Vivian Le |
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Introduction
What is your name and your relationship with the Vietnam War?
My name is Vivian. I am currently a USC student. I was born in America, but both of my parents were refugees from the Vietnam War. My entire extended family fled Vietnam to flee the war.* Most of the stories I have heard have come in tidbits from my dad, but mostly my aunt.
Can you give us a linear story of your dad coming over here?
When my dad was eighteen, at the time, his dad had just passed away from cancer and Vietnam was fighting, I believe it was Cambodia at the time. My dad, had a very large fear of being drafted into the army to fight against Cambodia.* At that time, his older brother and his younger brother, he and his two brothers that were closest to the age of being drafted, decided to flee Vietnam. And then the plan was for the rest of his siblings and his mom to follow after, after they had some sort of establishment here in America.
What happened is he spent a short amount of time in a refugee camp. For him, his experience was much more moderate for a refugee. It wasn’t the same as some stories where some people would have to hide out in a jungle before getting on a boat. For him, it was much easier to get on a boat afterwards.
He came into America and he landed in Richmond, and while in Richmond, he and his brothers all worked at fast food joints for a little while before collecting enough money to move to California. When he moved to California, he became a busboy and he also started going to community college as well.
Around this time, they were able to find another sponsor in order to bring the rest of the siblings to come over. In about groups of three or four, he had his other siblings come after him. [Siblings on Vivian's father's side left Vietnam staggered by age. Vivian's father, eldest aunt, and eldest uncle left Vietnam in 1978. Her third eldest uncle and second eldest aunt left in 1979. Two middle uncles left in 1982. Vivian's grandmother and two youngest uncles left Vietnam in 1986].
Vice versa, for my mom, she came over, I think, after the Vietnam War had started but it was before it had become too serious. [Vivian's mother left Vietnam before Vivian's father left.] And they, I believe, they flew over by plane instead.
Object Description
| Profile of | Vivian Le |
| Title | Our Parents Wouldn’t Tell Us Anything |
| Profile bio | Vivian Le is a student at the University of Southern California. She is currently studying biochemistry with a double minor in philosophy and sociology. She was born and raised in the United States as the daughter of an engineer and an accountant. Both of Vivian's parents came to the United States from Vietnam before they met and settled down in Camarillo, California. Vivian has a large family on her father's side with his eight siblings and her sixteen cousins. On her mother's side, she has only one uncle and one cousin. |
| Profiler bio | Stephanie Balais is a sophomore majoring in mechanical engineering from Honolulu, Hawaii.; Alice Huang is from Saratoga, California and is currently a freshman studying human biology.; Jonathan Coons and Allison Holliday are sophomores from Modesto, California majoring in mechanical engineering. All profilers are students at the University of Southern California. |
| Subject |
2nd generation Profile Escape Refugee Vietnamese American |
| Profiled by | Balais, Stephanie; Huang, Alice; Coons, Jonathan; Holliday, Allison |
| Profile date | 2016-02 |
| Geographic subject (city or populated place) | Camarillo; Los Angeles; Richmond |
| Geographic subject (county) | Ventura; Los Angeles |
| Geographic subject (state) | California; Virginia |
| Geographic subject (country) | USA; Malaysia |
| Coverage date | 1978; 1979; 1982; 1986 |
| Publisher (of the original version) | http://anotherwarmemorial.com/vivian-le/ |
| Type |
images video |
| Format | 1 image; 6 video files (00:20:26); 6 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 | levivan |
Description
| Profile of | Vivian Le |
| Title | Introduction |
| Format | 1 transcript, 1p. |
| Filename | levivian-vid1_tr1.pdf |
| Full text | Introduction What is your name and your relationship with the Vietnam War? My name is Vivian. I am currently a USC student. I was born in America, but both of my parents were refugees from the Vietnam War. My entire extended family fled Vietnam to flee the war.* Most of the stories I have heard have come in tidbits from my dad, but mostly my aunt. Can you give us a linear story of your dad coming over here? When my dad was eighteen, at the time, his dad had just passed away from cancer and Vietnam was fighting, I believe it was Cambodia at the time. My dad, had a very large fear of being drafted into the army to fight against Cambodia.* At that time, his older brother and his younger brother, he and his two brothers that were closest to the age of being drafted, decided to flee Vietnam. And then the plan was for the rest of his siblings and his mom to follow after, after they had some sort of establishment here in America. What happened is he spent a short amount of time in a refugee camp. For him, his experience was much more moderate for a refugee. It wasn’t the same as some stories where some people would have to hide out in a jungle before getting on a boat. For him, it was much easier to get on a boat afterwards. He came into America and he landed in Richmond, and while in Richmond, he and his brothers all worked at fast food joints for a little while before collecting enough money to move to California. When he moved to California, he became a busboy and he also started going to community college as well. Around this time, they were able to find another sponsor in order to bring the rest of the siblings to come over. In about groups of three or four, he had his other siblings come after him. [Siblings on Vivian's father's side left Vietnam staggered by age. Vivian's father, eldest aunt, and eldest uncle left Vietnam in 1978. Her third eldest uncle and second eldest aunt left in 1979. Two middle uncles left in 1982. Vivian's grandmother and two youngest uncles left Vietnam in 1986]. Vice versa, for my mom, she came over, I think, after the Vietnam War had started but it was before it had become too serious. [Vivian's mother left Vietnam before Vivian's father left.] And they, I believe, they flew over by plane instead. |
| Archival file | Volume5/levivian-vid1_tr1.pdf |
