Mini Project 2

In the bustling streets of Saigon, 1975, you, a child of a southern Vietnamese middle-class family, find yourself entangled in the complex web of historical events unfolding during the Vietnam War. The air is thick with tension as political decisions shape the destiny of your family and the nation. //''[[Do you stay?|stay]] [[Or leave in 1975 during the fall of Saigon? |leave]]''// <img src="https://i.huffpost.com/gen/2898014/thumbs/o-FALL-OF-SAIGON-900.jpg?3" alt="fall of Saigon 1975.">

You hastily gather your family, embarking on a perilous journey to escape the impending communist rule, navigating through the chaos of Saigon's fall. The fall of Saigon marked the end of the Vietnam War and the beginning of a massive evacuation effort, known as Operation Frequent Wind. //'' How do you escape? [[plane]] or [[boat]]''//

Enduring a decade in a reeducation camp becomes a poignant chapter in your life. You are subjected to political indoctrination, mandatory confession sessions, harsh physical labor, and widespread diseases due to malnourishment and poor medical care. Some who were taken away to the camps were never seen again. In total, about a million people in the former South Vietnam were subjected to some form of “re-education.” In 1989, a U.S.-Vietnam agreement allows detainees to leave for the United States. The agreement reflected the changing diplomatic relations between the two nations as they moved towards normalization. <img src="https://i0.wp.com/factrepublic.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/12.Reeducation-camp.jpg" alt="reeducation."> After 10 long years you are finally free. //''What do you do now? [[Leave Vietnam|leave2]] or [[Stay]]''//

Despite the withdrawal of U.S. troops, you opt to stay. The new communist regime ushers you into a //''[[reeducation camp|redeucation]],''// where you endure a decade of hardship, witnessing the sweeping changes in Vietnam's political landscape. The reeducation camps were a harsh reality, where individuals deemed politically unreliable were subjected to intense ideological indoctrination and strenuous labor. Many of those who did not end up in a reeducation were forced to move to the countryside to //''[[labor|poverty]] ''//on collective farms, known as New Economic Zones, or lived in poverty in the new communist held city.

Lucky to be part of an airlift in 1975, you arrive in the U.S., but your journey is marked by uncertainty and cultural adaptation. Operation Frequent Wind saw the evacuation of thousands of Vietnamese civilians and American personnel, showcasing the urgency and chaos of the evacuation efforts. //''Are you[[ alone]] or with [[family]]?''// <img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52369639512_a8824e63b0_n.jpg" alt="Refugees arrive via a South Vietnamese Chinook helicopter after being evacuated from the besieged town of Xuan Loc as the North Vietnamese army advance during the closing days of the Vietnam War, circa April 1975.">

Due to the bombing of the Siagon airport, the only option for you was to escape by boat or by foot. You manage to get on a boat leaving the city. //''Do you make it to land? [[Yes|live]] or [[No|die]] ''// <img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52855965604_71dc7415c8_n.jpg" alt="South Vietnamese Marines leap in panic aboard a cutter from an LST in Danang Harbor in Da Nang, Vietnam, April 1, 1975 as they are evacuated from the city, shortly before its fall to the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese. Cutters in turn hauled them south to Cam Ranh Bay. (AP Photo).">

The discrimination against former detainees extended beyond the reeducation camps, impacting their reintegration into Vietnamese society. You struggle to navigate societal challenges in employment, housing, and education. Having to start your life over from scratch with no support system and an onslaught of new mental health issues stemming from PTSD makes life increasingly difficult.

You are lucky to have relatives already living in America. They save up their money and bring you to live with them in San Jose, California, a town with a growing Vietnamese population. After years of mental and physical abuse you are grateful to escape to a new home, but the toll of re-education makes joining American society extremely difficult for use as you now suffer from PTSD. //'' Do you assimilate in America? [[yes]] or [[no]]''//

You are one of a significantly large number of Vietnamese children whose mothers and fathers were left behind in Vietnam. Unaccompanied minors and children with relatives other than parents came to the U.S. without family direction. Even when the children later reunited with their parents and family members, normative parent-child relations proved difficult because of the lengthy and severe family disruptions resulting from warfare and the chaotic situation in Vietnam. Alone and afraid, you grapple with cultural shock and the challenge of forging an identity in a new land. Your experience highlights the unique struggles faced by children separated from their families during the evacuation. //''Are you able to assimilate as a refugee in your new home? [[yes]] or [[no]]''//

