An exhibit is opening in Boulder, Colorado, titled “My Name Is Mimosa” on Saturday, April 4. The force behind the show is Devaki Murch, who, 50 years ago, was adopted and raised on Kauaʻi.
Murch was on the very first planeload of children that crashed after takeoff. Many babies and crew members were killed. She survived.
The nuns at the adoption agency gave her that name: “Mimosa.” One might think of the popular cocktail, but it was also the name of a tree that was beloved by one of the nuns.
The nuns at the adoption agency gave the children names ranging from Mimosa to T.S. Eliot and Anne Frank — a way to keep track of the thousands of Vietnamese children who were a part of Operation Babylift.
To learn more about these unique names, HPR connected with Sister Mary Nelle Gage in Colorado.
Interview Highlights
On the names given to the children
GAGE: On the personal, heartfelt side, here is this child who, at the moment, does not have a mother and father and promise of perpetual love, a stable home, nourishment, education, enjoyment — they have none of that. But they are so important, so we want to give them a name that is not common. … We were looking for a model for each child that is out of the ordinary. And so the poet Robert Frost, there are things inside your heart and mind that one day you're going to be able to express to those around you. William Shakespeare, actually, many of the names that we had at New Haven reflected some of our personal experiences. For example, Peggy Hammond, who was our physical therapist, had a sister named Marcia. We had a little girl named Marcia, a brother named Dean. We had a little boy named Dean. And sister Susan Carol, the nurse, oh, she was a great fan of reading C.S. Lewis. We have a C.S. Lewis, and then some of the other of our nuns back in Colorado or Kentucky, we named the child for them. Here is someone wholly professional, adept, you can aspire to have some of her qualities.
On where adoptees are now
GAGE: I think it probably is just about even in terms of the number of children who came to America, and on the other side of the ledger, the children who went to Canada, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Sweden, Australia, Italy, yes. So I think that's why, when you say, ʻoh, I've been in touch with an official from France and from Germany, and they are very interested, and want to help us locate those now practically middle-aged, yeah, middle-aged adoptees to find out, ‘okay, where has your journey taken you?’
On reconnecting with adoptees today
GAGE: Oh, and it means so much to us who knew them as babies, as toddlers, as little children, to have a contact again. One of the things that I've tried to emphasize with the adoptees is, we would assign in all of Rosemary's four nurseries, the child care workers were assigned to three or four or sometimes five children whom they took care of day after day. And so when the word came that all the paperwork on this side of the ocean was ready, and that paperwork from the other side of the ocean now, all this comes together so we can organize your flight. And the day of the departure, the child care worker, saying goodbye and knowing that she would never hold, feed, cuddle, play with that child again, and so tears would just be streaming. So those children were loved from the time that we picked them up in an orphanage, or they, the sisters from the orphanage, brought them to us, you know, whatever, however that took place, there was a bond of love that happened.
The exhibit around Operation Babylift titled “My Name is Mimosa” opens this Saturday, April 4, in Boulder, Colorado. More information about the exhibit can be found here.
This story aired on The Conversation on April 2, 2026. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m. Jinwook Lee adapted this story for the web.
