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A Sense of Duty: My Father, My American Journey

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Quang X. Pham has penned a marvelous book that should be read by every Vietnam veteran, everyone who lived during those tumultuous times, and every young student wanting to understand the times and the tremendous sacrifice made by so many.

Pham's book is a powerful account of one Vietnamese family's experience during the war, the end of the war, and their survival in the years that followed. Pham's mother struggled with establishing a new life in the U.S and his father struggled to stay alive during years of hard labor and `reeductation" by the North Vietnamese.

Through it all, the author grew to manhood, joined the Marines and served honorably as a pilot. Over the years, a sometimes bitter, sometimes thankful, and often confused young man grew to know the strength of his family and especially the strength of a father who sacrificed so much.

Quang Pham signed my book during a reading in Portland, Oregon but I didn't see what he had written until I had left. It says: "Thank you for your service in Vietnam."

Well, thank you, Quang, for your years of service in the Marines and for your father's tremendous work and courage during the war.

Loren W. Christensen, author of ON COMBAT and WARRIORS.

American history is filled with stories of successful immigrants. Quang X. Pham's story, A Sense of Duty, is a fine addition to this list. His candid account as a refugee in America also chronicles the story of his father--like my father, a decorated pilot in the former South Vietnamese Air Force (VNAF) who ended up serving years of hard labor in a Vietnamese reeducation camp after the war ended.

As a native of South Vietnam whose life shares similarities to Pham's, I found his story an absorbing read. This was especially true when reading his recollections of what happened when his childhood ended unexpectedly and his father had to put his family on a plane to escape the fall of Saigon. Those who take their happy childhoods for granted will learn much from this story of a young boy who was compelled to move forward with his new and difficult life while his father's fate was unknown. Readers will be inspired to discover how Pham overcame these challenges to achieve his American dream of becoming a U.S. Marine Corps pilot.

A Sense of Duty has given me another perspective on the Vietnam War, and an even greater appreciation for the former South Vietnamese Air Force. South Vietnam and its once-mighty air force no longer exist, yet this memoir will preserve the nearly forgotten legacies of people like Quang's father and mine, who served their country with pride and honor.

I highly recommend this great book to everyone.

Quang X. Pham's important book is an extraordinarily well-written story by a man who is still sorting his memories, his feelings and his accomplishments against a backdrop that includes his family's flight from South Vietnam, his father's brutal imprisonment by the communists and his own service in the United States Marine Corps. It is also balanced against this nation's conduct of the war in Vietnam and the resulting attitudes and prejudices-right and wrong-that he has encountered all his life. Pham's early recollections of his father's service as a pilot in the VNAF (Republic of Vietnam Air Force) reveal the rightful pride he felt-and still feels-in the man's dedication to his duty. The description of his father's downing by enemy forces while flying in support of U.S. Marines is riveting, as is the account of his rescue only a short time later by a U.S. Marine helicopter crew.

Early in the book Pham recalls the bombing of the Presidential Place by traitorous elements of the VNAF as enemy units ringed Saigon; the blast knocked him away from the desk where he was studying just across the street. Only days later, when the fall of the South Vietnamese government was certain, his father hustled the family aboard an American aircraft in the middle of the night while he stayed behind to do what he could. Pham wouldn't see his father again for nearly 20 years.

Pham and his mother and two sisters struggled, with the help of relatives, friends and the American government, to make a life in the United States. That they succeeded beyond what anyone could have predicted is a tribute to their own tenacity; a tenacity that was characterized by hard, hard work. That it was difficult is obvious (they knew no English when they arrived). Pham's story of his ultimately successful efforts to fit into American society as a preadolescent boy is probably the best-and most painful-part of the book. My heart hurt for him when I imagined myself in his position. That the family had little news of his father-even whether he was dead or alive-was that much more pain.

The last part of the book deals with Pham's oath of citizenship (to a country he clearly loves), his graduation from UCLA, his service in the Marine Corps as a helicopter pilot during Desert Storm, and finally, his father's homecoming. On the surface, these events would appear to mark what should be an eminently happy and tidy ending. But real life never hands us tidy endings. None of us. Despite his accomplishments-and he has had many-one gets the feeling that Pham may never be totally satisfied with the answers he is looking for; they may be answers to questions he doesn't even know.

And that, in the end, is what makes the book so enjoyable. Although few can claim experiences similar to Pham's, his telling of the story is so very human that there is much in it with which we can identify. Like Pham, all of us spend time looking for answers we'll never discover. We're all alike.

I wholeheartedly recommend this book.

Thank you for writing A Sense of Duty. Along with Bernard Fall's Street Without Joy, they are the only books I know of that are worthy of the people of South Vietnam. I know of no movies that are other than trash." -Brigadier General Jack Quinn, U.S. Army (Retired)

Quang X. Pham has written an important memoir in A SENSE OF DUTY: MY FATHER, MY AMERICAN JOURNEY, a book that deserves a wide audience in aiding the understanding of the implications of war on the peoples of the globe. Born in Saigon and witness to the Vietnam War run by the Americans until the final loss and retreat deserting the peoples of a little Asian country we had made so dependent on us, he shows us by personal witness what the devastation was like, the hurried exodus from South Vietnam when the North Vietnamese overtook the South winning the war, an exodus which splintered families and faith and resulted in the creation of refugee camps in the US where the Vietnamese were often treated as second class citizens existing on welfare. It is a sad history: it is a triumphant story.

Pham's father was trained in the US to return to Vietnam to fight with the US troops, rising in rank to become a hero, but ultimately being imprisoned at war's end in the Communist re-education camps for years while his little family survived in various refugee camps in America. The story is related by the author in the first person, paralleling the events of the author's career as an eventual Marine with that of his father's career. The ultimate release of his father from the prison camps and his return to the US to join his family is punctuated by the driving force of Pham's persistent goal of becoming an American citizen and a hero in the US Marines as a pilot - just like his father.

