From Vietnam To America, My Migrtaion Story

This is my life story. I wanted to share it to honor my fathers death

My Childhood

Unknown / Via terragalleria.com

My name is Anh dung, and i was born on 8th of may, 1970 to a large family of 8 in Dalat, Vietnam. I was the youngest of my siblings. My mother died in a car crash when i was only a year old. The only memory i have of her was the photo above my bed. She was a tall woman, with dark wavy hair, my father used to tell me. He was the only one who cared about me in my family. He was constantly working, trying his hardest to get food on the table. I remember when i was around five, my father came home with this weird cylinder package. At the time my father was working as a medic for Vietnamese soldiers. A soldier, who had his arm blown of from a american projectile, was saved due to my fathers quick actions. The soldier recovered, and thanked him with a package he managed to get from a dead american soldier body. When my father opened it, he pulled out a thin gold piece of sliced potato. He placed it in my hands and told me to take a bite. It was strange, yet delicious. It was crispy and tasted of salt. I asked what it was, he told me it was a 'pringle' or also known as a potato chip.

Moving to America

Google maps / Via google.co.nz!4m2!3m1!1s0x31157a4d736a1e5f:0xb03bb0c9e2fe62be

When i reached around five, the war ended. Dalat (the city i lived in at the time) was not affected much from the war, yet people were still in fear. My father believed that if we were to live a better life, we would have to migrate to america. At that age i thought that was outrageous. In Vietnam, America was portrayed as a horrible country, filled with nothing but greedy men. But somehow, my father managed to convince me that it would be for the better.

Pull factors:

-My father explained that there are more job opportunities, with higher pay. This meaning it will be easier to support our family.

-He also explained i will have a better chance of getting a good education, meaning i'll be able to get a job.

-Another reason is that the streets are cleaner, and less chances of getting sick compared to where we live now.

Push factors:

-Just when the Vietnam war ended, my father still believed we were in danger. And i couldn't blame him. He lost his best friend, chú (uncle) Nikolai, a man from the Soviet Union to the war. He came to Vietnam to help teach medical training, my father being his student.

-Another reason was that the streets were often filled with vermin and rubbish, and if you were to get sick, you're basically dead. Healthcare was to much.

Five of my seven brothers and my one sister stayed back at home with grandpa, because they believed that we wont be able to survive the journey. So it was only My father, brother and i. We were luckily enough to sneak on a boat which was going to bring us to america. At the time i thought we were going to see dolphins and whales, basically all that stuff you see in books. Little did i know that we were going to get crammed in a dark room located at the back of the boat. To pass the time my father would tell me stories, my favorite being the story of Tam and Cam. He would also teach me maths, which i took a interest in. After god knows how long (i was to young to remember) we reached Hawaii. We did go outside of the room occasionally while we were on the boat, but this time i saw land. Palm trees swaying and golden sand. This was paradise. I went to get of the boat but my father stopped me. He told me this was just a stop for supplies. He told me this was a island near america, but not where we're going to live. After a while we made in California, america. When we arrived at the docks, it was night time. My father told me and my brother that we should play a game of ninjas, little did i know we were not welcome here in america. After around ten minutes playing 'ninjas' we arrived at our new house. It was nothing flash but it wasn't as bad as the other houses we passed. I did not dare question how he got the money. We discussed about how my father manged to meet a man who could help us. We had to take on different names, but luckily we got to keep our last names. Me and my brother stayed at home learning English from a book my father purchased. After a year we got put into school

My life now

I am fortunate enough to have a lovely wife, three beautiful children and 7 grandchildren. I currently live in Long beach. My current employment is CEO of a small taxi business. My father recently died from terminal lung cancer. It made me think back to when i was just five years old. If we didn't migrate to America, i don't know what i would've done. My father went out all his way to look after me and my brother, and i didn't get to thank him. The way i see it he looks down at my family with my mother, protecting us. Thank you for reading my story, and i hope you thank your parents for all they have done for you