Xin Chao-Hello! Welcome to the Vietnamese Outreach Homepage. I grew-up in a neighborhood where I lived next door to a Vietnamese family and another one several houses up the hill. I was friends with the the neighbor as we were close to the same age. I didn't really think much of the cultural aspect of it until I got older. As I look back, this was just the beginning of what I'm doing now-multicultural ministry at UMM in Morris, Minnesota.
I remember smelling the Vietnamese food whenever I came over to play "nintendo" or going over to his house before we walked to school. We did the "normal" American activities as kids, such as collecting baseball cards, collecting coins, and just play in our backyard. As we got older and made new friends, we slowly drifted apart.
I made friends with another Vietnamese in High School, which he got me interested in joining the Asian Club. We would do the typical teenager activities, such as partying, hanging out at billiard-pool areas, or just cruising the city night life.
In college, I met more Vietnamese, but I wasn't as close since I was meeting people from all various backgrounds. Culture wasn't talked much as I notice the recent Vietnam War was still trying to be avoided. However, I met a professor at UMM that had a passion on anything dealing with this particular nation. I look back watching all those movies on the "unpopular" war and it breaks my heart to see how the Vietnamese people are portrayed. If one does not know anyone from this country, the movie might make one angry or prejudiced/racist towards them.
Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall, Washington D.C. ironically designed by an Asian American Woman that was controversial at it's opening.
*I had the privilege of visiting this historical monument when I attended the 96' Hmong Youth Conference with UMM's Asian Student Association.
Meeting people from this unique nation made me think about the "negative" portrayal in these American movies. Whenever I learned about Vietnam, I would get flashbacks of the many friends I made from this country. That is why I thought it was time to set-up a resource page on what I've gathered up so far as of today-Friday, November 27th of 2003.
Vietnamese Community of Minnesota (VCM) vietnam-minnesota.org "..The Vietnamese Community of Minnesota (VCM) was originally established in 1981, representing the first wave of a few thousand refugees resettled in the State of Minnesota after the fall of Saigon. In 1998, the VCM was incorporated with the Secretary of State's Office. Since our founding, the population has grown to over twenty thousand residents consisting of many differentiations formed by geographical, socio-economic and demographic factors creating different needs and interests within our community in Minnesota..."
Quang Restaurant (Best of The Twin Cities in 01'&02) 2719 Nicollet Avenue
Minneapolis, MN (612) 870-4739
Reviews: (1) (2)
My sister's friend is a friend of the owners of this!
"AUSTIN - Thirty-eight years ago Sunday, network television was interrupted at 11:36 p.m. EDT so President Lyndon B. Johnson could tell the nation that U.S. warships in a place called the Gulf of Tonkin had been attacked by North Vietnamese PT boats.
In response to what he described as "open aggression on the open seas," Johnson ordered U.S. airstrikes on North Vietnam.
The airstrikes opened the door to a war that would kill 1 million Vietnamese and 58,000 Americans and divide the nation along class and generational lines.
Over the years, debate has swirled around whether U.S. ships actually were attacked that night, or whether, as some skeptics suggest, the Johnson administration staged or provoked an event to get congressional authority to act against North Vietnam.
Recently released tapes of White House phone conversations indicate the attack probably never happened.
Tonkin Incident Might Not Have Occurred
The tapes, released by the LBJ Library at the University of Texas at Austin, include 51 phone conversations from Aug. 4 and 5, 1964, when the Tonkin Gulf incident occurred.
Two days earlier, on Aug. 2, North Vietnamese forces in Russian-made "swatow" gunboats had attacked the USS Maddox, a destroyer conducting reconnaissance in the gulf.
But from the get-go, many have doubted anything really happened to the Maddox and a sister ship, the USS C. Turner Joy on Aug. 4.
Even LBJ seemed skeptical, saying in 1965: "For all I know, our Navy was shooting at whales out there."
The released tapes neither prove nor disprove what may have happened that night, but they do indicate jittery sailors in a tense area thought they were under attack.
"Under attack by three PT boats. Torpedoes in the water. Engaging the enemy with my main battery," the Maddox radioed.
Indeed, the destroyers fired 249 5-inch shells, 123 3-inch shells and four or five depth charges, according to Navy records.
Many of the taped conversations from that night are between Defense Secretary Robert McNamara - who was trying to verify something actually happened so he could brief LBJ for his TV bulletin - and Adm. U.S. Grant "Oley" Sharp, commander of the U.S. Navy's Pacific Fleet.
Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
Resolution: To Promote the Maintenance of International Peace and Secunty in Southeast Asia
Whereas naval units of the Communist regime in Vietnam, in violation of the principles of the Charter of the United Nations and of international law, have deliberately and repeatedly attacked United States naval vessels lawfully present in international waters, and have thereby created a serious threat to international peace; and
Whereas these attacks are part of a deliberate and systematic campaign of aggression that the Communist regime in North Vietnam has been waging against its neighbors and the nations joined with them in the collective defense of their freedom; and
Whereas the United States is assisting the peoples of southeast Asia to protect their freedom and has no territorial, military or political ambitions in that area, but desires only that these people should be left in peace to work out their own destinies in their own way: Now, therefore, be it?
Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled.
That the Congress approves and supports the determination of the President as Commander in Chief, to take all necessary measures to repel any armed attack against the forces of the United States and to prevent further aggression.
SEC.2. The United States regards as vital to its national interest and to world peace the maintenance of international peace and security in Southeast Asia.
