But my mother has been stricken with mental health issues, depression, things like this. My brother is now a doctor and on a White House committee, and I’m a novelist and professor. ![]() Viet Nguyen: Well, they became wealthy again. Leonard Lopate:ěut you said that your family lived the American dream, although only on the surface. My parents were very successful business people and they lost almost everything when they came over to The States and had to start all over again. You lost your country, your family, many relatives, mental health, peace of mind. ![]() I think it was very traumatic for everybody who came over. Viet Nguyen: It was a very difficult time. Leonard Lopate:ĝid your family have a tough time adjusting to life in America? Many immigrant families did, especially Vietnamese families. And then by April, the communists caught up with us and we had to jump on another boat to get out of the country. my mom walked 120 miles downhill to the nearest port town with myself and my brother, and then caught another boat to Saigon where she found my dad. Viet Nguyen:ĝesperation and hard work by my parents who I really owe a lot to them for doing what they did. Leonard Lopate: Well, there have been films recently about how difficult it was to get out. So she left my adopted sister behind to take care of the family house and business, and then left with my brother and myself and didn’t see her again for 20 years. It had been going back and forth for a long time. And she basically thought that the world wasn’t going to end. And my dad was in Saigon, so my mom had to make a life and death decision. Basically what happened was my mom, my brother and myself were in our hometown of Ban Me Thuot, which has the distinction of being the first town overrun in the Northern invasion. Leonard Lopate:ěut didn’t they have to leave your adopted sister behind? Viet Nguyen: Yes, we had the typical refugee experience. Leonard Lopate: So it was your parents brought you? Viet Nguyen: I was four years old, so before I really had any memories of Vietnam. How old were you when you moved to America? Leonard Lopate: You were born in Vietnam. I’m very pleased to welcome Viet Thanh Nguyen to our show today. And Viet Thanh Nguyen’s debut novel, The Sympathizer, a communist spy flees Vietnam, and must start a new life in America while keeping his allegiances hidden. Throughout the years, many American veterans have told their stories, but most of the stories of the Vietnamese who fled to America had been lost. Leonard Lopate: When the People’s Army marched into Saigon on April 30th, 1975, thousands fled the incoming communist regime. ![]() Speaker 1: You’re listening to the Leonard Lopate Show on AMH 20 and 93.9 WNYC. Listen to The Leonard Lopate Show here or read the full transcript below: The general and his compatriots start a new life in Los Angeles, unaware that their captain is secretly observing and reporting on the group to a higher-up in the Viet Cong. In April of 1975, a South Vietnamese general draws up a list of those who will be given passage aboard the last flights out of the country. Army Bell UH-1B Iroquois helicopter to set an ambush in the jungle below during operations in South Vietnam.
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