Streamed live on August 18, 2025
The Veterans Breakfast Club is honored to welcome Ross Meador, author of the critically acclaimed memoir Carried Away: A Memoir of Rescue and Survival Among the Orphans of the Viet Nam War, for a 90-minute livestream conversation on Sunday, August 18 at 7:00pm ET.
Ross Meador’s story is not your typical Vietnam War narrative. In 1975, just before the fall of Saigon, 17-year-old Ross was living in Vietnam with his missionary parents. Amid the chaos and collapse of the South Vietnamese government, Ross became swept up in the desperate efforts to evacuate and protect hundreds of orphaned children left behind in the final days of the war.
Carried Away recounts Meador’s personal experience as a teenager witnessing—and helping with—what became known as Operation Babylift, the humanitarian effort to rescue thousands of Vietnamese orphans. But Meador’s account digs deeper. His story is one of survival, identity, moral conflict, and healing, all told with the clarity of a witness who saw the war not from the battlefield, but from the margins—among the displaced, forgotten, and frightened.
This event will explore:
Ross’s unique perspective as a young civilian during the fall of Saigon
His firsthand role in the rescue and evacuation of orphans
The emotional and moral complexities of wartime humanitarianism
How he came to write his memoir decades later—and why it matters today.
As noted in the Novels Alive review, Meador’s memoir “treads unfamiliar territory in Vietnam War literature,” offering “a rare glimpse into a lesser-known front of compassion and courage.”
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We’re grateful to UPMC for Life for sponsoring this event!
We’re grateful to UPMC for Life for sponsoring this event!
