Local author shares journey from war-torn Vietnam to America in new book

S1: Welcome in San Diego. It's Jade Hindman on today's show. Author Cal Huang shares his journey from war torn Vietnam to America in his latest book. This is KPBS Midday Edition. Connecting our communities through conversation. Just over 50 years ago , the fall of Saigon marked the end of the Vietnam War , displacing millions of Vietnamese people. In the months that followed , some 50,000 refugees passed through Camp Pendleton in San Diego County. Local author Cal Huang grew up in Vietnam. He moved to the U.S. for college in 1974 , six months before the fall of Saigon. He's out with a new book about his story. It's called Land of Dreams An Immigrant Journey from war torn Vietnam to America. C.L. Huang joins me now. Welcome to Midday Edition.

S2: Thank you for having me. Glad to be here.

S1: So glad to have you and to hear about your story. So first , take me back to your memories of growing up in Vietnam. How do you remember that time?

S2: Oh , it was , um , you know , Saigon back in those days was a place of , uh , where danger was , was a part of daily life. You know , uh , rockets fell at night. Uh , and during the Tet Offensive in 1968 , fighting broke out on the streets. Um , you know , but , uh , the thing I remember most , uh , isn't the violence. It's mostly the the little things that that , um , gave life , you know , a semblance of normalcy and the moments that that made us feel whole. Like my families , um , gathered around simple meals or the familiar sounds , uh , about neighborhood , or simply just going to school and spending time with my classmates. You know , it's , um , there was still a sense that despite everything , all the fighting going on , we still belong to a country that was ours. And that's what I remember most about those years before 1975. Mm.

S1: Mm. You came to the US at 18 to attend college at Ohio University. What was that like for you?

S2: Um , it was , um , you know , it was the opportunity of a lifetime. Uh , and it was a dream that I. It was an exciting adventure that I had dreamed about growing up. You know , we , uh , we always knew that , uh , we need to , uh , we are in need of , uh , professional people , um , to help with the economy. Once the war is over , it's over. And so I was always looking forward to playing a part in it. And it's , um , for a young child growing up in a in a country at war. Uh , it was the the truly the opportunity of a lifetime. And I was very excited to come here for that purpose. Yeah.

S1: Yeah. Yeah. I mean , six months after you , uh , made it here to the U.S. , South Vietnam collapsed with the end of the war. What do you remember about getting that news? I mean , all those miles away.

S2: Oh , it was a slow buildup , actually , over several months. It started in early 1975 with , uh , you know , um , renewed fighting all over the country. And then it got progressively worse. Um , and I just remember that it was it came even when Saigon fell in on April 30th , 1974 , it still came as an utter shock to all of us. We had no idea that the n word , you know. Was that close? Um , we thought that , uh , you know , we thought that it would still be , uh , going on for years to come , just like it had been since the 1950s and 60s , you know , and so it was an utter shock. And it was total heartbreak afterwards because our family like like all South Vietnamese families , um , around that time , our family was completely torn apart. Um , you know , after after the , after April 1975 , um , my , my sister and my older sister and I happened to be , uh , studying in the US at the time , and we were cut off from our family and it would take us a , um , a long time , like , close to 15 years in order to reunite the whole family. And here in the States. Hmm.

S1: Hmm. You know , if you don't mind , I'd love to hear a passage from your book. There's a part where you write about that time that you just spoke about , and it's at the bottom of page 34 , in chapter five. Do you mind reading that?

S2: Uh , no. That , uh. I'll do it right now. Yeah. In the final days of April , events unfold with the fury and speed of a battling typhoon. Beyond anyone's predictions , my sister Lana and I , like our fellow Vietnamese students at Ohio University and probably all across the United States , were in a state of utter shock and disbelief , frozen in helpless anguish and barely able to breathe. We watch from hour to hour , our homeland crumbling to pieces before our very eyes on the small television screen , the frenzied and desperate scenes of last minute evacuations by helicopters from the rooftops of the American embassy and the building then known as the Pittman in Saigon could have come straight out of a war movie. And then as suddenly as lightning strikes , it was all over. Saigon fell on the last day of April. South Vietnam , our home country , was no more thereafter , locked behind the bamboo curtain and cut off from the free world. Hmm.

S1: Hmm. While reading that back and just reflecting on that time in your life , what are you thinking about?