You are now known as a boat person. “boat people,” as the refugees became known, weren’t welcomed or even recognized as refugees by most countries in the region. None of the nations in Southeast Asia had signed on to the United Nations Refugee Convention, for example, and some were openly hostile to the tens of thousands of Vietnamese and Cambodians who were threatening to overwhelm their limited resources. By 1979, when more than 50,000 refugees were arriving by boat every month, countries like Malaysia and Singapore began physically pushing boats full of refugees back into the sea. <img src="https://i.cbc.ca/1.3050882.1430163008!/fileImage/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/original_780/vietnam-war-fall-of-saigon-photo-gallery.jpg" alt="boat people."> //''Where do you land?''// Each destination presents unique challenges, from the uncertain welcome in Malaysia to the crowded refugee camps in Thailand. The "boat people" faced not only the perils of the sea but also the reluctance of neighboring countries to accept them as refugees. //''[[America]] or a [[South Asian Country]]''//

Tragically, you do not survive the journey, highlighting the harsh realities faced by many attempting to escape. The perilous conditions at sea, coupled with attacks by pirates and a lack of resources, led to significant casualties among those attempting the journey. <img src="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/lastdays/firstdaysstoryproject/media/images/unhcr_03_wRhzptu.jpg" alt="boat people.">

You come to America as one of the “boat people”, a phrase that came into common usage as a result of the flood of refugees casting off from Vietnam in overcrowded, leaky boats at the end of the 1970s and the beginning of the 1980s. You struggle to learn a new languge, adapt to a completely forgien culture and navigate a country that sees you as a burden and activley discrimates agasint you. //''Despite these challenges, are you able to assimilate? [[yes]] or [[no]] ''//

The new government takes over production and bans all private business. The media, schools, and religious institutions were brought under government control. All of these represented potential challenges or alternatives to socialism and were therefore seen as threats. Newspapers were shut down and the government started keeping records of who attended religious services. Living standards in Ho Chi Minh City began to plummet. The late 1970’s and 1980s are reflected upon as the darkest period yet for Vietnam. Ho Chi Minh City, which had flourished off the billions of dollars the U.S. pumped into the Southern economy during the war, became dark and silent as poverty tightens its grip on Vietnam. You live in on a collective farm in a NEZ, stripped of your former middle class status as communist soliders take over your old house and send many members of your family to re-education camps.

Although you stuggle to accept your new life and home, you are still able to join the vibrant Vietnamese American community that burgeons in the U.S. by 1996. The struggle for acceptance and success in a new land becomes a defining aspect of your life. The Vietnamese American community in the U.S. face many challenges but play a crucial role in reshaping the narrative of the refugee experience.

Upon your arrival you are placed in one of the five US refugee camps: Camp Pendleton, California; Fort Indiantown Gap, Pennsylvania; Fort Chaffee, Arkansas; Eglin Air Force Base, Florida; and Guam <img src="https://graphics.latimes.com/trbimg/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cudHJiaW1nLmNvbS9pbWctNTUzYTdkOTgvdHVyYmluZS9sYS1tZS10ZW50LWNpdHktaG9sZGluZy0yMDE1MDQyMy0wMDEvODAw.jpg?" alt="camp pendelton."> These refugee camps provided a temporary haven for Vietnamese refugees, where they awaited processing and resettlement. After leaving you settle down in the neighboring comminity outside Camp Pendelton. In your new home, you undergo a unique set of challenges, adapting to a different life and society. //''Do you assimilate into this new culture? [[yes]] or [[no]]''//

You join the vibrant Vietnamese American community that grows in the U.S. by 1996. The struggle for acceptance and success in a new land becomes a defining aspect of your life. You use the culture that shapped you and the challenges you overcame to create a beaultiful and happy life foryourself, and help share the Vietnamese American refugee experience with the world.

By 1979, an estimated 400,000 refugees, known as the second wave of flight, escaped Vietnam in boats to Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Singapore. Refugee camps around Southeast Asia were set up in the early 1980s as holding places for the large numbers of Vietnamese entering other countries as illegal and frequently unwanted aliens. These major processing centers differed from other refugee camps in that they were intended to be temporary residences for individuals bound for third countries. However, some of the camps didn’t close until the early 2000s resulting in multiple generations born inside refugee camps. You stay in the camp for 4 years before being slated for resettlement. As the day approaches for you to leave for a new life, you are given English classes and acquainted with some of the customs of your new home in the UK.