Susan H. |
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Beginning Years
Us: How old were you when the war started? Susan: I was 8 years old, I was born in Monte Carlo, and then my parents died, so my uncle, he took me, he took me to Vietnam, and I stayed there with him until I was adopted. I was there from ’63 up to about ’73, that’s when I left.
Us:Did you have any extended family? Susan: I didn’t know them at all, I remember my mother telling me, she was half Chinese and half French, my father was half Chinese and half Vietnamese. My grandparents, who were probably somewhere in Taiwan, I don’t know them. My mother was disowned by her parents, because she got pregnant with my dad, and that was me. I guess in Chinese culture, you have to be a virgin to get married, and if you’re gonna get pregnant the parents are usually gonna disown you. So my mother took off and went to Monte Carlo with my dad, and that’s where I was born.
Us: How did your parents pass away? Susan: Mother, I think was really sick, and my father remarried and didn’t want to have anything to do with me.
Us: What was it like coming to Vietnam for the first time with your Uncle? Susan: It’s been a long time, and the only thing I remember I miss my mom I wish she was there, it was another family I lived with.
Us: How different was it from the French Colony? Susan: Different because I used to go to boarding school, I had a housekeeper, and I had a nanny and I had a good life over there. When I went to Vietnam, I lived with just family and they didn’t have much, the electricity, and everything was just different.
Us: Did you have to work as a child? Susan: The couple that I lived with, the Uncle that brought me to Vietnam, and then later his wife got pregnant, and they didn’t want me anymore so they put me in an orphanage. I ran away a lot—
Us: And they kept trying to come get you? Susan: Yeah. No it’s just because the orphanages in Vietnam are not like the United States. The older child, they work and take care of the younger ones, so you don’t just go to school or something like that. They teach you school, but you had to take care of the younger ones. So mostly, you’re working!
Object Description
| Profile of | Susan H. |
| Title | Orphan in Vietnam |
| Profile bio | Susan, who would like to remain anonymous, was born in the French Monte Carlo in the 50s. Her mother was half Chinese and half French, while her father was half Chinese and half Vietnamese. After the death of her mother and abandonment by her father, she moved to Vietnam with an uncle and lived with his family there. Shortly after, when her uncle’s wife became pregnant, she was put in an orphanage and was responsible for taking care of the younger children, running away many times during her time there. She was adopted by an American family and moved to the United States when she was a teenager right before the end of the war, and as the only Asian in her school who barely spoke English, she was often ostracized by her classmates. Her two children are now fully grown and on their own. Susan now resides in San Diego, California with her husband, and her dog |
| Profiler bio | Patricia Lee is majoring in Art at University of Southern California.; Nicholas Marano is majoring in Economy at University of Southern California |
| Subject |
Civilian Refugee Vietnamese Adoption Death Experience in Vietnam War Language Memory of War Orphanage |
| Profiled by | Lee, Patricia; Marano, Nicholas |
| Profile date | 2014-03 |
| Geographic subject (city or populated place) | Monte Carlo; San Diego |
| Geographic subject (county) | San Diego |
| Geographic subject (state) | California |
| Geographic subject (country) | Monaco; USA |
| Coverage date | 1963; 1974 |
| Publisher (of the original version) | http://anotherwarmemorial.com/susan-h/ |
| Type |
images video |
| Format | 1 image; 4 video files (00:14:50); 4 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 | hsusan |
Description
| Profile of | Susan H. |
| Title | Beginning Years |
| Format | 1 transcript, 1p. |
| Filename | hsusan-vid1_tr1.pdf |
| Full text | Beginning Years Us: How old were you when the war started? Susan: I was 8 years old, I was born in Monte Carlo, and then my parents died, so my uncle, he took me, he took me to Vietnam, and I stayed there with him until I was adopted. I was there from ’63 up to about ’73, that’s when I left. Us:Did you have any extended family? Susan: I didn’t know them at all, I remember my mother telling me, she was half Chinese and half French, my father was half Chinese and half Vietnamese. My grandparents, who were probably somewhere in Taiwan, I don’t know them. My mother was disowned by her parents, because she got pregnant with my dad, and that was me. I guess in Chinese culture, you have to be a virgin to get married, and if you’re gonna get pregnant the parents are usually gonna disown you. So my mother took off and went to Monte Carlo with my dad, and that’s where I was born. Us: How did your parents pass away? Susan: Mother, I think was really sick, and my father remarried and didn’t want to have anything to do with me. Us: What was it like coming to Vietnam for the first time with your Uncle? Susan: It’s been a long time, and the only thing I remember I miss my mom I wish she was there, it was another family I lived with. Us: How different was it from the French Colony? Susan: Different because I used to go to boarding school, I had a housekeeper, and I had a nanny and I had a good life over there. When I went to Vietnam, I lived with just family and they didn’t have much, the electricity, and everything was just different. Us: Did you have to work as a child? Susan: The couple that I lived with, the Uncle that brought me to Vietnam, and then later his wife got pregnant, and they didn’t want me anymore so they put me in an orphanage. I ran away a lot— Us: And they kept trying to come get you? Susan: Yeah. No it’s just because the orphanages in Vietnam are not like the United States. The older child, they work and take care of the younger ones, so you don’t just go to school or something like that. They teach you school, but you had to take care of the younger ones. So mostly, you’re working! |
| Archival file | Volume5/hsusan-vid1_tr1.pdf |
