cover image This Must Be My Brother

This Must Be My Brother

Leann Thiemen. Chariot Victor Publishing, $12.99 (173pp) ISBN 978-1-56476-383-9

Two housewives who had never been out of Iowa, Thieman and Dey were officers in the Iowa chapter of Friends of Children of Vietnam (an organization that, during the Vietnam War, raised money and supplies for Vietnamese orphans and also processed adoptions). In early April 1975, they were asked to fly into Vietnam and bring back six babies for adoption. As the fall of Saigon became imminent, however, President Ford approved a massive ``baby lift,'' and the six babies became two hundred. Thieman and Dey share their adventure-the doubts, terror, humor and the people they met on their mission. (The authors have even tracked down many of those same people 20 years later and have added their stories in an epilogue.) This is an astonishing story told honestly, without ego. It is also one that should not have had to wait 20 years for its telling. (Jan.)