Vietnamese orphans celebrate 50th anniversary of arrival at Buckner Children’s Home
Golden anniversary homecoming
On Saturday, July 12, 2025, former orphans from Cam Ranh City Christian Orphanage honored their journey from Vietnam to Buckner Children’s Home 50 years ago with a special reunion. They gathered at the former site of the home, where the Buckner Children and Family Services campus continues to protect vulnerable children and families.
The reunion included a ceremony honoring their journey, lunch, a video recapping a recent 50th anniversary trip back to Vietnam, and optional tours of the Buckner campus and Buckner Heritage and Learning Center.
More than 140 people gathered, including the Cam Ranh Orphans and generations of their families, people who played a vital role in their journey, and Buckner International leadership.
A hedge of protection
In the spring of 1975, North Vietnamese forces swept toward South Vietnamese territory and the city of Cam Ranh. Leaders at the Cam Ranh City Christian Orphanage made a bold and daring decision to flee with orphans and staff, hoping to find protection elsewhere. The orphans, along with caregivers and their children, boarded buses in what became a months-long, treacherous journey.
The day before Saigon fell, the group set out into the South China Sea on a leaky boat that failed two days into their voyage. They were eventually rescued and towed to Singapore where they waited five days without food or water before Baptist missionaries intervened.
The 96 orphans and staff from Cam Ranh City Christian Orphanage ultimately found sanctuary and hope at Buckner Children’s Home in Dallas, on June 12, 1975. Buckner gave the weary travelers a new home and a fresh start, almost nine-thousand miles away from their war-torn South Vietnam. Eventually, half the orphans were adopted, and the others remained together at Buckner.
“I was two when I came here and was adopted at around three years old from Buckner,” said Sam Schrade, youngest of the Cam Ranh orphans. “I got to live an amazing life because of what was done for us.”
“This story is one of the most inspiring and transformative milestones in our 146–year history. Their lives and actions have touched the hearts of so many,” said Buckner International CEO Albert Reyes as he addressed the group. “That desire to provide hope and opportunity to vulnerable children is what motivated our founder, R.C. Buckner all those years ago.”
Memorializing the journey
Following lunch and the anniversary speakers, the celebration moved outside. Ty Cope led the group’s dedication of a memorial bench to Pastor Nguyen Xuan Ha, director of Cam Ranh City Christian Orphanage, and Pastor Jim Gayle, a missionary to Vietnam in the 1960s and 70s who along with Margaret, his wife, helped create the orphanage. Both were instrumental in securing the group’s safe arrival at Buckner.
Giving back
Though the one-time orphans are rooted in America, they formed a nonprofit foundation to help children in Vietnam. To mark the 50th anniversary, Thomas Ho, the oldest of the orphans, led a recent trip to Vietnam with six others of the original group and their families.
For some it was the first time returning to the country of their birth. They visited the site of their former orphanage which is now mostly apartment buildings. Their nonprofit sponsors students in Cam Ranh by providing financial assistance, uniforms, school supplies and books throughout the year. They also provided groceries to a community center for the blind and distributed new shoes for children provided by Buckner Shoes for Orphan Souls®.
“Because of the hope that we were given, we are who we are today,” said Danny Nguyen, member of the Cam Ranh Orphans. “I want to thank everyone who showed this selfless kindness to us.”
Written by Linda Goelzer, associate director of public relations, Buckner International
