I am so tickled to hear stories like this.

When I was young, and we were stationed in Subic, they brought a lot of the refugees through Grande island to process them before taking them to the states. Even though they were just following orders, the treatment of the refugees was quite rough - they weren't allowed to bring any jewelry or anything like that with them. We saw one marine dump the ashes belonging to the parents of a young lady while searching for anything that they weren't allowed to take stateside.

So I am just so glad to hear stories like this one. :)

I can't even imagine having to flee your country.

Having to learn a new language and be surrounded by people that don't look like you or appreciate those that do.

Running from the place you grew up, where everybody knew your name, and where you felt connected to everything from the flora to the fragrance.

Reading about people that not only survived but flourished under these conditions is both heartwarming and sobering.

Hold on, I've got something to say, but it just got dusty in here, just a sec...

Wow. Great story.

"I'm proud to be an American, but I'm also very proud of my Vietnamese heritage"

And we are proud of you.

Dancin_In_Anson: Wow. Great story.

"I'm proud to be an American, but I'm also very proud of my Vietnamese heritage"

And we are proud of you.

And we actually live in a place where this can and does happen. I poop on America from time to time, but it is still a remarkable experiment in human history that a child of war can come home in peace on a warship and be welcomed. We've got our problems these days, but things such as this give me hope for a better tomorrow.

Ennuipoet: And we actually live in a place where this can and does happen.

I grew up in Houston and witnessed the influx of Vietnamese "boat people" first hand. They expected little in the way of handouts and went out of their way to become productive members of their new home's society.

Dancin_In_Anson:
I grew up in Houston and witnessed the influx of Vietnamese "boat people" first hand. They expected little in the way of handouts and went out of their way to become productive members of their new home's society.

Same here. Lots of refugees in Sunnyslope (a Phoenix suburb) in the mid 70's. One of my best friends in grade school was Vu Tran, born in 1968. His family made it out on a rickety boat and were also rescued. I distinctly recall even as a kid wondering what it must have been like to go through that. We're worried about making the softball team, or what we're getting for Christmas, he's spending a week and a half at sea constantly bailing out water with a rusty bucket.

He was lucky because his dad did some work at the US embassy, and taught all his kids english early on (maybe he thought the US would win or something, don't know). But Vu spoke pretty good english and picked up more quickly, and that really helped him.

I always had a hell of a lot of respect for people like him and his family. And a lot of love for the US as a result. This was the Promised Land to them, and they helped me see it for what it is. Learn well, work hard and you can be whatever you want to be.

Oh no! Not only have the Muslims infiltrated the Army, Communists have infiltrated the Navy.

And his dick grew ten sizes big.. LOL..ya know like the Grinch but different..

"I'm proud to be an American, but I'm also very proud of my Vietnamese heritage," said Le, who spoke a few halting words in Vietnamese."


Quite a difference from the Illegals here and even the Legals who still speak fluent Spanish, but halting English.


/Take notice, learn English and you too can get your Degree, join the navy and Rule the seas...

Man, not everything has a connection to Vietnam, man!

limeyfellow: Oh no! Not only have the Muslims infiltrated the Army, Communists have infiltrated the Navy.

I would take a Communist over a Mooslim any day.

/Communists are atheists.
//No religious bullshiat to fight about.

"Boy who left Vietnam as a 5-year-old refugee crammed onto a fishing trawler returns 34 years later with his own boat. FARK: As the commander of a U.S. Navy destroyer"
..AND HE IS LOOKING FOR PAYBACK!!!

-A new movie from steven segal.

hero tag should have been deployed.

Well, not a /literal/ connection, Dude...

try fect taa daa: hero tag should have been deployed.

Came here to say that

/35 seconds too late

Dancin_In_Anson: Ennuipoet: And we actually live in a place where this can and does happen.

I grew up in Houston and witnessed the influx of Vietnamese "boat people" first hand. They expected little in the way of handouts and went out of their way to become productive members of their new home's society.

And thirty years later a group of American "refugees" came to Houston and took much, demanded more, and were responsible for a crime wave.

"To what avail
Through strifes and storms,
Athwart the Sea that bellows and booms
In the ear
With the threatening of dire dooms,
Strove I once alone
In the starless vast of the night of fear"

- 'The Quest of Merlin' by Richard Hovey (1891)

Freakin' overachieving immigrants are always making us natives look like slackers.

I think the cool tag is more appopriate than the unlikely tag subby...
Good job commander. You make this nation proud and you certainly did your Vietnamese heritage proud!


..Now if only the mehikanos can assimilate like this gook did we will not have immigration problems at all!
ok just kidding!!

Unlikely tag?

Change to , please.

This type of success story reinforces the pride I feel for my country.
Yes I am biased, 20 years active duty USN.

backseatdriver: I can't even imagine having to flee your country.

Having to learn a new language and be surrounded by people that don't look like you or appreciate those that do.

Running from the place you grew up, where everybody knew your name, and where you felt connected to everything from the flora to the fragrance.

Reading about people that not only survived but flourished under these conditions is both heartwarming and sobering.

My family sort of did that. We didn't cram ourselves on a fishing boat or anything though. We took a jet to America and legally immigrated. And we didn't need to learn a new language. We were kind of in a tough spot being in Irish nationals in Belfast. Either we could stay in Northern Ireland and be harassed everyday, or we could move back to The Republic of Ireland where my uncles said we were not welcome as we were considered traitors, or we could go with option C.

He's looking for a custom made suit and one of those biatchin' plaques with all the cool mini-knives mounted on it...

/or was that the Philippines...

Farkin'round: limeyfellow: Oh no! Not only have the Muslims infiltrated the Army, Communists have infiltrated the Navy.

I would take a Communist over a Mooslim any day.

/Communists are atheists.
//No religious bullshiat to fight about.

Accepting communists over muslims? You may be a communist (new window)!.