Media Release
SPRINGFIELD, VA - When the residents of Greenspring Village set up their own Resident's Website two years ago, no one ever expected the recent turn of events which reunited a chaplain and the baby he once rescued from a Vietnamese orphanage, but that's just what happened through http://www.GreenspringVillage.com/residents.
Lee Charlotte Kent Cooper, probing for clues to her past, found a reference to the Rev. Andrew J. Tibus through an Internet search. She knew the name from sketchy information she received from her adoptive parents concerning her rescue in 1973 from the Hoi Duc Ahn orphanage in Saigon. Through an e-mail inquiry received by Greenspring Village resident Bill Raymond, coordinator of the residents' website, Cooper's note was forwarded to Rev. Tibus, now Chaplain at Renaissance Gardens at Greenspring Village.
As luck would have it, Cooper had found the very same Rev. Tibus responsible for carrying out the volunteer humanitarian effort which, most likely, saved her life. Tibus had traveled to Viet Nam as an Air Force Chaplain stationed at Carswell AFB, Fort Worth, Texas, to pick up an infant boy who could not be released from the country through any other means due to international legal complications.
"When I picked up the infant boy, I realized that the Vietnamese lawyer understood English, although he pretended not to at first," said Tibus. "I asked if there were any other children with adoptive parents waiting for them back in the US. From a stack of papers he randomly pulled out the file for Lee Charlotte. Through air force base personnel, I was able to arrange medical and embassy clearances and take her back in the same trip. Her adoptive parents in Jacksonville, Florida had given up all hope of ever seeing her."
Tibus credits the U.S. Air Force Chaplaincy in allowing him to arrange for transportation and gaining the necessary clearances. It put him in the position of being one of the few people who could help. "Arrangements were made so that all my flights connected," Tibus said. "From Texas to California to Hawaii to Thailand to Viet Nam, I never had to wait very long for the next leg of the journey."
Once in Viet Nam, local transportation arrangements were provided via a fellow U.S. Army chaplain, who teamed up with Tibus as they traveled together and celebrated daily religious services for their missions.
In another stroke of fortunate timing, 29 years later, Tibus received Cooper's letter at the most opportune time. He just happened to be preparing for a trip to Orlando, Florida when he received the e-mail inquiry. By the end of the same week Tibus was reunited with Cooper in Orlando.
Now 29-years-old, Lee Charlotte Kent Cooper is married and the mother of three children. Tibus is sure that she has a much higher quality of life than if she had stayed in Viet Nam, assuming she would have survived the high infant mortality rate of the orphanage. "I am truly happy to have been a part of God's plan with these two adoptions," he said. "It was good for Lee Charlotte to connect with someone from that part of her life. I brought her back literally under my arm. Her family enjoyed a good laugh when I told them 'this is the first time I have ever heard your mother talk!'"
Tibus and Cooper continue their dialogue via the Internet. They are working together to help link other Vietnamese children adopted by American families.
Renaissance Gardens at Greenspring Village's Chaplain Andrew J.Tibus is available for interviews. Please contact him through Pamela McKinley at 703 923-4690.
