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VAHF President's Letter
April 21, 2007
Dear Friends,
The death of The Republic of Vietnam on April 30, 1975, was a tragic event, but in this tragedy there was much hope, because this date was also the birth-date of the nascent Vietnamese American Community in the US. When Saigon fell, approximately 200,000 freedom seekers fled Vietnam. Many of these individuals ended up in Guam. Shortly there after, a diaspora of Vietnamese Boat People crossed the South Indo-China Sea seeking freedom and living out Patrick Henry’s mantra of “Give me liberty, or give me death!� Still other Vietnamese groups were permitted to come to the US under different programs such as the Orderly Departure Program, Humanitarian Operations, and others. According to the US census, there are almost 2 million Vietnamese Americans today.
If the American story is truly a story of immigrants, then the history of almost 2 million Vietnamese Americans cannot be ignored. Yet, our hurdle is still their but many of us have overcome the hurdle and are successful in all sectors of US. There have been many articles about this group of Americans. Unfortunately, some of them have distorted the Vietnamese American story.
VAHF was formed three years ago to collect, preserve, promote and celebrate the Vietnamese American history and heritage. We have collected over 200,000 pages of documents and pictures related to our history, and achievements. Our efforts and search are still on going. We hope that by providing the artifacts and stories from living witnesses, the true history of the Vietnamese American experience can be shared by all.
David C. McCullough ,one of our greatest historians wrote: “History is a guide to navigation in perilous times. History is who we are and why we are the way we are� To help us understand ourselves better, to provide researchers, students, policy makers, and any one who is interested in learning about Vietnamese Americans, we are working on a free online archive that documents our history and heritage. Our ultimate goal is to build a library and museum that will store and preserve these historic and unique materials.
This endeavor requires many efforts and resources that we cannot provide ourselves. VAFH is a non profit organization. Our staff includes men and women who devote their time and efforts in search for our history. Please join us in this exciting and meaningful search for our own identity, an identity that will help define what it means to be a Vietnamese American for generations to come.
Best Regards,
Nancy Bui, President
VAHF
