Sunday, February 28, 2010

Thai Le's Memoir

This is the story of Thai Le Nguyen, who grew up in Bong Son during the late 60's and early 70's near the LZ English American Army Base. Her story, powerful and poignant, depicts a loving family struggling to provide a normal childhood for six children amidst Communist guerrilla attacks and the rugged, lethal quality of the land itself. From snakes to gory death, the children survived by a blessed good fortune and a mother and father's determined love. Her tale is told through a unique and never before shared perspective, the view of the South Vietnamese, as seen through her own eyes. They fought against Communism alongside the Americans and lost as much and more than Americans, for they were forced to flee their homes, some of them forever. What Thai Le misses most about her life in Vietnam was the community spirit. The village was her extended family. It was a wonderful time of her life, but how ironic that it took place near an American army base, near the violence and destruction of war. Each week, Thai Le will post interesting bittersweet bits of her life.

By Amanda Griffith

The Yellow Haired Lady

I saw an American girl when I was seven, when the American Army lived near my home. She was very pretty. She was either the girlfriend, wife, or relative of one of the soldiers. She had long blonde hair to her waist and a fancy blue dress; it was an amazing sight. Six or seven of us wanted to run up to her and touch her hair. To see her walking around in that dress with that hair: can you imagine! It was strange, so strange to see her in our village. She was visiting there, I think. She wasn't inside the army base. In the village, an old lady had a room in the back of her house and a soldier rented the room for his friend, the yellow haired lady. I said to my parents, "The next time you adopt a child, could you adopt a yellow haired baby? Back then, my parents could give many children homes, like children whose parents couldn't support them or anyone visiting to stay for awhile. My parents opened their hearts and homes to many. They had food in the garden, and there were no computers or televisions to worry about buying. Nothing was expensive. So, one day, my mother and father did travel by motorcycle to Bong Son City to see if there was a blond child to adopt. There were none at the time. They came home and said, "Sorry. There weren't any."

By Thai Le Nguyen

Thai Le's Memoir

This is the perfect story to introduce Thai Le's parents to the world. They would do anything they could for anyone. They were simple, unselfish people who assisted neighbors in storms by providing a place in their second story home (the only one in the village) for ten or so neighbors to escape a flood. They provided a place for needy or friendless teenagers to stay, complete with home cooked meals fresh from the garden in the Le's backyard. In the Spring, the third chapter of Thai Le's memoir, Child of South Vietnam, is scheduled to be published in Kartika Review, an Asian literary magazine for Asian art, poetry, and prose. Stay tuned for more stories from Thai Le's youth and more information about the publication of the book.

By Amanda Griffith

1 comment:

  1. I love this! It is very eyeopening. Children living in Vietnam during the war- to them "war" is normal part of their everyday life. Not something we've seen about vietnam!

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