Becoming Americans
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Refugees...Immigrants...Americans...an inspirational story about a Vietnamese boat people family's journey of escaping communism, finding freedom in the United States, and achieving their American Dream.
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Becoming Americans - Robert N. H. Duong
BECOMING AMERICANS
A Vietnamese Boat People Story of Escaping Communism and Finding Freedom in America
Robert N. H. Duong
Courtesy of World Vision
Copyright © 2016 Robert N. H. Duong
All rights reserved.
Distributed by Smashwords
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this ebook with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
For my parents…their love, courage, and strength have been an inspiration in my life.
Thank you…to my wife Diep and brother Tai…their encouragements have made this possible.
Table of Contents
Prologue
Preface
Chapter 1: Life Under Communism
Chapter 2: Decision to Leave
Chapter 3: Clandestine Plan
Chapter 4: Escape for Freedom
Chapter 5: Rescued at Sea
Chapter 6: Disappointment in Malaysia
Chapter 7: Rescued Again
Chapter 8: Pulau Tengah
Chapter 9: Life at the Refugee Camp
Chapter 10: Going to America
Chapter 11: Land of the Free…Home of the Brave
Chapter 12: New Start in New Era
Chapter 13: Welcoming Arms of Trinity Lutheran Church
Chapter 14: Language Barrier
Chapter 15: Working in America
Chapter 16: Focus on Education
Chapter 17: Other Challenges
Chapter 18: American Citizenships…Becoming Americans
Chapter 19: Serving Society…Serving Our Country
Chapter 20: Achieving Our American Dream
Chapter 21: The Next Generation of Americans
Chapter 22: Lessons from Our Experience
Epilogue
Acknowledgements
Prologue
It was the summer of 1994 when I contacted World Vision, a Christian humanitarian organization, explaining to them how they had saved my Vietnamese boat people family in the South China Sea in June of 1978. I mentioned the short video clips of the rescue that I had seen in their infomercial and asked if they could send to me the film footage. Several weeks later, I received a VHS tape titled Escape to No Where.
Hoping that this video would be of my family’s actual rescue at sea, I felt my heart race as I put the tape into the VCR.
A few minutes into the video, I was disappointed as the tape was the standard infomercial asking for financial support. It mentioned helping Vietnamese refugees but said nothing relating to my family’s boat. Let down, I was about to push the stop play button when the narrator began talking about Operation Seasweep involving the rescue of refugees in the South China Sea. The narrator mentioned that one of the first boats they had helped had 55 people onboard. As the footage of the boat along with its passengers appeared on my television screen, I immediately recognized that it was my family's boat! I was astonished! I couldn’t believe the videotape contained the actual rescue of our vessel with my family and relatives on the high sea!
There was amazing footage of our rendezvous with the World Vision ship. There were wonderful images of my father, mother, brothers, and sisters, as well as friends and relatives. I had tears in my eyes as I watched the video and saw the courage my parents displayed. It was uplifting to see the boat people's desire for freedom and the kindness of our rescuers on that fateful day in 1978.
Preface
My family and I immigrated to the United States in 1979. We were Vietnamese boat people who escaped from communism, rescued on the South China Sea, and endured nine months in a refugee camp before coming to America. When asked about my background, I would often recite a condensed version of our story. I would quickly gloss over how my family had fled Vietnam and settled in the U.S. Oftentimes, listeners would be amazed, telling me that my story was inspirational and encouraged me to write a book about my family’s experience. Since many Vietnamese-Americans had similar experiences coming to America after the Vietnam War, I did not think my family's story was unique and had never seriously considered putting our account on paper.
In the past several years, I came across a number of new immigrants who had recently settled in the United States. I was inspired by their stories of finding a better life in their new homeland. In Oxnard, California, I met a group of Latino farm workers at a local taco stand. In Dallas, Texas, I chatted with a man from Ethiopia working at a barbecue shop. At Reagan National Airport in Washington D.C., I met an Indian-American woman making coffee at a Dunkin’ Donuts kiosk. In Cleveland, Ohio, I took a cab ride from a Moroccan driver who was thankful to be in America with a job to provide for his family and was excited that his daughter would soon go to college. In Fredericksburg, VA, I observed a group of refugees from sub-Saharan Africa at the U.S. Social Security Administration Office completing their immigration and permanent residence documentations. The stories of these new immigrants reminded me of my family’s journey and all the wonderful opportunities the United States has given us since it opened its doors to my refugee family in 1979. These new immigrants’ stories also made me thankful and glad that America continues to help the oppressed and those less fortunate by giving them an opportunity for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
On March 23, 2016, my family celebrated our 37th anniversary