STANDARDS

Common Core: RH.6-8.1, RH.6-8.2, RH.6-8.7, RI.6-8.1, RI.6-8.3

C3 (D2/6-8): His.1, His.6, His.10, His.14, His.15

NCSS: Time, continuity, and change; Global connections; People, places, and environments

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FIRST RUNNER-UP

Fleeing Vietnam

The first runner-up in our contest spoke with a family friend who fled by boat at age 15 from post-war Vietnam

Courtesy of Family

Johnny Tebou

By Johnny Tebou, Age 12, Miami, Florida

The Vietnam War (1954-1975) was a Cold War struggle that pitted Communist North Vietnam against South Vietnam, which became a U.S. ally. When the North won, its military invaded the South. Many South Vietnamese fled the oppressive regime—including thousands who escaped in small, dangerously crowded boats. Sixth-grader Johnny Tebou talked with Tom Nguyen (nuh-EN) about his experience as one of the refugees who came to be known as “boat people.”

Courtesy of Tom Nguyen

Tom Nguyen before fleeing Vietnam in search of freedom—and an education

Johnny Tebou: What event did you go through?

Tom Nguyen: I experienced the Vietnam War. When it ended, many people fled the country because Communists from North Vietnam invaded the South. When the Communists took over, they wanted to put us in a camp to work as prisoners. They burned down all the schools except for one. That was one of the main reasons my family escaped Vietnam: We wanted an education.

JT: What happened to your family when the Communists took over South Vietnam?

TN: They imprisoned my father for three years. They took our homes and everything else, including most of our money.

JT: What did you do?

TN: We made a secret plan to escape because every male of 16 years was forced to join the army. I was 15, which was when they prepared you for the army. They would give you a gun and teach you to shoot it. We had to escape before I came of age to join the army.

Michel Setboun/Getty Images

Tens of thousands of Vietnamese “boat people” safely reached Hong Kong, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines, but an unknown number of others died at sea.

JT: How did you get away?

TN: In February 1981, I escaped in a small boat with my father, brother, a few relatives, and another family. We acted like fishermen, so soldiers wouldn’t recognize us as runaways. We sailed from Saigon at night without directions. After three days, we encountered a ship. We asked for help and were taken to Malaysia.

JT: Did you have food during your three-day voyage?

TN: Very little. We had water only three times a day. We would eat only once, in the morning. There was no other option. Nobody died, but it was scary. We almost ran out of gas. We were lucky to meet that ship.

JT: What happened next?

TN: We stayed in Malaysia for three months, until govern­ment officials and an aid group brought us to America.

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