The Journey From Vietnam to America [Paperback]

Nhon Trang (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 6, 2006

The change of a Vietnamese's life from the time he was born in a small town in Vietnam to the time he resettled in the United States.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Born in 1940 in Central Vietnam, Nhon N. Trang attended Tran Quoc Tuan Junior High School in Quang Ngai province and petrus KY High School in Saigon. He had a BS of Math, a BS of pharmacy and a MA of Solid State of Physics at the University of Saigon. He taught at Petrus High School and School of Pharmacy, Saigon University. He left Vietnam in 1978 via Malaysia and resettles in the United States in 1980. He worked as a pharmacist from 1983 until now.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

On Tuesday April 29, 1975, the South Vietnamese government was dying. People in Saigon could hear clearly te distant rumble of an artillery barrage from the battlefield, twenty miles away. VC (Vietnamese Communist) fired rockets sporadically into the city, which caused more confusion. Houses were burning and victims died and many were wounded while explosions and the sirens of ambulance and fire trucks caused a terrible chaos. Even though a military curfew was imposed, and people ignored it. They didn't know where to go and ran up and down like fish in a big net. Big Mihn, who was installed as the last President of the South VN government a couple of days ago, ordered that all Americans must be out of Vietnam within twenty-four hours. The US government launched a huge helicopter evacuation. In fact the Americans had already started to evacuate several days before by fixed-wing planes from Tan so Nhat airport, but VC bombarded the airport and destroyed several planes! , so airlift was abandoned.

Wave after wave of helicopters from the Seventh Fleet anchored offshore of Vung Tau circled and landed at designated locations such as the rooftop of the US Embassy, and the tennis courts to scoop up Americans and Vietnamese who had close ties with America. The sky was crisscrossed with jet fighters and chopper gunships to protect the helicopters. Outside of the US embassy, a huge crowd tried to enter the compound guarded by the US marine forces. People cried, screamed and attacked the gate and climbed up the fence. The marine tried hard to puch them back and the chaos was unbelievable.

After VC took over Bane Me Thout, Hue, and Danang, the Americans did nothing but a verbal protest. All foreigners even reporters were leaving Vietnam with an alarming speed. We all knew that the end was near and the South Vietnamese government would collapse in a short time. We didn't want to live under the Communist regime but didn't know where to go and still had hopes that VC and America could arrange a neutral government for the South Vietnam. Now we had to face the reality that within a few hours Communist would rule South Vietnam. The horrible stories about Khmer Rouge who ordered every one to leave the cities, and killed millions of innocent Cambodians when they took over Phnom Pen, scared us to death. At night, we didn't dare to sleep in our bedrooms upstairs, so my whole family huddled on the florr under a staircase. The explosion and the noise of airplanes kept us awake all night.

On Wednesday April 30, 1975, the helicpoter airlift continued and the gunshots came closer and closer. Around 9 AM, Big Minh asked VC through the radio to cease-fire and negotiates, but VC ignored it. Around 11 AM, Big Monh declared a surrender without condition of the South Vietnamese government. The Vietnam War was officially ended.

Product Details

• Paperback: 222 pages
• Publisher: Trafford Publishing (July 6, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1553695127
• ISBN-13: 978-1553695127
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,045,478 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)