S2: It's , you know , it always , um , it always chokes me up whenever I think of it , or or , um , you know , read or write about it. It's there. It's as vivid as , uh , it was just yesterday. You know , I still remember , um , the shock , uh , the heartbreak and the disbelief. Um , you know , that that surrounded , um , that surrounded at that time and we were too stunned and , um , To really believe that it was happening. And , you know , even though we were not crying at the time , but it was , uh , it was like a nightmare. It was like a death. You know , we , uh , we were in mourning and , um , you know , we didn't know what would happen with the family if we would ever see them again. And it was , uh , but but somehow , you know , you you , um , one had to , uh , to cope with that and move on. And so , um , the passage I just read was the beginning of the long journey of discovery , adaptation and survival that would finally bring our family together in the US , um , you know , within the next 15 years.

S1: And put us in your family members shoes. What did they experience in the immediate aftermath of the war?

S2: Um , first of all , uh , communication would , uh , you know , would be restricted in the sense that , number one , the post office service was disrupted. And number two , censorship , there was constant censorship , constant , um , you know , and heavy censorship to see what how people were dealing with it , what how they were talking about the communist takeover and things like that. And then the country , uh , was left devastated and economically bankrupt. You know , people were talking about a potential bloodbath before the Communist takeover. It did not happen in the traditional sense , but it happened , uh , in the way this , uh , the the new regime would set up new economic zones , uh , re-education camp to send political dissidents , uh , to those , uh , and let them fend for themselves. Um , you know , under the harsh , the most harsh conditions. Um , my family was lucky in that , um , we did not have to. My parents , uh , did not have to go through that. But we shared in the , in the in the total and general hardship of the overall population.

S1: Towards the end of the book , you write about getting your US citizenship , which meant giving up your South Vietnamese citizenship. And you say you struggled with that decision. Tell me about it.

S2: You know , it was a , um , I was hanging on to the hope that despite everything , you know , by then , I waited ten long years. I think , uh , South Vietnam fell to the communists in 75. And , um , through all the status changes to refugee and then permanent resident , I would have qualified to apply for citizenship. US citizenship by 1980 1981 , but I waited till 1986 to do that. And the reason was because I was hanging on to the faintest of hope that maybe something would still happen and maybe we would , uh , what a miracle would , uh , would help us recover our our last country , our lost , our homeland , you know. But it did not happen. And the catastrophe , the humanitarian crisis of the boat people who tried to escape from Vietnam in search of freedom told me that , um , you know , just , you know , just made it very clear to me that it was not going to be it would not happen , you know , and , um , uh , the time and place that I knew before I left Saigon in 1774 , uh , was gone and would not come back. And I am here to stay for good. And this is this would be my my new homeland , my new country. And that's when I made the decision to to apply for citizenship and become a full fledged citizen of the United States.

S1: Now , have you shared the book with any of your family members yet?

S2: Oh , yes. Yeah.

S1: How have they reacted?

S2: Oh , they loved it. You know , they , um , it was both nostalgic and , um , uh , you know , it's it's bittersweet , right? You remember back in those days , you remember all the bad things that happened , but I. I tried to write a book as a , um , you know , not focusing entirely on the tragic beginning of it , which was the fall of Saigon in 1975 and the loss of our country. But also I wanted to I wanted to talk about the long journey of adaptation and survival , and the hope that carried us through and give a message of hope with that. So they , um , my sisters and brothers really , really liked it. And , you know , it brought them back to those times. And , um , you know , just just , uh , we never really talked much in detail about what happened to each one of us , but we all followed , you know , we all made the same journey , uh , even though , um , through different roads. And it was , uh , it was good to to talk about it now and to reminisce about what happened.

S1: You know , ultimately , what did you I'm curious. Like , what did you learn about yourself while writing this memoir?

S2: You know , it's , um , it's kind of a it's a very strange and almost surreal experience to look back at myself from , from 50 years ago. You know , I was so young back then and very inexperienced and vulnerable and , um , overnight , without a country of family and , um , you know , still trying to find my footing in a place that felt foreign to me in every way , you know? So I made plenty of mistakes , and I stumble more than once , but somehow I kept going. And what surprised me most is that , um , you know , I was to realize how much compassion I felt for my my younger version back then , you know , despite all his missteps , he , um , he just gave it everything he had under the circumstances. And I'm pretty proud of him for that.

S1: And he's wonderful. I've been speaking with C.L. Huang. He's the author of the new book Land of Dreams and Immigrant Journey from War torn Vietnam to America. You can find more details on our website , KPBS. See all. Thank you so much for sharing your story with us.

S2: Thank you for having me.

S1: That's our show for today. I'm your host , Jade Hindman. Thanks for tuning in to Midday Edition. Be sure to have a great day on purpose , everyone.