Chúng tôi thường ở lại sau khi tiển người ra đi, vừa khóc, vừa cười, rồi cùng đi bộ khoảng 1.5 km về lại trại
Lunch in the Buddhist Temple with the monk, Thich Thien Tri and Father Dominici (in the yellow t-shirt) who was the camp's Catholic priest, and a lovely person.
Buổi ăn trưa trong chùa với thầy Thích Thiện Trí và Linh Mục Dominici (người mặc áo thun vàng)
Khoa and his father. A year later, I'd gone to a kung fu film at a Chinese theater across the street from Disneyland in Anahein, CA. When the movie ended and the lights came on, I was surprised to see the father (and several other people I knew) walking up the aisle.
Khoa và ba của Khoa. Chúng tôi tình cờ gặp lại nhau khoảng 1 năm sau khi tôi đi coi phim võ thuật tại một rạp chiếu bóng tàu gần Disneyland ở Anaheim.
Loc and Ngoc. They'd owned a coffeeshop in Saigon, resettled in Ohio.
Lộc và Ngọc. Hai người có tiệm cà phê ở Sài Gòn. Họ định cư tại Ohio
The altar in the Unaccompanied Minors' barrack. These were children who were in camp by themselves. Mr. Hai, our school's principal, also lived in the barrack and took care of the children.
Bàn thờ trong gian trại cho trẻ cô nhi. Hải thầy hiệu trưởng cũng sống ở gian trại này và lo cho các em.
A Housewive's Class graduation party
Most of the people who wanted to study (Site I was a UN camp and studying wasn't mandatory. In mid-1981, a second camp was opened on Galang, called Site II. It was several miles away from Site I. The second camp was US-built, people living there had already been accepted for resettlement in the US, and English/cultural orientation classes were manditory) in Site I were in our regular classes taught by Vietnamese volunteers. When zone leaders asked us to begin classes in the barracks for people who couldn't make it to the regular classes, we did that. Thus the Houswives Program, the Golden Age Club, etc
Lễ ra trường lớp của nhưng người nội trợ.
Đa số dân tị nạn muốn học tiếng Anh phải đến lớp do người việt thiện nguyện dạy. Sau này chúng tôi mở thêm nhưng lớp học anh văn cho những người không thể đến lớp. Vì vậy mà có lớp loại này, cho những người đã lớn tuổi
I was the boy in the blue shirt 45 years ago.
ReplyDeleteEven today, the memories of the camp still return to me. Some of them are difficult, and at times they still haunt me. Yet those very experiences shaped who I became. They made me stronger, tougher, and more resilient. They taught me how to endure hardship, how to adapt, and how to keep moving forward.
We were the “boat people” — a generation forced to leave everything behind in search of hope and freedom. In many ways, we were the pioneers of a new wave of migrants, carrying little more than courage, determination, and the dream of a better life.
Over the years, I’ve had the privilege of seeing Gaylord a few times, and I will always treasure the time he came to visit me in Vancouver. We shared stories and memories from those days that forever shaped our lives.
Looking at these old photographs from that bygone era reminds me how far we have all come. Many of us are now living all over the world, building families, careers, and communities in places we once could only imagine. Yet we remain forever connected by those shared beginnings.
And when I reflect on it all, I realize that people like Gaylord and Debie truly changed the course of our lives. Their kindness, compassion, and dedication gave so many of us a chance — a chance to rebuild our lives and find our place in the world.
We arrived with almost nothing. Yet today we carry stories of survival, resilience, and hope.
And when I look back at that boy in the blue shirt 45 years ago, I realize he was not just one boy — he was part of a generation whose journey helped shape the lives we live today.
We were the “boat people” of Vietnam. And our story is not only one of struggle — it is a story of courage, dignity, and the triumph of the human spirit.
Michael