Narrator: Nguyen, Lam Thanh
Interviewer: Nguyen, Claudia
Date of Interview: 2015-05-21
Permanent Link To This Item: http://hdl.handle.net/10575/14585
Summary: An oral history with Mr. Lam Nguyen, born on November 3, 1951 in Hue, Vietnam. He grew up in Vietnam with 11 other siblings: 7 brothers and 5 sisters. His parents were very poor, so it was difficult to take care of 12 kids. He went to school up until college where he attended a university in Hue for 2 years. Unfortunately, he had to quit school and enlist into the Army because of the Vietnam War. He was an officer in the Air Force in Da Nang, and his father was a lieutenant colonel in Vietnam. After the collapse of Da Nang on March 29, 1975, he was arrested by the Vietnamese communist and put into re-education camp for one year. He was released in 1976. He discusses his memories of South Vietnam before 1975, his experiences in re-education camp, and his experiences in the refugee camps. He also discusses how he left Vietnam and his experiences when he first arrived in America in 1988. After coming to the United States, he worked in a clothing factory called Silvery Factory. He currently works with electronics. He has four children--two boys and two girls. He also has two grandchildren. He currently lives with his wife and two daughters in Montclair, California.
Decade of Birth: 1950-1959
Subjects: Air Force (VN) | Anticommunism | Anticommunist | Assimilation | Asian American studies | Boat People | Buddhist | Children | Citizenship | College or university | Communism | Communist | Death | Education | Elderly | Escape | English as a second language (ESL) | Ethnicity | Family | Family reunification | Health | High school | Higher education | Ho Chi Minh | Humanitarian operation | Humanitarian organization | Immigrant | Language barrier | Marriage | Naturalization | Poverty | Prisoner | Racism | Reeducation | Refugee camp | Refugee camp (Philippines) | Refugee camp (Thailand) | Religion | Resettlement | Restaurants | Soldier | Sports | Student | Tet Festival | Tradition or custom | United States Catholic Charities (U.S.C.C.) | Viet Cong | Vietnam War | Cambodia | Irvine, California | Little Saigon (Orange County, California) | Vietnam, Southern | Virginia (United States) | Da nang (Vietnam) | Hue (Vietnam) | Nha Trang (Vietnam) | Nha Trang (Vietnam) | Saigon (Vietnam)
Type: Sound
Duration: 87 minutes
Language: English
Identifier: VAOHP0253
Provenance: Recorded Digitally