Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Becoming Americans
    Becoming Americans
    Becoming Americans
    Ebook134 pages1 hour

    Becoming Americans

    By Robert N. H. Duong

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    Refugees...Immigrants...Americans...an inspirational story about a Vietnamese boat people family's journey of escaping communism, finding freedom in the United States, and achieving their American Dream.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRobert N. H. Duong
    Release dateSep 12, 2016
    ISBN9781370095124
    Becoming Americans

    Related to Becoming Americans

    Related ebooks

    Self-Improvement For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Pillars Of Strength

      Jul 23, 2021

      Pillars Of Strength
      8 min read

    • Article

      The Unlikely Story Behind Japanese Americans' Campaign For Reparations

      Mar 24, 2020

      In his new book Redress: The Inside Story of the Successful Campaign for Japanese American Reparations, John Tateishi recounts the fight for justice in the wake of World War II internment camps.

      6 min read

    • Article

      Pillars Of Strength

      Jul 23, 2021

      Pillars Of Strength
      8 min read

    • Article

      On the Road Again…

      Apr 6, 2021

      On the Road Again…
      2 min read

    • Article

      Robert C. Koehler: Thankfulness Buried In The Rubble

      Nov 23, 2023

      Much as I love Thanksgiving — seeing my family . . . oh the turkey, oh the cranberry sauce —I feel like maybe a bomb fragment has hit the “thanks” part. I find myself struggling to let a sense of thankfulness flow, because when I do — and doing so ha

      3 min read

    • Article

      The Model Minority Trap

      Jun 26, 2020

      The face of Tou Thao haunts me. The Hmong-American police officer stood with his back turned to Derek Chauvin, his partner, as Chauvin knelt on George Floyd’s neck for 8 minutes and 46 seconds and murdered him. In the video that I saw, Tou Thao is in

      19 min read

    • Article

      Out of Sight

      Mar 16, 2020

      Out of Sight
      2 min read

    • Article

      The Model Minority Trap

      Jun 26, 2020

      The face of Tou Thao haunts me. The Hmong-American police officer stood with his back turned to Derek Chauvin, his partner, as Chauvin knelt on George Floyd’s neck for 8 minutes and 46 seconds and murdered him. In the video that I saw, Tou Thao is in

      19 min read

    • Article

      Readers Write: Finding Progress Despite Violent Histories

      Aug 19, 2023

      How brave and honest of the Monitor to uncover the deeper reasons for American violence and mistaken thinking in the June 5 cover story, “Exposing the roots of violence.” I spent my early childhood in Wilmington, Delaware, where my family housed and

      2 min read

    • Article

      Kevin Kwan

      Jun 26, 2020

      Kevin Kwan
      2 min read

    • Article

      Kevin Kwan

      Jun 26, 2020

      Kevin Kwan
      2 min read

    • Article

      Refugees Of War

      May 1, 2020

      Refugees Of War
      3 min read

    • Article

      American Survival: The Millions Interviews Jung Yun

      Jan 19, 2022

      Growing up in an immigrant family, I was taught the value of hard work and pulling myself up by my bootstraps. But what happens when hard work isn’t enough? The post American Survival: The Millions Interviews Jung Yun appeared first on The Millions.

      5 min read

    • Article

      David Treuer

      Feb 4, 2019

      The Ojibwe writer on Elizabeth Warren, the problem with tragedy, and his new book, The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee

      2 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Becoming Americans

    0 ratings

    0 ratings0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      Becoming Americans - Robert N. H. Duong

      BECOMING AMERICANS

      A Vietnamese Boat People Story of Escaping Communism and Finding Freedom in America

      Robert N. H. Duong

      Courtesy of World Vision

      Copyright © 2016 Robert N. H. Duong

      All rights reserved.

      Distributed by Smashwords

      This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this ebook with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

      For my parents…their love, courage, and strength have been an inspiration in my life.

      Thank you…to my wife Diep and brother Tai…their encouragements have made this possible.

