Fifty years ago, near the end of the Vietnam War, as North Vietnamese troops headed south, the director of the Cam Ranh Christian Orphanage, Pastor Nguyen Xuan Ha — known to everyone as Mr. Ha —decided it was time to escape to somewhere safe.

Mr. Ha put 85 children and staff on two buses and headed for Saigon where he hoped they could flee to safety.

One of the buses was shot at by a North Vietnamese soldier and the buses separated. Somehow they re-united in Saigon.

After renting a boat and getting some distance from shore, the engine quit. For five days they drifted before a Thailand tanker approached. The captain refused to help, but later changed his mind, turned around and towed them for a while.

After cutting the tow line, a group of fishermen towed them toward Singapore.

Soldiers refused to let them ashore. Mr. Ha........

© New York Post