VIETNAM BABYLIFT ADOPTEES REUNITE.

Byline: Elizabeth Rodriguez Staff Writer

Hundreds of people who arrived in the United States 25 years ago as Vietnamese orphans in Operation Babylift gathered Sunday at the Vietnam Memorial - to share experiences and celebrate personal victories they achieved as American citizens.

Adults who had been rescued as children from their homeland and brought to live in the United States came together in an emotional reunion in the Washington area - a gathering described as part healing process and part thanksgiving for their new lives and opportunities.

``It was intense and emotional,'' 26-year-old Tamara Hill of Northridge - who was born Thi Minh Tam Nguyen - said in a telephone interview. ``Especially when the adoptees told the stories of their lives from the airlift until now.''

Hill said this event was her first such reunion and described her overall feeling at the weekend reunion as satisfying.

``It's the satisfaction of knowing someone out there feels the same way you do,'' she said.

``All of the adoptees getting together and sharing experiences was part of the healing process, part of putting together the pieces of the puzzle,'' she said.

``We all bonded. We became a family,'' Hill said.

Sisters Natalie and Michelle Crapuchettes, born as Tuyet and Thuy Nguyen, left Vietnam in the babylift operation, a series of airlifts authorized by President Gerald Ford to rescue thousands of Vietnamese orphans from Saigon before North Vietnam took over the South.

Michelle, who lives in Oxnard, said she was amazed when she saw the Memorial Wall. ``I felt in awe. I didn't realize how many people were involved in the war,'' she said.

Natalie, a Sunland resident, emphasized the emotional connection established among the adoptees over the weekend. ``There was a lot of hugging and crying,'' she said.

The connection was especially evident when the refugees discussed their common experiences in adjusting to their new lives. ``We talked about assimilating to a new world,'' she said.

``The reunion was incredibly emotional,'' said Susan Cox, vice president of Holt International of Oregon, an agency that pioneered inter-country adoptions after the Korean War.

Cox said people who really didn't know each other developed a strong sense of camaraderie.

``Three days ago, people came to the reunion who did not remember or know each other - and (they) left arm-in-arm,'' she said.

Holt International sponsored the weekend reunion and was part of Operation Babylift, placing 800 children from Vietnam before the fall of Saigon.

Natalie said she was happy to have a chance to thank people who had made the babylift possible.

``We didn't think much of who was involved, but their sacrifice was very touching. We're older now; we can comprehend what is happening,'' she said.

Michelle also expressed her appreciation. ``We don't remember them, but it was very nice to thank the people who helped us,'' she said.

All in the group shared a feeling of gratitude for their lives in America, Tamara Hill said.

``We have opportunities and choices here to find what we want to do with our lives,'' she explained. ``If we had stayed in Vietnam, there would have been no choice at all.''

``We have more education here. We are very healthy,'' said Natalie Crapuchettes. ``Things we couldn't get in Vietnam, (for it's) being a Third World country. Here I'm very independent; I do things on my own. I count on myself.''

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Photo: Vietnamese adoptee Leah Solorzano of San Antonio, Texas, places her hands upon the Vietnam Memorial in Washington.

Warren Mayo/Associated Press