      Table of Contents

      Prologue

      Preface

      Chapter 1: Life Under Communism

      Chapter 2: Decision to Leave

      Chapter 3: Clandestine Plan

      Chapter 4: Escape for Freedom

      Chapter 5: Rescued at Sea

      Chapter 6: Disappointment in Malaysia

      Chapter 7: Rescued Again

      Chapter 8: Pulau Tengah

      Chapter 9: Life at the Refugee Camp

      Chapter 10: Going to America

      Chapter 11: Land of the Free…Home of the Brave

      Chapter 12: New Start in New Era

      Chapter 13: Welcoming Arms of Trinity Lutheran Church

      Chapter 14: Language Barrier

      Chapter 15: Working in America

      Chapter 16: Focus on Education

      Chapter 17: Other Challenges

      Chapter 18: American Citizenships…Becoming Americans

      Chapter 19: Serving Society…Serving Our Country

      Chapter 20: Achieving Our American Dream

      Chapter 21: The Next Generation of Americans

      Chapter 22: Lessons from Our Experience

      Epilogue

      Acknowledgements

      Prologue

      It was the summer of 1994 when I contacted World Vision, a Christian humanitarian organization, explaining to them how they had saved my Vietnamese boat people family in the South China Sea in June of 1978. I mentioned the short video clips of the rescue that I had seen in their infomercial and asked if they could send to me the film footage. Several weeks later, I received a VHS tape titled Escape to No Where. Hoping that this video would be of my family’s actual rescue at sea, I felt my heart race as I put the tape into the VCR.

      A few minutes into the video, I was disappointed as the tape was the standard infomercial asking for financial support. It mentioned helping Vietnamese refugees but said nothing relating to my family’s boat. Let down, I was about to push the stop play button when the narrator began talking about Operation Seasweep involving the rescue of refugees in the South China Sea. The narrator mentioned that one of the first boats they had helped had 55 people onboard. As the footage of the boat along with its passengers appeared on my television screen, I immediately recognized that it was my family's boat! I was astonished! I couldn’t believe the videotape contained the actual rescue of our vessel with my family and relatives on the high sea!

      There was amazing footage of our rendezvous with the World Vision ship. There were wonderful images of my father, mother, brothers, and sisters, as well as friends and relatives. I had tears in my eyes as I watched the video and saw the courage my parents displayed. It was uplifting to see the boat people's desire for freedom and the kindness of our rescuers on that fateful day in 1978.

      Preface

      My family and I immigrated to the United States in 1979. We were Vietnamese boat people who escaped from communism, rescued on the South China Sea, and endured nine months in a refugee camp before coming to America. When asked about my background, I would often recite a condensed version of our story. I would quickly gloss over how my family had fled Vietnam and settled in the U.S. Oftentimes, listeners would be amazed, telling me that my story was inspirational and encouraged me to write a book about my family’s experience. Since many Vietnamese-Americans had similar experiences coming to America after the Vietnam War, I did not think my family's story was unique and had never seriously considered putting our account on paper.

      In the past several years, I came across a number of new immigrants who had recently settled in the United States. I was inspired by their stories of finding a better life in their new homeland. In Oxnard, California, I met a group of Latino farm workers at a local taco stand. In Dallas, Texas, I chatted with a man from Ethiopia working at a barbecue shop. At Reagan National Airport in Washington D.C., I met an Indian-American woman making coffee at a Dunkin’ Donuts kiosk. In Cleveland, Ohio, I took a cab ride from a Moroccan driver who was thankful to be in America with a job to provide for his family and was excited that his daughter would soon go to college. In Fredericksburg, VA, I observed a group of refugees from sub-Saharan Africa at the U.S. Social Security Administration Office completing their immigration and permanent residence documentations. The stories of these new immigrants reminded me of my family’s journey and all the wonderful opportunities the United States has given us since it opened its doors to my refugee family in 1979. These new immigrants’ stories also made me thankful and glad that America continues to help the oppressed and those less fortunate by giving them an opportunity for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

      On March 23, 2016, my family celebrated our 37th anniversary

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1