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The Boat People Anhdai Bambi Tran

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The Boat People Anhdai Bambi Tran The Boat People Anhdai Bambi Tran The story of a young girl and her family fleeing Vietnam by boat following the end ofthe Vietnam War and their transition to life in America. By David Sanders Sanders 2 Table of Contents Statement of Purpose 3 Biography 4 Historical Contextualization 5-16 Interview Transcription 17-50 Interview Analysis 51-54 Works Consulted 55 Sanders 3 Statement of Purpose The purpose of this oral history is to provide a more complete understanding of the boat people that fled Vietnmn following the Vietnam War through mi interview with Anhdai Tran. She and her family fled Vietnam in fem of communism and oppression of the Vietnamese. Additionally, the project aims to tell the story not mmiy have heard about the difficulties and challenges during one girls flight from a country in turmoil to her new life in America. Sanders 4 Biography Anhdai "Bambi" Tran was bom September 25, 1971 in Nhatrand, South Vietnam. Her father was a Major for the South Vietnamese Army mid her mother was a family social worker. Her father was imprisoned toward the end ofthe Vietnmn War, but after his release their fmnily schemed an escape from the country following the Fall of Saigon. The six-day trip held two families with about twenty people total. They ate rice mid dried fish, facing a gigantic storm and bmely escaping. Eventually they Imided in the Philippines. After spending about two months there they were sponsored to America. Bambi and her fmnily arrived in the United States when she was just five yems old and Imided in Dale City, Virginia. Life in America was not easy at first. Her family lived off welfare and food stmnps as Bmnbi mid her siblings attended the local public schools as the only Vietnamese, and her parents worked as janitors. Within months they moved to Falls Church, Virginia with her aunt and their family and lived in a three- bedroom apartment. Her father wanted his license in America as a doctor, so they all moved up to Flint, Michigan where the opportunity awaited. Her family lived in a farmhouse in Michigmi and she recalls enjoying fishing and playing soccer with other local Vietnamese families. After graduating High School, Bambi attended the University of Virginia Architecture School. Since graduating from UVA she has worked as mi architect and a construction worker. She currently lives in South East, Washington DC. Bambi rarely talks ofthe memorable boat trip, but every few years at reunions it is brought up mid the amazing story is revealed to new listeners of how Bambi and her family survived the dangerous waters and started their new lived in America. Sanders 5 The Boat People as Travelers and Immigrants War is terrible. The violence mid destruction have killed millions of people throughout history, one-hundred thousand alone in one battle during World War I. It is terrible not only for the combatmits, but also for the innocent civilian population that gets caught up in the turmoil mid chaos ofthe conflict. The Vietnam War was no exception. Vietnamese civilians, both city dwellers mid rice farmers, were caught in the crossfire of blistering firefights between the United States forces and the Communist guerillas (Vietcong). The shelling ofthe cities, the spraying of jungles with chemical agents, and the constant combat between the opposing forces caused tremendous suffering to the people. When the United States withdrew in 1975, the citizens of South Vietnam pmiicked mid began to flee the country. Of thousands of refugees, many attempted to escape the mainland on crowded boats. A small number of those boats succeeded in carrying their human cmgo to safety. This paper examines the plight challenges and courage ofthe "Vietnam boat people" through the personal recollections of one of those refugees. Her trip to America as well as her transition into a new life are just one of thousands of similar stories. Her recollections, combined with contempormieous news reports and subsequent historical reviews, bring into vivid focus an extraordinmy human experience in the context of a contentious and terrible military and political conflict. The Vietnam War was a military struggle from 1959 to 1975. It began as a determined attempt by the Vietcong in the South, backed by Communist North Vietnam, to overthrow the government of South Vietnmn. The struggle widened into a war between South Vietnam and North Vietnam and ultimately into an international conflict. The Sanders 6 United States and some forty other countries supported South Vietnmn by supplying troops mid munitions while the USSR and People's Republic of China furnished munitions to North Vietnam and Vietcong. The War expmided to engulf Laos, where the communist Pathet Lao fought the Laos government from 1965 to 1973 and succeeded in abolishing the monmchy in 1975. The origins ofthe Vietnam War can be traced to a conflict