Vietnam War Series: Little Saigon, U.S.A.

Focusing on the Vietnamese American experience, “Saigon, U.S.A.” showed individuals struggling to find their place and “how their lives connect and misconnect with the world,” said Vietnamese writer and journalist, Andrew Lam. 

About a Flag and Poster

Featuring the Protest of 1999 in Little Saigon, San Francisco, interview subjects, spanning the generations, reflected on their perspectives of the protest.  Provoked by a store owner’s decision to post a picture of the late Vietnamese ruler, Ho Chi Minh and a communist flag, many protesters reacted in anger.  An elderly protester remembered the brutality and uncertainty during that era.  Spoken with a strong accent, she said, as her voice faltered, “Never forget,” and continued in Vietnamese to recall the death of her family. 

Freedom For Vietnam

More than 15,000 people rallied outside the video rental store.  The police maintained control by temporarily closed roads and access to businesses. For over 50 days, political protest raged against
the meaning behind the image, said an organizer, Diem Hoang Do, the human rights violations in
Vietnam. The chanting of “Freedom For Vietnam” heightened as either the storeowner, Truong Van Tran or his attorney tried to visit the site.  Tran stated that since visiting Vietnam on numerous occasions, he has come to believe there was significant improvement in the well-being of people, thanks to the nation's current leadership. Despite the protest and the resulted initiated eviction proceedings, Tran intends keep his Communist items displayed. Tran also said he has the right to display the picture in his store.  Bao Mai, a Youth for Democracy member said “(he is) asking for human rights when (in Vietnam) 75 million people don't have human rights.”  About the protest, Andrew Lam said, “There is a bitterness that is still being worked out.”

The Next Generation

In contrast, some younger generation Vietnamese Americans reacted differently to the protest.  The producers and directors, Lindsey Jang and Robert C. Winn interviewed Vietnamese Americans that immigrated to the U.S. as children.  Vi Ly, Q. Bao Nguyen, and Vu Nguyen either felt shame or embarrassed of the protest.  Many of these younger Vietnamese Americans were having to deal with issues of their own identity.  “We’re journalist, musicians, we’re all these things other Americans are, but we are also refugees,” said Vu Nguyen. 

The protest ended in a peaceful vigil on February 27 with pray and calls to stop the human rights violation in Vietnam. 

Personal Experiences

The documentary also showed the journey and hardship of the refugee peoples to the U.S. to make Little Saigon the largest Vietnamese immigrant community.  Most of the stories were as tragic as the next.  South Vietnam Colonel Le Khac Ly described the pain he felt when fleeing Saigon after Ho Chi Minh’s troops took over on April 13, 1975.  “I lost my unit.  I lost my home.  I lost my country,” Ly said.  Black and white photos shows the men that were in Ly’s unit, the men that died.  Shaky film shows a desperate women covered in dirt as she is carrying her child, running away from her home and into a direction unknown.  It shows a man in anguish to save his child, lifting his son up to a helicopter as it lifts off, just seconds too late to be saved.  Vi Ly shares her family’s story of coming over to the U.S. with 600 other refugees on a 21 meter by 6 meter fishing boat.  Everyone’s spirit on that boat was broken, she describes, so when the pirates would take over, only six or so men, “Horrible things happened and we just let it.”  Once the refugees entered the U.S., “a lot of people wanted to forget about Vietnam,” said Lam but with the protest in Little Saigon, “there is a line (between generations, said Lam, but) how do you catch up after 20 years?  That’s hard.” 

“Saigon, U.S.A.” was played at the Honolulu Academy on Arts and presented by Stephen O’Harrow, Professor, Hawaiian Indo-pacific Languages and Literatures and UHM and Vietnamese-American journalist and fiction writer in America, Andrew Lam.  The film was played on November 10, 2005, as part of A Humanities Guide to Re-Viewing Vietnam. 

Related Links

Saigon, U.S.A.: The Official Site - Vietnamese in the U.S.A.