Rescued Vietnamese orphan remembers 'Angel of Saigon'

To the world, Betty Tisdale was the "Angel of Saigon," the wife of a Columbus pediatrician who in 1975 moseyed through bureaucracy in two countries to save the lives of 219 helpless children who were about to become the leftovers of a tragic war.

But to Jason Robertson she was the guardian angel who rescued him from the war, offering hundreds like him an escape from An Lac, a rundown orphanage whose name in the Vietnamese language meant -- of all things -- "happy place."

Tisdale died in Seattle on Wednesday, five weeks before her 93rd birthday. Memorial services are pending.

Robertson remembered the former New York City secretary who held him in her arms in Vietnam

and found him a spot on a military airplane that delivered him to a couple who promised him a life in Salem, Ala.

"I reward her with my life," said the local businessman and the father of four.

Tisdale belonged to the world, for her efforts to rescue orphans continued long after the war in Vietnam.

But it was in Columbus where her story began. She had married Dr. Patrick Tisdale, a former Army doctor who was practicing medicine here. They later divorced, and her former husband died last year.

Tisdale adopted the community and the community adopted her, providing a foundation for her work in Saigon. She returned in 2010 for an An Lac reunion engineered by Robertson.

"She told me then that she couldn't have done what she did in any other community," he said. "People opened up their arms. She would come home and find items she needed left at her front door."

The Tisdales were similar to the "Brady Bunch," referring to an old TV sitcom built around a mismatched family. Her husband had five sons, and together they adopted five Vietnamese girls.

"Betty faked her birth certificate so she could adopt those girls," he said. "She became 40 instead of 50. When she got to be 62 she had to change her age again. She didn't want to wait on Social Security."

In 1975, on the eve of the fall of Saigon, she was also creative. Authorities said she would not be able to take any child over the age of 10 out of the country, so she and An Lac founder Madame Vie Thai Ngai stayed up all night filling in blank birth certificates.

In this country, she had worked tirelessly to get the use of a military aircraft to fly the babies to safety, but the late Bo Callaway, then-Secretary of the Army, wouldn't take her calls.

"I called his mother in Pine Mountain and Virginia Callaway took my call. In a few days, we had our airplane," she told the reunion audience five years ago.

Tisdale first visited Vietnam in 1961. She was repelled by conditions at the orphanage, particularly babies in rusty cribs wearing rag diapers with one safety pin. But 44 years ago, Columbus and people around the United States were moved by the sight of American soldiers in wartime gear gently carrying Vietnamese orphans into a makeshift nursery set up at Fort Benning's Wilbur School.

Robertson was one of those orphans. Growing up in Russell County, his adopted family made sure he got to visit Tisdale. As he grew older, they lost touch and they didn't reconnect until 2004. Appropriately, they spent Mother's Day together.

In 2005, he returned to Vietnam for the first time. Holding his hand, Tisdale walked him through the remains of An Lac. He is one of the few orphans ever to make that pilgrimage.

Robertson wanted his children to meet her so he went to work on the 2010 reunion. Scores of grateful orphans came here for an event that culminated with a dinner at the First Presbyterian Church.

For many, it was their first chance to spend time with the hard-charging woman who paved the way for the futures they had found. Robertson was able to spend private time with her. Though they've often visited on the phone, it was the last time he would see her.

He took her to the Atlanta airport when it was over and was shocked when she asked him to get her a wheelchair. She wanted him to push her to the ticket counter and told him not to say a word.

Age was something she never discussed, but that day she was ready to be an 88-year-old woman.

"Watch and learn," she said.

At the counter, she begged for help.

"'Would you be able to help out an old lady?'" she asked. The agent didn't immediately respond and Tisdale repeated her plea for a better seat on the flight to Seattle.

She got it, and as he rolled her away, Robertson realized he had seen Betty Tisdale in action. He had a glimpse of the woman local singer-songwriter Allen Levi sang about at the reunion.

His lyrics were moving and accurate and are summarized by his chorus:

"Call her hero, call her holy, call her mother,

"With 219 children in her arms

"Call her Betty, simply Betty

"To us she is the Angel of Saigon."

This story was originally published August 20, 2015 at 10:06 PM with the headline "Rescued Vietnamese orphan remembers 'Angel of Saigon' ."