between the French and Communist insurgents. "The war developed as a sequel to the struggle (1946-1954) between the French who were the rulers of Indochina before World Wm II, and the Communist led Viet Minh, or League for the independence of Vietnam, founded and headed by the revolutionary leader Ho Chi Minh." (Dudley, Bender 13) U.S. involvement in Vietnam begmi during the administration of Dwight D. Eisenhower (1953-1961). Three main factors led to American involvement in the wm. The first was the end of colonialism. The Europemi powers were weakened by World War II and were unable to deny the growing demands for independence in their African and Asian colonies. In Vietnam an independence movement rose to challenge French rule. The United States helped France, its World War II ally, by providing financial and military aid. The second reason for American intervention was the rise of communism, a perceived threat to the U.S. The fem of communism in America begmi in 1949 when Communists came to power in China. The third factor was the U.S. role as a world power. After helping to win World War II, the U.S. helped rebuild Europe and Japan. "With other countries in ruins from WWII, American power, wealth, and prestige were preeminent." (Dudley, Bender 18) U.S. leaders felt obliged to help damaged countries, and believed it could be successful in its endeavors even in distmit parts ofthe world. Sanders 7 In 1973 U.S. troops pulled out of Vietnam and Communist forces began a victory push into South Vietnmn. The White House minounced the United States would cease to back Nguyen Van Thieu in Saigon. Thieu's had his troops abandon Ban Me Thuot, the jungle covered South part of Vietnam, and people in that region began to panic. The country was effectively split in half, and refugees from Hue, Da Nang and other towns began an immediate and swift exit ofthe country. ".. .first on ox cmls, motor bikes, and afoot along coastal Route 1 to the South, and then aboard any kind of boat that would carry them Southwmd." (Browne 1) The evacuation of Americans and Vietnamese from Saigon began April 15, 1975 by commercial and military aircraft, and when others learned ways to escape they soon followed. The first wave of refugees, involving some 10,000 to 15,000 people begmi at least a week before the collapse ofthe Thieu government. A second wave of approximately eighty-six thousand Vietnamese and Americans were evacuated by aircraft during the last days of April. Brent Scowcroft, a commmider in Vietnam for the U.S. forces sent President Nixon a memorandum concerning the desperate attempts by some ofthe first Vietnam citizens to flee the country: "Our Embassy in Bangkok has compiled information on the most recent instances of Vietnam refugees fleeing South Vietnmn... more than 400 persons are currently at ports in Thailmid hoping to continue on to the U.S. or other countries following their escape... gasoline required for the long journey is scarce, expensive, and rationed and therefore must be kept in small mnounts and hidden until the day of escape. The most dmigerous part comes when the escapees must rendezvous, load the supplies undetected on the boat, and then somehow evade Sanders 8 the constant coastal security patrols... apparently most of those starting out to flee do not m^e it. Some refugees estimate that about one half me caught by authorities before they can get under way and perhaps one third ofthe remainder perish at sea. Our limited intelligence reporting confirms that some groups have been captured." (Snowcroft 1) This memorandum shows the significance mid concern growing from the flood of refugees and the importmice of assisting and transporting of these immigrants that must take action. Those who could not afford or were unable to attain mi aircraft of boat pass fled on their own with their families, not necessarily with a destination in mind nor the means to reach a specific land. Jim Lelirer, a writer for Extra, interviewed Tu Trilin, one ofthe "Boat People" and quotes her recollection ofthe terrifying experience, "Everybody shouted, cried out, pushed, mid even killed each other to take a seat on the boat (Lehrer 2)." William Liu, author of Transition to Nowhere gives statistics for the mmiy reasons for fleeing: "Fifty seven percent were alarmed by the bad militmy mid political news, twenty six percent were afraid of reprisals by the Communists, and ten percent felt they could not live under the communist regime. Seven percent of this sample did not make a rational decision to flee but somehow were caught up in the evacuation and just went along. The decision making process then varied from those who made rational decision that flight was necessary in view of their own past activities or job positions, to those whose lack of information precluded their knowing they had made a decision." (Liu 16-17) Sanders 9 These accurate percentages give the motive for many ofthe boat people and others who fled Vietnam.
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