Moving tribute to angels of the air
Local
A single flickering candle cast an angelic glow across black and white photographs of Margaret Moses and Gyoparka Makk at the Adelaide Sisters of Mercy’s 50th anniversary commemoration of the Operation Babylift tragedy last month. Their young faces and memories are forever captured in time.
The two Catholic women were on board an aircraft that crashed on April 4 1975 while evacuating Vietnamese orphans during the fall of Saigon.
Former St Aloysius College (SAC) and Mercy Sister Margaret, Hungary-born Gyoparka, and Adelaide nurse Lee Maak, along with 78 children and babies, were among the 138 who died in the crash.
The commemoration, held at SAC, was attended by Year 12 students, Margaret’s family and friends, Adelaide Mercy Sisters, and the parents of adopted orphans. It included readings, prayers and reflections, highlighting the courage and compassion of their loved ones and their impact on the lives of countless children.
The event also acknowledged the tireless work of the late Rosemary Taylor AM, a former SAC student and Sister of Mercy who studied at Adelaide University and taught at SAC, Mercedes College and St Vincent’s College in Sydney.
In 1967, Margaret joined a World Council aid team to work with women and children living in refugee camps in Vietnam.
“She quickly became aware of the dire situation of orphans and was moved to do something about it,” said Mercy Sister Mary-Anne Duigan when addressing the gathering.
“She opened several nurseries and set up an organisation in America called Friends for All Children to work with her to find adoptive homes in other countries and to raise funds to care for the children in her care.”
Rosemary felt that the best chance for the children to survive and thrive was in adoption to other countries.
“She believed that it was better to live to be an adult in another country than to be a dead baby in your own,” Sr Mary-Anne said.
“Rosemary needed more help on the ground and on a trip home to Adelaide, she enlisted a friend she’d been at school with here at SAC and who had recently left the Sisters of Mercy.”
That friend was Margaret Moses.
Rosemary and her team went on to establish nurseries in Vietnam, facilitating the adoption of more than 2500 children.
When tragedy struck within minutes of take-off that fateful day in 1975, she was devastated by the loss of so many innocent children and her dear, humanitarian friends and peers.
Despite the unimaginable grief, Rosemary and surviving team members continued to help evacuate almost 1500 children that weekend.
Her tenacious devotion to doing good in the world never ceased. Rosemary died in 2019 but her legacy lives on through the likes of her godchild Amy Schrueter, who was in the audience with her adoptive mother Robyn Schrueter for the special memorial. Rosemary played a major role in helping Robyn and her late husband bring their precious bundle Amy to Australia.
Robyn said Rosemary “got a kick out of” hearing about the achievements of the children she helped and Amy’s life was forever imprinted by her godmother.
“I’m a youth worker now and help others through residential care work,” Amy said.
“I think Rosemary’s impact helped guide me to that path because she was so compassionate.”
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