Stephanie Truong |
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As A Second Generation
Q: What does the war mean to you since you know all these stories about your parents?
ST: For me I think it was bad that they [her parents] had to go through that, but then again I’m very thankful, because just by coming here meant more opportunities. And especially with their work ethic they have done very well for themselves. Even after the war ended they had some family left, they were telling them that they would sponsor them to come over here because life is a lot better. There is a higher standard of living and they were doing well so they wanted their family to come here.
Q: How do you feel being raised in an American society?
ST: I’m very blessed I know that and I have a very extensive family in California so I have a very strong Vietnamese background. We do seek out Vietnamese communities in these days. Because a lot of my family lives in east side, I have a lot of friends and family there. In terms of living in American society, I feel really blessed that I have that side, and I also have a whole other background that I can actually go to, so I would say that I am blessed.
Q: Do you feel more American then Vietnamese?
ST: I definitely feel more American. My parents just try to make sure that I work hard, and that’s what they wanted for me to make a better life for myself, and kind of ignoring the culture. They never really try to shove anything down my throat, like on lunar New Year they would have fruit laid out on our mantel, but it was never forced upon us, it was never like “this is how it’s going to be”. My family is mostly Buddhist, they are very strongly Buddhist, and my mother would take me to the temples but she would never tell me that it was something that I had to do, there was always a choice.
Q: Did you say that memories that happened back then were preserved in these days in the second generation?
ST: I think there is definitely something to be said about the American perspective of the war. Personal experiences in terms of second generation, I think since there is such large population of them in California where my experience has been, we always have this shared history, like we knew that what happened was bad and coming here was good. I think in terms of stories, everybody is a little bit different but we all try to achieve the same thing: You have to work hard, and you have to do better than what your parents set up for you, because they did work hard and sacrifice for you—that’s kind of the narrative of the second generation. We have to work hard and do well in school.
Object Description
| Profile of | Stephanie Truong |
| Title | What My Parents Saw |
| Profile bio | Stephanie Truong is a junior student currently attending the USC School of Architecture. She is an American-Vietnamese second-generation daughter of two Vietnamese war refugees who found their way out of Vietnam in the early 70’s when they were in their teens. Her mother was born in the city while her dad was from a village, both of them from South Vietnam. Stephanie explained how her parents escaped from Vietnam. Her mother boarded a ship to Thailand and was in a camp there while her dad escaped in a fish boat in the middle of the night. He spent 2 weeks in the boat and struggled for food and water and saw people died. He ended up his journey in a refugee camp in Thailand as well. Both of her parents were sponsored by families who helped them come to America. They settled their new life in the United States and years later Stephanie was born. Stephanie is a great example because as a second-generation child she recognizes the sacrifice that her parents did to escape the war that could have cost their lives if they stayed in Vietnam. She feels proud of them and as an American-Vietnamese she wants to share her parents' experiences with future generations as well as her personal perspective towards the war and how it was taught to her in American schools. |
| Profiler bio | Andrew Herrera was born in East Los Angeles, CA. He went to East Los Angeles Community College, and transfer to USC in 2012. He currently majors in Architecture. Difan Feng was born in Beijing, China, where he continued to live until 2008. He came to the US afterward for college. He was an economics major and changed to architecture after his first year. Iliana Michelle Lopez was born in Santa Ana, El Salvador. She moved to California in 2003. She studied architecture in East Los Angeles Community College and transferred to USC in 2012. |
| Subject |
refugee camp Vietnam war sponsorship culture shock culture 2nd generation |
| Profiled by | Herrera, Andrew; Feng, Difan; Lopez, Iliana |
| Profile date | 2014-04-01 |
| Geographic subject (state) | Minnesota |
| Geographic subject (country) | USA; Vietnam; Thailand |
| Coverage date | 1970-1979 |
| Publisher (of the original version) | http://anotherwarmemorial.com/stephanie-truong/ |
| Type |
images video |
| Format | 1 image; 5 video files (00:17:43); 5 transcripts |
| Language | English |
| Contributing entity | University of Southern California |
| Part of collection | An Other War Memorial -- Memories of the American War in Viet Nam |
| Filename | truongstephanie |
Description
| Profile of | Stephanie Truong |
| Title | As a Second Generation |
| Format | 1 transcript, 1p. |
| Filename | truongstephanie-vid5_tr5.pdf |
| Full text | As A Second Generation Q: What does the war mean to you since you know all these stories about your parents? ST: For me I think it was bad that they [her parents] had to go through that, but then again I’m very thankful, because just by coming here meant more opportunities. And especially with their work ethic they have done very well for themselves. Even after the war ended they had some family left, they were telling them that they would sponsor them to come over here because life is a lot better. There is a higher standard of living and they were doing well so they wanted their family to come here. Q: How do you feel being raised in an American society? ST: I’m very blessed I know that and I have a very extensive family in California so I have a very strong Vietnamese background. We do seek out Vietnamese communities in these days. Because a lot of my family lives in east side, I have a lot of friends and family there. In terms of living in American society, I feel really blessed that I have that side, and I also have a whole other background that I can actually go to, so I would say that I am blessed. Q: Do you feel more American then Vietnamese? ST: I definitely feel more American. My parents just try to make sure that I work hard, and that’s what they wanted for me to make a better life for myself, and kind of ignoring the culture. They never really try to shove anything down my throat, like on lunar New Year they would have fruit laid out on our mantel, but it was never forced upon us, it was never like “this is how it’s going to be”. My family is mostly Buddhist, they are very strongly Buddhist, and my mother would take me to the temples but she would never tell me that it was something that I had to do, there was always a choice. Q: Did you say that memories that happened back then were preserved in these days in the second generation? ST: I think there is definitely something to be said about the American perspective of the war. Personal experiences in terms of second generation, I think since there is such large population of them in California where my experience has been, we always have this shared history, like we knew that what happened was bad and coming here was good. I think in terms of stories, everybody is a little bit different but we all try to achieve the same thing: You have to work hard, and you have to do better than what your parents set up for you, because they did work hard and sacrifice for you—that’s kind of the narrative of the second generation. We have to work hard and do well in school. |
| Archival file | Volume3/truongstephanie-vid5_tr5.pdf |
