Picture above: My mother's high school graduation photos from New Orleans, two years after the Vietnamese communists took over SouthVietnam
This blog actually became a "My Mother's Life in Vietnam" to "My Mother's Life in Vietnam to Life in America"
A short biography of my mother
Teresa Lan-Huong Pham.
Born on December 25th, 1957 in Long Xuyen, (South) Vietnam.
In 2012, is almost 55-years-old.
Left Vietnam on April 30th, 1975 right after Communists took over South Vietnam when she was 17.
Has three older sisters and two younger brothers [excluding 2 brothers and 1 sister who passed away during the war in North Vietnam (before Vietnam was divided into "North" and "South")]
Has been married for 32 years and has four daughters.
Had me when she was 36, had her oldest at 24.
Attended Louisiana State University.
I asked her about her life in Vietnam, specifically about her daily life during her high school years shortly before the communists took over South Vietnam. She also included for me the special meaning of the "Ao Dai" dress and how she lived with wearing that dress every day. I spent a total of 3 hours to listen to her stories in much greater depth than I had ever heard them before.
Born on December 25th, 1957 in Long Xuyen, (South) Vietnam.
In 2012, is almost 55-years-old.
Left Vietnam on April 30th, 1975 right after Communists took over South Vietnam when she was 17.
Has three older sisters and two younger brothers [excluding 2 brothers and 1 sister who passed away during the war in North Vietnam (before Vietnam was divided into "North" and "South")]
Has been married for 32 years and has four daughters.
Had me when she was 36, had her oldest at 24.
Attended Louisiana State University.
I asked her about her life in Vietnam, specifically about her daily life during her high school years shortly before the communists took over South Vietnam. She also included for me the special meaning of the "Ao Dai" dress and how she lived with wearing that dress every day. I spent a total of 3 hours to listen to her stories in much greater depth than I had ever heard them before.
Life before the Fall of Saigon
Her family lived Thanh An which was a village that was "close" to the tip of Vietnam, so her family was not affected by the war at the time she lived. During her high school years in Vietnam, the last two or three years before the Fall of Saigon, she and her neighbors would get up a 5am-6am to walk to church (a 10-minute walk) every morning like normal. She remembers that neighbors would stop by houses to wake each other up to go to church in order to claim “attendance tickets and points” for their Vietnamese Eucharistic youth group ("Thieu Thanh The Viet Nam") that can be used for prizes or gifts. After church, my mom goes back home to help open and run the family store (comparable to a mix of a convenience store for people who buy daily groceries and a wholesale shop for people who sold fish or food on small boats) until around 7:30am. She would then walk to school (the school and the church are around the same area) and she would stay there from 8am to 12pm on Monday to Saturday. Wearing an Ao Dai as a school uniform was a requirement at her high school, Truong Trung Hoc Sao Mai (Translated: Morning Star high school). After school, she would rush home to change out of her Ao Dai and to work/help at the store (12-12:30pm is the PEAK hour to where there's about 50-60 customers in the store at one time) After peak time, she would eat her lunch then study and work until 8 or 9pm. Then her whole family would go to sleep then the routine cycle starts all over... until 1975.
Life right at the Fall of Saigon
During the last months of the Vietnam war, my mother was 17 years old.
In the last two months before the Fall of South of Vietnam, there was an uncertainty of whether or not Vietnam would fall into the communists' hands. People were pretty sure Saigon would fall, but they were unsure about when it would happen. No one really knew but they guessed something would happened. My grandfather (my mom's father) planned that the family would temporarily stay at Phu Quoc Island (80 miles from Thanh An, 20 miles being on land, 60 being on water) so they can escape from Vietnam if anything happens. On March 15th, my mother left high school so she, her father and her oldest sister, Rosemary (Huong Nguyen) can bring some merchandise to Phu Quoc to make money to stay there. A second family trip to Phu Quoc was made so that her remaining four siblings (along with her infant nephew) can get to this island. My grandmother (my mother's mother) stayed at the main store in Thanh An to run it because they couldn't leave the store alone yet (since the fall was still so uncertain). After two months, on very morning of the day my grandfather was going to come back to Thanh An to get my grandmother from their home/store, the communists took over Vietnam and transportation (the boats) were unable to come back to Vietnam to take a huge rush of people to Phu Quoc for the sake of a few selected people.
