BY BRADY RHOADES: For thousands of Vietnamese-Americans in Westminster and Garden Grove, April is a bittersweet month.
Sweet because it marks their maiden voyage to American – and away from a repressive, Communist government.
Bitter because they were forced from their homeland.
Countless family members and friends were killed, injured, imprisoned, left behind.
Vietnam is a beautiful country. But on April 30, 1975, Saigon – under siege from the north – was the site of a terrible, ugly atrocity known as the Fall of Saigon.
BY BRADY RHOADES: For thousands of Vietnamese-Americans in Westminster and Garden Grove, April is a bittersweet month.
Sweet because it marks their maiden voyage to American – and away from a repressive, Communist government.
Bitter because they were forced from their homeland.
Countless family members and friends were killed, injured, imprisoned, left behind.
Vietnam is a beautiful country. But on April 30, 1975, Saigon – under siege from the north – was the site of a terrible, ugly atrocity known as the Fall of Saigon.
Those older than, say, 50, cannot unsee the sights seared into their memory: fleeing families, helicopters, an embattled American embassy, violence and chaos everywhere.
Saigon is now known as Ho Chi Minh City.
Those victimized by a brutal regime will never forget.
“We live with it every day,” said Peter Vo, a longtime Westminster resident. “We continue to call on the United States to denounce Vietnam for its human rights abuses.”
On April 30, 42 years after that dreadful day, Westminster and Garden Grove, which have the largest Vietnamese-American population, per capita, in the country, will commemorate the occasion.
Former South Vietnamese soldiers and U.S. military personnel will stand side-by-side.
Respects will be paid to those who were lost.
Thanks will be given for newfound freedoms, for hope amid horror.
Look for more information about events in upcoming editions of this paper and on this website.
Brady Rhoades is the editor. He can be reached at brhoades@localnewspapers.org.