The story is well-worth telling and the overall effect is touching. Pham is realistic in his description of his past and his present and is not afraid to point out the errors of the American government in the pity of the Vietnam blunder or the Gulf War or Desert Storm and especially the Iraq War fiasco. A story like this takes great courage and Pham excels in his chosen task. If at times the writing is bumpy it is due to his ongoing need to draw parallels between his father's plight and his own plight: the writing is strong enough not to require pushing these redundancies.

Filled with photographs from his father's and his own military past, this memoir is pungent and has much to tell us about the plight of the peoples we mighty Americans go to 'rescue'. Veterans of each of the wars discussed will feel particular pangs of regret. But if we are to ever put an end to the futility of wars then memoirs such as this are mandatory. All this book needs is an audience. Grady Harp, January 06

There has been too little written about the only country (and it's soldiers and citizens) who were the true losers in the Vietnam War. The people of South Vietnam have every reason to be bitter about the outcome and the aftermath of that conflict. Surprisingly, they rarely are. Instead they are for the most part diligent, driven, and highly successful at improving their lives without asking for help. Quang has written a wonderful book that begins to give his father's generation of South Vietnamese its due. His family deserves our admiration, and Quang's book deserves to be read by all Americans who treasure honesty and integrity from America's true allies, past and present. This book will be with us for a long time.

Quang Pham offers readers a sincere, gritty tour into the realities of maturity, military service, and immigrant life. Anyone who understands both the Marine and "Viet Kieu" communities will appreciate his book.

My challenge to this Marine is to keep fighting in the literary arena. His voice and viewpoint is strong.

A SENSE OF DUTY is the accounting of the American Dream fulfilled and like so often in our National past, it is the story of strangers to our shores who adopt, adapt and succeed.
The Father, Phan Van Hoa, trained by the U.S. Military as a Fighter Pilot, but very much a Hero and Patriot of his native Vietnam, was able to get his wife and children onboard a U.S. C-130 just hours before the fall of Saigon, only to remain behind to continue the fight and then be made a prisoner of war for a long twenty-one years. Duty as an example and an excellent roll model.
The Mother, Nguyen Thi Niem, keeping her children under her protective wings, ended up in Southern California, by way of Arkansas, and though a struggle was able to learn English and find work and see to her children's education and proper upbringing. Again Duty and an excellent Roll Model.
Finally there is the son, Quang X. Pham, the author of this book who completes college, joins the Corps, becomes a Marine Pilot serving in Desert Storm and in Somalia and is now a successful businessman and author. You begin to think there is something in the genes about duty and responsibility and being recognized as a Roll Model.
This is an excellent story and gives a rare glimpse into the true nature of Vietnam and how the citizens fought to maintain their National Sovereignty. For too long we as a Nation have had misconceptions about Vietnam and have only been exposed to more negative displays via the tv media. It is Vietnams loss and our gain that this family is now part of our family.
I am anxious now to see what Mr. Phan's next book subject will be and I will put my name on the reserved list.
Billy Ray Watkins
Fernandina Beach, Florida

From a woman's perspective, who seldom reads military nonfiction, I thought A SENSE OF DUTY was an important read! It was educational, regarding military history in Vietnam, well written, and the personal story was captivating! Reading about Quang X. Pham and the trials he faced growing up in his new country was both heartwarming and heartbreaking! Many Americans, especially women, don't realize the tribulations the South Vietnamese endured during the Vietnam war, as most stories recounting it are from the American GI perspective. I found it heartbreaking to learn how difficult it was for the South Vietnamese to abandon their beloved country and start anew in a strange America. I think everyone should read this book to understand and gain perspective on what an incredible people the Vietnamese are! I certainly came away from the book with a great appreciation and respect! As for the Quang X. Pham and his family, as an example of the many refugees to this country, I greatly admire their resilience, character and determination to rebuild their lives and succeed. A Sense of Duty is an inspiration to all who read it! It's a voice that was unheard, until now, regarding the Vietnam war and those most affected by it, the South Vietnamese people.

Wow! As a Vietnamese-Canadian, I have read many books on Indochina and Vietnam written by the French or the Americans. However, this is the first time I read a book on the Vietnam war written by a South Vietnamese. Once started, it is very hard to put it down. I read it 3 days. For the first time, the sacrifices of the South Vietnamese soldiers are accurately presented. The description of the evacuation from Saigon brings tears to my eyes.

The author is grateful for the opportunities given to him by America and the USMC. The USMC provided him with skills and self confidence that he later uses as a stepping stone to succeed in the civilian life. The author did not forget the sacrifices of the US Marines when the Tarawa sailed off the coast of VN, about 100k from Hue city, during a deployment.

For those who don't know, it was the US Marines who delivered Hue city from the North Vietnamese Army (NVA) occupation after a month long of house to house fighting, during the Tet offensive of 1968. They saved the lives of my father's family who resided in the city. During the occupation of Hue, tens of thousands of innocent civilians were massacred by the NVA. Their bodies were discovered later in mass graves.

I regret that the author does not talk more about the women in his family, namely his mother and his sisters. For me, his mother is also a true hero because she single handedly managed to raise her children who would become the productive members of the society.

Finally, one cannot avoid comparing the situation in Vietnam then, to the events in Iraq today. I strongly recommend this excellent book to President Bush and all the Generals in the Pentagon so the same mistakes will not be committed again in Iraq.

Thank you, Major Pham, for sharing your knowledge. Keep on fighting.