Kabul August 2021 Remind Me of My Journey to America from Saigon in April 1975
Kabul August 2021 Remind Me of My Journey to America from Saigon in April 1975
What I saw on TV and the news media about what is happening in Kabul in the last few days reminded me of my family journey to America in April 1975.?There were so many similarities:
There is so much talk in America questioning the value of taking in refugees from Afghanistan as they did about letting in Vietnamese refugees in 1975.?Why are we here??We are here because we were on the USA side fighting and dying for a war that we both lost.?We were fearful for our lives, so we had to leave and find a new home in America.?We were lucky to be able to leave 1 day before surrendering.?Looking back for the people who were not successful in leaving like us, so many people committed suicides, get sent to prisons and life long black listing from opportunities like educations, business, etc. for being on the USA side.??I imagine, the people in Afghanistan who supported the USA during the war will go through similar fate as what we saw in Vietnam at the end of the war in 1975.
The pictures of people handing their children to the soldiers on the airport wall in Kabul to escape reminded me of my father handing me to a soldier on an American ship that came to the rescue after we were near death from dehydration sitting on a barge without covering from the sun, floating out in the South China Sea for several days without water or food.?My family of 9 were divided into several ships that came to the rescue.?At that time, whoever can get on whatever ship ?that came at least that person had a better chance of survival than those left behind on the barge because we did not know if there will be another ship coming.?My family was split up into several ships and then landed in several refugee camps in the pacific and was not reunited until a few months later in a refugee camp in Fort Chaffee, Arkansas.?It was a frightening time not knowing what will happen next. ?Are we going to see each other again??What await us in America?
The picture of 823 Afghani crammed into a C17 to get out of Kabul remined me of my plane ride in a C130 from Clark Airbase the Philippines to Guam in 1975.?It was hot and suffocating, but we were glad that we got on the plane and get as far away from the war in Vietnam as possible.?
It is popular in some circle to think of the new Afghani refugees as low skills and lifelong dependent on welfare.?My personal experiences and millions of others immigrants to America proved them wrong.?
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At first my family of 9 people had to rely on social supports like food stamps and charities from the local communities to survive until we can get on our feet.?It would not have been possible to survive on our own when all we had was the clothes on our backs and the entire family brought with us $50.?One of the best things about America is that it has a social system that support people when they are down and give them a chance to rise up with hard works and talents.?It would have been impossible to survive on my father income of $2.10/hr to feed and care for our large family.?Food stamps help feed us.?Low-income housing put a roof over our heads.?Pell Grants helped put me through university.?
I must say my early years in America was not pleasant because of discriminations and people take out their anger about losing the war and blame us just because we came from Vietnam.?All we could do was bite our tongue and focusing on doing better in life.?There were lots of mistrust and suspicions about us.?Are they communist spy/sympathizer?????I imagine many of the new refugees from Afghanistan today will face with suspicions and mistrust as we did in 1975.?Now 46 years later looking back, the Vietnamese refugees have been a positive contributor to America success since.?Just go to Silicon Valley and see how many people are involve in the high tech industry.
I earned a BS and MS in Petroleum Engineering and have a successful career worked for ARCO, Shell, Maersk Oil and now running my own consultancy company.?With my job I had lived in 7 countries and traveled to 50-60 countries.?Over the years I worked on some of the largest/best engineered oil fields for example Prudhoe Bay in Alaska and Al Shaheen in Qatar.?I trained hundreds of engineers and scientists throughout my career.?The tax I paid from all my works worth many time the benefits we received from the governments when we first arrived in America.?My 6 siblings also have successful careers in various fields like Medicine, Engineering, etc.
In April 1975 sitting on a barge facing death from dehydration in the South China Sea it was impossible to imagine that 46 years later I call some of the most successful people in America my neighbors.
SO THANK YOU AMERICA FOR GIVING US A CHANCE IN 1975.?Now give the Afghani refugee a chance in 2021.?Who knows, some of those kids may grow up to be a Gold Medalist like Suni Lee who’s parents came here from Laos after the Vietnam war.
Thanks for sharing such an inspiring story. It's always helpful to those of us who have not had such difficult times to hear how tough things can really get. It proves that luck, then hard work, perseverance, and the kindness of strangers will prevail even in the worst of circumstances.
Semi Retired
3 年So very well stated, Son. I remember that time well, but was too young to really appreciate what was happening to you and so many of your fellow Vietnamese citizens. I was 13 and in middle school. My small town in eastern ND took in and helped two Vietnamese families settle and get established in the U.S. Our class had two boys, one from each family, and they faced many bullying actions and comments. At the time, we just had no appreciation for what they'd been through. May we be better this time.
Despite early inefficiency, my hats off to the US military and others for airlifting 82,000 people out of Afghanistan so far. That is an impressive feat of logistics.
I think it is terrific that that AIRBNB just announced that they will be working with the Biden Administration to provide housing for 20,000 Afghan refugees. AIRBNB will be on my mind the next time I travel for business or personal.
Director, Field Development and Management
3 年Son Do, you are very determined person and have a very positive look at the life. It is my pleasure to know you. I hope the Afghanis would be welcomed to the US. I hope they are also given the similar opportunities that Vietnamese refugees received. But the reality is combined fear of so called "terror in" islam and recent mass refugee mobilization from Syria, Iraq, Africa made nations less affectionate to the immigrants. Our hearths are with those suffering all over the world on terror and uncertainty.