In the last two months before the Fall of South of Vietnam, there was an uncertainty of whether or not Vietnam would fall into the communists' hands. People were pretty sure Saigon would fall, but they were unsure about when it would happen. No one really knew but they guessed something would happened. My grandfather (my mom's father) planned that the family would temporarily stay at Phu Quoc Island (80 miles from Thanh An, 20 miles being on land, 60 being on water) so they can escape from Vietnam if anything happens. On March 15th, my mother left high school so she, her father and her oldest sister, Rosemary (Huong Nguyen) can bring some merchandise to Phu Quoc to make money to stay there. A second family trip to Phu Quoc was made so that her remaining four siblings (along with her infant nephew) can get to this island. My grandmother (my mother's mother) stayed at the main store in Thanh An to run it because they couldn't leave the store alone yet (since the fall was still so uncertain). After two months, on very morning of the day my grandfather was going to come back to Thanh An to get my grandmother from their home/store, the communists took over Vietnam and transportation (the boats) were unable to come back to Vietnam to take a huge rush of people to Phu Quoc for the sake of a few selected people.
The Americans... and coming to America!
The communists took Communism took over South Vietnam on April 30th, 1975 at around 9am. My mom's family planned to sail to Malaysia from Phu Quoc on a small boat or canoe, but when they left Phu Quoc, they saw an American ship floating close to Phu Quoc. They went closer to the ship and was held at gunpoint by the American ship because the Americans thought the miniboat was a group of communists. There were no orders for the Americans to pick up “boat-escapees” at this time but my family knew that the American ship had already picked up the American-Vietnamese Government employees from Vietnam. The miniboat stayed out at sea (even during high waves) to stay close to the American boat while hoping that there would be a change in orders for the family to be saved. After a couple of hours of waiting, the Americans got word to rescue “boat people.” My mother's family was one of the first group of boat-people to board an American ship at Phu Quoc. When they boarded the ship, people were only allowed to carry one sack of belongings. My mom's family threw away all of their clothes into the sea and gave all their money to the canoe-guy. They only kept food and milk (for the baby nephew) for the trip. The American ship stayed on Vietnam's water for a few days to pick up more boat-escapees. When they left Vietnam, it took 3 days to get to Guam. While everyone stayed at Guam for a few weeks, my mother had no shoes because someone stole her shoes on the boat...... Then the Vietnamese escapees had the choice of coming to the military base in California, Florida or Pennsylvania. My family randomly chose “Fort Indiantown Gap” then America sent planes to pick up people from Guam to come to the U.S.
Living in the United States
The family stayed at Fort Indiantown Gap for several months (during the summer) by living in army tents and showering in... army's showers. During these months, the U.S.C.C. (United States Catholic Charities) looked for “American sponsors” around the U.S. who can sponsor and take care of Vietnamese refugees. My mom's family had a friend named “Tong” who knew Doctor Hitlaire Gaudreault. Bac Tong and Dr. Gaudreault were friends back when Dr. Gaudreault worked as a doctor in Vietnam. Tong was already sponsored by someone else, so he introduced my mom's family to the Gaudreaults. The Gaudreaults sponsored the family of 10 members and brought everyone to Hinckly, Ohio. In Hinckly, the Gaudreaults had an extra house for the family to live in. After a few weeks of moving in, the older people in the family (everyone who was older than my mom other than her older sister who had an infant son) all had jobs that were arranged by the Gaudreaults in Hinckly and Medina. Everyone (except for my grandfather) studied English during these summer months. When my mom entered “Highland High School” in Medina, Ohio (which was a 20-minute bus ride from home), she worked her first job in the Willowbrook Nursing Home by taking care of five mentally-retarded, big “boys" from the ages of 10-25. She knew very little English and at this time, there were no ESL classes. The family stayed in Ohio for about 1 year then they moved to New Orleans to live in warmer weather. My mother graduated from Joseph S. Clark High School in New Orleans then she attended the University of New Orleans for a summer semester. She later transferred Louisiana State University where she continued to study for 2 years. At a wedding, she met her future husband (my dad) who also attended LSU. They got married four years after meeting each other and had their first daughter a year later. They moved from Baton Rouge to California for my father's work then they moved to Texas to "have more children." 12 years after they had their first child, they had their second child who was born in Houston, Texas. Less than a year later while coming home from a family vacation in Florida, my mother felt two separated movements in her womb and she came home to find out she conceived twins. After several months, the twins plopped out about one minute apart (they were surgically removed).
And this was the beginning of the Pham Family...
from my mom's side of the story.
And this was the beginning of the Pham Family...
from my mom's side of the story.
The Other Stories
My mother's side of the story connects to my father's side of the story along with the story about the Pham Family's immigration roots.
The page to these two blog entries can be found by clicking the buttons below:
The page to these two blog entries can be found by clicking the buttons below: