Invisible Threads: Stories Connected by Operation Babylift

INVISIBLE THREADS: Stories Connected by Operation Babylift April 9–12, 2026 | East Window Gallery, Boulder, CO

"There is a thread—soft as breath, strong as the roots of an ancient tree... An invisible thread tied us close, threaded through the heart, stitched with love, braided with courage." —Noel Nguyen, OBL adoptee

This isn't just an exhibit. It's a gathering.

Over four days, we're bringing together Operation Babylift community honoring 50 years since the end of the war and what has transpired in this pivotal year. The exhibit will bring together adoptees, friends, family, caregivers, volunteers and veterans many whom I have just met this year and want you all to meet each other.

THURSDAY 4/9, 6-9pm: Opening welcome with Sister Mary Nelle Gage

FRIDAY 4/10, 6-9pm: StoryShare presentations + gallery reception

SATURDAY 4/11: Writing workshop with Andrew Lam, author talks, film screenings

SUNDAY 4/12, 10am-12pm: Birth search & reunion panel with Con Tím Mẹ

What is on the walls?

A fragment of the C-5A Galaxy that crashed on April 4, 1975? We survived that crash. We are here.

The Relative Immigration Petition request from a mother trying to bring her son to the US? That's Louis Caputo's story. Jeff found the website and contacted us to help find information. The invisible threads connecting.

Those Pan Am pictures? They were taken by a 20 year old volunteer, Lisa Pauly Jenkins who always wondered what happend to the babies that she cared for on the Pan Am flight.

The baby blanket? Go find Shea Bissell and hear her amazing story.

The framed photograph "Babies in Cardboard Boxes"? A gift from Axel Koch, passed down from his grandmother who purchased it

from her neighbor, war correspondent Bill Kurtis in 1975. Fifty years later, it came home to this archive. Go say hi to Axel.

These are not artifacts. These are living connections.

Some people in these photos are here. Others live forever in our hearts. All of them are a part of our collective story. Come meet them.

Gallery open 9am-9pm throughout the weekend. Open April 3-25, posted hours.

More info: devaki@operationbabylift.org | #InvisibleThreads #OperationBabylift #ArchivesInLoveAndWar