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Hello,
I was sent this story by a friend,it is true.
Lets stop and think about those who will not have Christmas,Kathy Martin
One of the Book's Incredible Holiday Miracles
Santa is Coming to Town
Betty Tisdale
I will never forget the Christmas in Vietnam when Santa Clause truly came to town.
It is always very-very hot in December. The temperatures were over 100 humid degrees and we were in the middle of the war.
I was working at An Lac Orphanage, started by Mme. Vu Thi Ngai in Haiphong, and through the book "Deliver Us From Evil" written by Dr. Tom Dooley, was able to give a home to thousands of children.
After Dr. Tom's death in l961, I took over the orphanage and sustained it until l975 when I evacuated 219 babies.
Our orphanage had been adopted by the 121 Signal Battalion, the 1st Infantry Division. The men were stationed ten miles from our orphanage.
The children were at the annex in the country.
(There was a lot of Vietcong activity around the area. Shortly after all the fruit trees were defoliated and we could not use the annex.)
The Infantry decided to surprise the orphans and give them a Christmas party.
The men wrote to their wives, sisters and girlfriends over seas and asked if they would mail gifts for the children.
Well, gifts started to arrive, all wrapped in brightly colored holiday paper.
On Christmas day the Signal Battalion arrived in several trucks. The trucks where piled high with hundreds of colored gift wrapped parcels.
Just then we heard the whirl of a helicopter overhead. We all looked up. This sound meant our men were flying off into combat and the sound was not a happy one for us.
But, this time the helicopter landed in a field across from the orphanage and out came Santa Clause.
Walking towards us, waving to the children, in 100 degree humid heat, in full regalia, complete with beard, and with more gifts came the first Santa any of the children had ever seen.
A three piece orchestra from the 121st Signal Battalion was playing "Silver Bells"........it was so moving.
The children soon joined in with Jingle Bells - as I had taught them.
They also sang Auld Lang Syne in Vietnamese - there wasn't a dry eye in the audience of soldiers. Maj. Bill Hilsman (now a General) and Sgt. Deeble and Lt. Fisher put it all together. These were the true angels of An Lac.
We brought all the children back over to the annex and I remember them lined up. Almost 400 children lined up - only the babies were not there.
Rows and rows of children. The children were not in rows facing us, but rows facing the building and all the soldiers, all ranks, all ages, sat on the steps with the piles of gifts stacked up beside them handing the gifts out to the children.
As each child came up to receive their gift they put their hands across their chests and said "Cam on"... Thank-you.
That is when I looked up. And saw a sight that I will never forget. On the flat of the roof of the Annex at Di-An were our soldiers standing around the circumferance of the roof guns in readiness protecting the children and the orphanage staff of volunteers from snipers.
The children of An Lac owe their lives to this wonderful group of solders that came to protect them.
At 4 PM the An Lac soldiers had to leave us and return to their base at Bien Hoa, it was time to go back into the field of battle.
It truly is a Christmas I will always remember.
Authors Note:
Twenty 20 years later, in 1995 when I returned to find the ones I had left behind - we had a reunion of about 60 of the grown children and the first thing they did - was sing Jingle Bells.
Editors Note:
When I phoned Betty and asked her for her story.... "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town" was playing on the radio.
Betty has started an organization to help the orphans in Vietnam.
H.A.L.O ... Helping And Loving Orphans.
She has just returned from Vietnam to find 150 children sleeping on the streets outside the orphanage and it is her goal to build them an annex.
To Betty help others...
Betty Tisdale
2416 2nd Ave. N.
Seattle, WA 98109
bettytisdale@aol.com
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