These shoes were worn by a child evacuated from South Vietnam during Operation Babylift, which began on April 3, 1975 before the Fall of Saigon.
The plan was initiated by U.S. President Gerald Ford and was intended to rescue Vietnamese orphans. Tragically the first plane to take off carrying children from South Vietnam crash landed after takeoff, resulting in the deaths of 50 adults and 78 children. However, 170 passengers survived.
More than 3,300 children were successfully transported to the United States. Saigon fell to the North Vietnamese on April 30, 1975.