Editing Wake Island (section)

====Vietnam War refugees: ''Operation New Life''====
[[File:Vietnamese refugees on Wake Island.jpg|thumb|left|Vietnamese refugees on Wake Island await resettlement processing by [[Immigration and Naturalization Service|U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service]] personnel in May 1975]]

In the spring of 1975, the population of Wake Island consisted of 251 military, government, and civilian contract personnel, whose primary mission was to maintain the airfield as a Mid-Pacific emergency runway. With the imminent [[fall of Saigon]] to [[Viet Cong|North Vietnamese forces]], President [[Gerald Ford]] ordered American forces to support ''[[Operation New Life]]'', the evacuation of [[refugee]]s from [[South Vietnam]]. The original plans included the Philippines' Subic Bay and Guam as refugee processing centers. Still, due to the high number of Vietnamese seeking evacuation, Wake Island was selected as an additional location.<ref name="wakeisland2">{{cite web |url=http://www.wakeisland1975.com/ |title=Wake Island 1975 |publisher= |access-date=December 10, 2011 |archive-date=November 16, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111116073316/http://www.wakeisland1975.com/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
[[File:Flag of Wake Island.svg|thumb|The unofficial flag of Wake Island was designed in 1976 by individuals stationed on the island to commemorate the [[United States Bicentennial]]. The three stars represent the three islands of the atoll, and the flag resembles the [[flag of the Philippines]], as many workers on the island at the time were from the country.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Klimeš|first=Roman|date=January 2000|title=The Flag of Wake Island|url=https://nava.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/NAVANews_2000_vol33no1.pdf|journal=NAVA News|volume=33|access-date=March 15, 2021|archive-date=June 6, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210606083851/https://nava.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/NAVANews_2000_vol33no1.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>]]
In March 1975, Island Commander Major Bruce R. Hoon was contacted by PACAF and ordered to prepare Wake for its new mission as a refugee processing center where Vietnamese evacuees could be medically screened, interviewed, and transported to the United States or other resettlement countries. A 60-man [[Air Force Civil Engineer Support Agency|civil engineering team]] was brought in to reopen boarded-up buildings and housing. Two complete [[Mobile army surgical hospital (US)|MASH]] units arrived to set up [[field hospital]]s, and three Army [[field kitchen]]s were deployed. A 60-man [[United States Air Force Security Police]] team, processing agents from the [[Immigration and Naturalization Service|U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service]], and various other administrative and support personnel were also on Wake. [[Drinking water|Potable water]], food, medical supplies, clothing, and other supplies were shipped in.<ref name="wakeisland2" />

On April 26, 1975, the first C-141 carrying refugees arrived. The airlift to Wake continued at a rate of one C-141 every hour and 45 minutes, each aircraft with 283 refugees on board. At the peak of the mission, 8,700 Vietnamese refugees were on Wake. When the airlift ended on August 2, a total of about 15,000 refugees had been processed through Wake Island as part of ''Operation New Life''.<ref name="wakeisland2" /><ref name="A Wake Island Story">{{cite web |url=http://c141heaven.info/dotcom/tall_tales/a_wake_island_story.php |title=A Wake Island Story |publisher=c141heaven.info/ |access-date=July 23, 2015 |archive-date=July 24, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150724021750/http://c141heaven.info/dotcom/tall_tales/a_wake_island_story.php |url-status=live }}</ref>