LETTERS OF A VIETNAMESE ÉMIGRÉ

About the Book

I was born on 28 March 1922 in Thanh-Hóa where my grand parents emigrated in 1897, fleeing the catastrophic flood of the Red River. I was a student at the faculty of sciences of the University of Hanoi when the Japanese putsch of 9 March1945 effectively put an end to my student life with the successive political events after that date. I went head on in patriotic activities for the independence of my country and decided to rally to the south in 1948. In 1952 I was drafted and sent to the French Air Academy in Salon de Provence to become aeronautic engineer. I became Commissioner of Supply in the military government of South Vietnam confronting the economic blockade of Saigon in 1965. Retired in 1974 I went into business. I got out of Saigon on 28 April 1975 before the bombardment of its airfield by communist artillery. I found my family in the refugee camp of Fort Chaffee before being sponsored by Saint Timothy Lutheran Church of Monterey to a humbly new start. I became owner of two 7-Eleven stores which I sold in October 1997 to retire at 75 after 20 years in business.

About the Author

It is the story of my life that was quite eventful. I recount it in twenty four letters telling the true stories that I was either the witness or the player leading to the defeat of my country to the communist due to personal ambitions or caprices. The happy ending for me and my family was our last minute evasion to the United States of America where the American Dream became the reality for us. It was an excellent story for the second and third Vietnamese American generations in their quest to know the reason why their fathers and grandfathers were here.