MASON, Ohio —

This year marks 50 years since the Vietnam War ended with the capture of Saigon by communist forces, and among those who escaped and survived are a Mason woman and her family, who arrived in the United States on Thanksgiving half a century ago.

Theresa Bird was just 7 years old and her little brother was 5, when their aunt risked her life to help them escape the war in Vietnam and the terror of soldiers who had taken over. Advertisement

"We didn't know where we were going. We were just going out into the ocean and hopefully get rescued by somebody," Bird said.

Seven days after the fall of Saigon, they left the rest of their family behind, including their parents, and in the middle of the night, they packed onto a fishing boat with 200 other people, praying for a better l

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