Forging Ahead

When Saigon fell to Communist leaders 25 years ago, a generation of Vietnamese people were forced to leave their homeland. Many escaped on rickety boats to refugee camps in Malaysia and Thailand, where food was rationed, sanitation was minimal, and everyone’s health was in jeopardy. By the time there were large groups in the United States, they faced language and cultural barriers as well as discrimination.

For most, however, the suffering began long before America’s ‘Vietnam War.’ During the winter months of 1944-45, it is estimated that between 400,000 and 2 million Vietnamese died from famine due to bad harvests and forced exports of rice to Japan. From 1946 to 1954, another 500,000 to 1 million lost their lives in the struggle for independence from France. Years of colonialism left the country deeply divided in civil strife. The struggle between the North and the South peaked between 1965 and 1975, during which time U.S. troops intervened. In that period, it is estimated that 58,000 American GIs—and 1 million Vietnamese—were killed.

For the Vietnamese Americans who have little memory of Vietnam or who were born in the United States, our era of economic prosperity and Asian American pride is truly a break from the past, often leaving few common experiences to bridge the generations. Those in their 20s have little understanding of war, famine, illness and death. Unfortunately, lament many parents, young people by the natural assimilation process are less aware of Vietnamese culture, language and history as well. Indeed, a recent poll by the Los Angeles Times found that Vietnamese Americans in ethnic enclaves of Orange County consider assimilation the second most serious problem facing their community.

With this sentiment, it is refreshing that 20-something friends Katey Nguyen and Thuy Thi Nguyen are breaking new ground with their publication New Horizon, a book that commemorates the fall of Saigon with inspiring stories of 25 prominent Vietnamese Americans. “The publication is a journey itself,” Katey Nguyen said. “It’s by remembering the past and assessing the present that we’ll be able to envision the future and forge ahead.”