"2026-04-01T23:21:00","slug":"manoa-vietnam-war-survivor-story","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2026\/03\/31\/manoa-vietnam-war-survivor-story\/","title":{"rendered":"UH<\/abbr> M\u0101noa hosts Vietnam War survivor story"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading time: <\/span> 2<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>
\"Unlaced,
One of many pairs of well worn baby shoes worn by orphans evacuated from Vietnam during Operation Babylift (Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The University of Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> at M\u0101noa\u2019s Center for Southeast Asian Studies<\/a> (CSEAS<\/abbr>) brought history into sharp focus with a visit from Devaki Murch, a Vietnam War adoptee whose life now shapes how that history is remembered.<\/p>\n

\"Devaki
Devaki Murch<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As a baby, Murch was part of Operation Babylift, a U.S.-led effort to evacuate children from Vietnam at the end of the war. The first flight crashed shortly after takeoff from Saigon on April 4, 1975. Of the 314 people aboard, 150 survived. Murch was one of them.<\/p>\n

At UH<\/abbr> M\u0101noa, students, alumni and community members gathered on March 3 in Moore Hall to hear her story. But the talk went beyond survival. It asked a deeper question, who gets to tell history, and how?<\/p>\n

Tien Nguyen, a master\u2019s student in theatre and dance<\/a>, said the lecture connected personal memory with lived experience.<\/p>\n

“The fact that Devaki Murch boarded the first babylift flight and survived the fateful plane crash makes her journey even more magical,” Nguyen said. “One thing prevails, as we are all humans who have survived thus far despite the odds, we should feel empowered to do the things we love, regardless of our backgrounds.”<\/p>\n

Active participation in the historical record<\/h2>\n

Murch drew from her work building the Operation Babylift Collection<\/a>. She urged students to see themselves as active participants in shaping the historical record. Today\u2019s research and digital footprints, she said, will become tomorrow\u2019s archives, often without context or consent.<\/p>\n

“Traditional archives ask people to trust systems that have already failed them,” Murch said. “Sealed records, classified documentation, institutional protection over individual truth. We needed a different approach.”<\/p>\n

Raised in Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span>, Murch\u2019s story resonated locally. Her lecture tied global conflict to familiar questions about memory, military presence and accountability.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

CSEAS<\/abbr> hosted a special event featuring Vietnam War adoptee Devaki Murch who was part of Operation Babylift. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":231467,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[777,1562,1471,225,9],"class_list":["post-231469","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-people","tag-asian-studies","tag-center-for-southeast-asian-studies","tag-college-of-arts-languages-and-letters","tag-history","tag-uh-manoa","entry","has-media"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t