Written: By Nancy Teichert
Hoang Chi Truong, the daughter of a South Vietnamese colonel who fled the fall of Saigon to start a new life in America, has a story to tell on behalf of all refugees now fleeing other wars.
Hoang Chi Truong, the daughter of a South Vietnamese colonel who fled the fall of Saigon to start a new life in America, has a story to tell on behalf of all refugees now fleeing other wars.
“We don’t have a choice,” said Truong, author of her autobiography TigerFish. Refugees are not immigrants who choose to leave their homelands. Refugees face persecution or death so they leave their troubled countries to survive. “It took everything to get me here.”
Her book was started as a record of her family history for her children, but then she saw the Syrians and other refugees today escaping in overcrowded lifeboats and realized her experience has lessons for us today.
Truong urged us to show the same compassion to the refugees from today’s war-torn countries as her family received when they arrived at an airbase in Guam, which became a tent city for the families of those who had fought alongside U.S. soldiers in the Vietnam War.
When she was a child, her father was stationed near the border with North Vietnam and her family slept in a bedroom shelter because of constant bombing. On the day in 1975 when he was ordered to evacuate, the family of nine began a five-week journey by jeep, helicopter and boat to reach Saigon. They flew to the embassy in Guam only five days before the fall of Saigon.
“It was a new dawn for our family,” she said, thanking the veterans who helped them escape and the Red Cross for the safety of their tent city. She remembers wanting to kiss the ground. “I grew up being so scared of the communists.”
Eventually, a church in Fresno adopted her family and she graduated from California State University, Fresno. She worked for the California Office of Emergency Services creating real-time online maps during fires and disasters. When her husband accepted a job at Bogle Winery in 1992, she started to write her memoir and took a creative writing class.
Her book was started as a record of her family history for her children, but then she saw the Syrians and other refugees today escaping in overcrowded lifeboats and realized her experience has lessons for us today.
Truong urged us to show the same compassion to the refugees from today’s war-torn countries as her family received when they arrived at an airbase in Guam, which became a tent city for the families of those who had fought alongside U.S. soldiers in the Vietnam War.
When she was a child, her father was stationed near the border with North Vietnam and her family slept in a bedroom shelter because of constant bombing. On the day in 1975 when he was ordered to evacuate, the family of nine began a five-week journey by jeep, helicopter and boat to reach Saigon. They flew to the embassy in Guam only five days before the fall of Saigon.
“It was a new dawn for our family,” she said, thanking the veterans who helped them escape and the Red Cross for the safety of their tent city. She remembers wanting to kiss the ground. “I grew up being so scared of the communists.”
Eventually, a church in Fresno adopted her family and she graduated from California State University, Fresno. She worked for the California Office of Emergency Services creating real-time online maps during fires and disasters. When her husband accepted a job at Bogle Winery in 1992, she started to write her memoir and took a creative writing class.
“It’s deeply personal but I have a moral obligation to tell the world what it means to be a refugee,” she said of her book published in 2017. “This is my passion now. Words are all I have to advocate with.”
President John Lemmon (Knox, Lemmon & Anapolsky, LLP) began Tuesday’s meeting by thanking Elfrena Foord (Foord, Van Bruggen & Pajak) and Bruce Hester (Colliers International) for the wine reception.
Greeters included Past President Tim Pinkney (Luxe Aviation, LLC), and Bob McLean (McLean & Tillotson Construction).
Steve Huffman gave the thought of the day that refugees have always enriched our country with their work and cultures and hopefully that will continue.
Past President McVeigh and Steve Hymas (Downey Brand LLP) donated their meeting sponsor time to Wellspring, which was founded in 1987 to offer a place of respite for women and children in Oak Park. Executive Director Genelle Smith said the program, which offers safety net services to prevent homelessness and malnutrition, serves about 200 women and children each day.
A moment of silence was observed to mark the passing of Hal Shipley, Past District Governor of District 5180, and former executive secretary of our club.
Lemmon announced that a special table will be established at luncheon meetings for new members to be seated with more seasoned members who can welcome them into Rotary’s many activities.
Jackie Kirkwood (Goodwin Cole Company) announced that a group of new members will be leading a team to paint and clean a home shared by seven veterans on April 21. John Swentowsky (Swentowsky Photography) will be organizing volunteers for Loaves & Fishes service on Thursday. Tom Bacon (Bacon Commercial Real Estate) urged members to RSVP for Brown Bag Day on April 10. Past President Frank Poelman advertised the “Miracle March” of 200 inches of snow for the annual ski trip to Sugar Bowl on April 12. Mike Bullington (Northwestern Mutual Financial Network) will be teaching trap shooting on April 7.
Past President Pinkney donated $250 in honor of our speaker since he helped with the evacuation of Saigon on April 29, 1975. Heidi Hershenhouse (Land IQ, LLC) pledged $100 in honor of Shipley toward her next Paul Harris and $100 for her next Eddie Mulligan in honor of her Rotary sponsor Mark Luhdorff.
Thank you John Swentowsky (Swentowsky Photography) for the photos!