Columbus Ledger-Enquirer
November 16, 1999

100 PEOPLE TO REMEMBER
By Richard Hyatt

Betty Tisdale

Personal
She married Dr. Patrick Tisdale, a widowed father of five sons, at Fort Benning in 1969. Their family grew with the adoption of five orphaned Vietnamese girls. Now divorced, they moved to Seattle, Wash., in 1982.

Professional
In 1959, she met Dr. Tom Dooley, a legend for his work with Vietnamese orphanages. At first, she did what most people did: "I gave five dollars."

Prominence
Massive planes landed one by one at Fort Benning on a Friday in April of 1975. Only these aircraft weren't filled with troops. This time it was 219 children. As the Vietnam War came to a close, Tisdale feared for the children at the An Lac Orphanage so she worked to get them to the safety of the States. It was as if her entire life prepared her for that moment. "I didn't have time to think if I would fail," she said. A movie on her story was made with Shirley Jones portraying Tisdale. But that night in 1975 wasn't fiction. It was real. So were the tears shed for her remarkable effort. Though retired, she is a consultant for orphanages around the world and two months ago the city of Seattle and its Vietnam Association celebrated a day in her honor.

Back to the Articles Page