Escape By Sea!

For decades, Vietnam was torn apart by war. From 1946 to 1954, the Southeast Asian nation fought for independence from France. After Vietnam won, the country split in two. Soon after, Communist North Vietnam invaded democratic South Vietnam, sparking the Vietnam War (1954-1975).

In the end, the North won, and its Communist rulers took over the South. They cracked down on their former enemies there. The government seized control of all private property and businesses. It also sent more than a million people suspected of being disloyal to “re-education camps.” There, they were forced to do hard labor under brutal conditions and endure “lessons” in being good Communists.

Like millions of other residents of what had been South Vietnam, Ha-Van Nguyen (nwen) and her family suffered under Communist rule. Her father was determined to secure a better future for his children, so he arranged to smuggle six of them out of the country.

During the first attempt, in 1980, something went wrong, and Nguyen and one of her sisters were left behind. A year later, when Nguyen was 11, she and her sister tried again.

In the following interview by her daughter, sixth-grader Olivia Lee, Nguyen shares what life was like under Communist rule—and the incredible story of her escape.

Olivia Lee: Where and when were you born?

Ha-Van Nguyen: In Cam Ranh, Vietnam, in 1970.

OL: How old were you during the changes that led to your escape?

HVN: I was 5 when North Vietnam and South Vietnam united under a Communist government in 1975. I was 11 years old when I escaped.

OL: What was it like for your family after 1975?

HVN: My father was an entrepreneur with no political involvement with the Americans, so he was spared imprisonment in the Communist re-education camps. But he suffered in other ways as a businessman.

The government took most of our lands and the salt lagoons my father used to make and sell sea salt. My father had to keep the business going, but the government owned what was produced and took all the profits.

When my oldest brother, then a medical student, led a protest against the government, he was imprisoned for months. My father had to bribe the local govern­ment to get him released.

OL: Why did you and your family decide to leave?

HVN: After my brother got out of prison, he was blacklisted, so he could not continue with his education or work. To survive in Vietnam then, one either had to serve the government or be willing to bribe government officials. Having seven children, my father felt great responsibility for us to have a formal, higher education and the freedom to pursue our dreams. My father had to find ways for us to escape.

OL: When and how did you escape?

HVN: I left in 1981, with my 17-year-old sister and 23 other people. My sister carried me on a bike to a hiding place by the sea at night. We waited in someone’s house, then rode in a small boat out to a bigger boat that was waiting for us farther out at sea.

OL: How long were you on that boat—and what was it like?

HVN: We were on the boat for six days. On the second night, a storm washed over us and soaked most of the food. The fishing net became wrapped around the engine and broke it.

With one week’s worth of food supplies—rice, brown sugar, and other dried foods—now spoiled with seawater and the engine broken, we found ourselves stranded.

The people on board the boat were divided about what to do next. Some of the men did not want to die at sea, so they demanded that the captain turn the boat around. They knew they would be imprisoned if caught trying to escape but were prepared for that. But others on the boat, who had spent years in re-education camps, swore that they would rather die at sea than face such an atrocity again.

A sail was set up [to catch the wind and keep the boat moving], and we all started praying. Water was rationed, and our daily food intake was just a bowl of plain white rice.

Around the third day, the captain’s sister volunteered to jump into the sea to attract some fish. I remember watching her treading in beautiful clear water, surrounded by baby sharks. The men cast a net and caught some of the sharks. The women cooked them in a delicious caramelized sauce.

Many merchant ships passed us by. Every time a ship came into view, the men waved their white shirts, calling for help, and the women and children cried out until they were exhausted. This went on for days—until the sixth day, when the captain of an American oil ship rescued us.

OL: What gave you the will to survive during your ordeal?

HVN: It was hard to witness my father losing everything he had worked for. But it was even harder watching him risk his life to organize the boat escape for us. I knew I had to survive despite the hardship.

OL: Where did you go after you were rescued?

HVN: The ship took us to Hiroshima, Japan, where we stayed in a refugee camp for two years. Then my sister and I settled in England, where our other siblings had ended up.

OL: What were your first impressions of England?

HVN: It was September when I started school there, but I always felt cold! On the first day of school, a teacher asked me politely, “How are you?” I answered him, “I am 12 years old.” The kind teacher blushed. The teachers were always kind and supportive, and that helped me enjoy learning.

OL: Reflecting on your experiences, what message do you have for us today?

HVN: War is ugly and cruel. No one should ever have to experience it.