This year's Anzac Day falls 50 years after Australian air force crews took part in a perilous rescue mission of thousands of young orphans from a conflict zone.
During the final days of the Vietnam War, the US and its allies launched Operation Babylift to fly the children, many just babies, to safety.
By April 1975, thousands of them had been brought to the city of Saigon, now known as Ho Chi Minh City, with many of them in need of medical help that wasn't available.
WATCH LIVE: Anzac Day coverage from 9News
READ MORE: Where to attend Anzac Day dawn services, marches and other commemorations
There were also a large number born of American soldiers who faced being murdered by the advancing communist forces, as 20 years of bloody fighting drew to a close.
The Australian War Memorial's curator of military history, Emily Hyles, says the humanitarian mission was triggered by a request from then-US president Gerald Ford.
"Operation Babylift was the largest evacuation ever of orphans," she said.
"In April 1975, 3000 children were evacuated from Saigon to America, to Australia and to European countries."
Because the flight time from Vietnam to Australia was half the time from the South-East Asian country to the US, the sickest orphans were flown out by the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF).
"The ones that came to Australia were so sick and malnourished that their carers didn't think they could sustain that longer journey to the United States," Hyles said.
READ MORE: Millions of Australians face wet and gloomy long weekend weather
The RAAF deployed 10 transport planes from 36 and 37 squadrons, mostly C-130 Hercules, during Operation Babylift.
Among the pilots was Hugh Howell, who today recalls the perilous flight from Vietnam to Bangkok in Thailand, where the children were transferred to a Qantas plane for the onward journey to Australia.
With enemy North Vietnamese troops and Viet Cong fighters just a few kilometres from the city, danger was constant as the planes packed with young children took off.
"Because of the danger of surface-to-air missiles, we would actually have to take off and then climb in a circular pattern up over the top of the airfield, which was a safe area, up to about 10,000 feet before we could then set off," he said.
READ MORE: When and where do double demerits apply this Anzac Day long weekend?
The RAAF air crews had seen at first hand the high risks involved with Operation Baby Lift when a giant US Air Force C-5A Galaxy aircraft, carrying orphans, crashed shortly after take-off from Saigon.
The mercy flight was hit by a catastrophic decompression at 23,000 feet, resulting in a crash that killed more than half the passengers, including babies, young children and two Australian women, Lee Makk and Margaret Moses.
Operation Babylift is a touching reminder of the Australian Defence Force's role in providing humanitarian aid during conflicts.
DOWNLOAD THE 9NEWS APP: Stay across all the latest in breaking news, sport, politics and the weather via our news app and get notifications sent straight to your smartphone. Available on the Apple App Store and Google Play.
Related Posts
Panic on the pier as helicopter plunges into Hudson RiverA family of Spanish tourists were killed in the latest high-profile aviation disaster in the US.
- Four hospitalised, 30 evacuated after unit fire in inner SydneyFour people have been hospitalised and dozens more have been evacuated after a unit fire in inner Sydney.
The fire brok
- Lion snatches and kills 14-year-old girl outside Kenyan national parkA 14-year-old girl was killed by a lioness outside the Kenyan capital Nairobi when she was snatched at a ranch borderin
- Restaurant chain faces outrage after carving up 500-year-old oak treeA restaurant chain has apologised after sparking outrage when it cut down an oak tree in London that was believed to be
- Residents on Kimberley Coast brace as Cyclone Errol approachesResidents in Western Australia are being warned to brace for Cyclone Errol as it's expected to cross the Kimberley Coa
- Panic on Wall Street as Trump announces new tariffsUS stocks dropped after a second day of stunning reversals.