Consonant with the Constitution of the United States and the Charter of the United Nations and in accordance with its obligations under the Southeast Asia Collective Defense Treaty, the United States is, therefore, prepared, as the President determines, to take all necessary steps, including the use of armed force, to assist any member or protocol state of the Southeast Asia Collective Defense Treaty requesting assistance in defense of its freedom.
SEC. 3. This resolution shall expire when the President shall determine that the peace and security of the area is reasonably assured by international conditions created by action of the United Nations or otherwise, except that it may be terminated earlier by concurrent resolution of the Congress.
Sharp was feeding McNamara information from the field and trying to get a strike force in the air to retaliate for the alleged attack before the president went on television.
"If it's open season on these boys, which I think it is, we'll take if from there," Sharp said about noon on Aug. 4.
Later, in a 1:59 p.m. EDT conversation with Air Force Lt. Gen. David Burchinal of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Sharp was elusive, saying, "many of the reported contacts and torpedoes fired appear doubtful."
He blamed the reports on "overeager sonarmen" and "freak weather effects on radar."
But, asked Burchinal: "You're pretty sure there was a torpedo attack?"
"No doubt about that, I think," Sharp replied.
At 8:39 p.m., with McNamara laying plans for LBJ to go on TV, McNamara asked Sharp why the retaliatory strike was delayed.
Bad weather, Sharp said, and an agitated McNamara replied: "The president has to make a statement to the people and I am holding him back from making it."
Thirty minutes later, at 9:09, Sharp said the launch still was 50 minutes off.
"Oh my God," McNamara said.
And about an hour before he went on television, Johnson spoke by telephone with Barry Goldwater, his Republican opponent in that year's presidential race.
"
The American commitment to the war against Vietnam, which killed over 50,000 U.S. military personnel, and probably over 2 million Vietnamese civilians, was cemented by an incident that appears to involve more fiction than fact. ...
National Security Agency Publishes Long-Secret Documents
On December 1, 2005, the National Security Agency released hundreds of pages of previously-classified documents relating to the 1964 Gulf of Tonkin incident. The collection included a 2001 article by agency historian Robert J. Hanyok, which examines numerous reports indicating that the alleged attack never happened. ...
"
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - A Vietnam veteran from Minnesota says he told his painful story to National Geographic television because he hopes it will help other vets.
Fifty-nine-year-old Tony Bresina of Buffalo has battled alcoholism, been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and consider suicide.
He was an infantryman and spent months in close combat in the jungle. He survived the brutal battle for Hamburger Hill, but many of his friends did not.
The 59-year-old is reliving the combat this week in National Geographic's "Inside the Vietnam War."
He was among hundreds of former soldiers interviewed for the documentary, but in the show he is the face and spokesman for all the infantryman on the front lines.
Barbara Bresina, his wife, says she thought it was important for Tony to participate because it could turn a negative experience into something positive.
(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
Testimonies:
I've Seen Heaven, It's Incredible!
"Cliff Smith a Vietnam Vet describes dying on the battle field, seeing angels and heavens gates before getting a second chance at life. Please share with all your friends. Powerful Testimony!"
Missions
Cooking in the Kitchen with Megan... Bananas!
"Encouragement and cooking for kids with Megan Zurowski."
" August 2, 1964. - American involvement in Vietnam escalated when North Vietnam launched an attack against the C. Turner Joy and the U.S.S. Maddox, two American ships on call in the Gulf of Tonkin, on August 2, 1964. In the U.S. Congress, the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution was passed, allowing for an expanded war effort. Despite hopes for a limited, "controlled" war, the conflict would drag itself out for another decade.
In early 1965, U.S. President Lyndon Johnson ordered the first of many sustained bombing missions over North Vietnam , which would be known as Operation Rolling Thunder. In March of the same year, the first U.S. combat troops were sent to Vietnam.
Despite superior U.S. firepower and technology, the North Vietnamese forces were successful in fighting a protracted, guerilla-style conflict. American fortunes changed for the worse with the Tet Offensive in 1968, in which major South Vietnam cities were attacked. Historians disagree on the literal success of the offensive, but it proved to be a huge boost for North Vietnamese morale, and had the opposite effect on the South Vietnamese and U.S. forces.
January 31, 1968 - The turning point of the war occurs as 84,000 Viet Cong guerrillas aided by NVA troops launch the Tet Offensive attacking a hundred cities and towns throughout South Vietnam.
June 24, 1970 - The U.S. Senate repeals the 1964 Gulf of Tonkin Resolution.
In early January 1973, the Nixon administration, the Paris Peace Agreement ended open hostilities between the U.S. and North Vietnam. However, the South Vietnamese continued to battle the Communists from March 1973 until the fall of Saigon and the capture of the South Vietnamese presidential palace on April 30, 1975, which brought the war to a close.
April 29, 1975 - U.S. Marines and Air Force helicopters, flying from carriers off-shore, begin a massive airlift. In 18 hours, over 1,000 American civilians and almost 7,000 South Vietnamese refugees are flown out of Saigon.
April 30, 1975 - At 4:03 a.m., two U.S. Marines are killed in a rocket attack at Saigon's Tan Son Nhut airport. They are the last Americans to die in the Vietnam War. At dawn, the last Marines of the force guarding the U.S. embassy lift off. Only hours later, looters ransack the embassy, and North Vietnamese tanks role into Saigon, ending the war.
Category: Film & Animation
Tags:
Vietnam War "
-Vietnam War "was the longest military conflict in U.S. history. The hostilities in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia claimed the lives of more than 58,000 Americans. Another 304,000 were wounded. The Vietnam War was a military struggle fought in Vietnam from 1959 to 1975, involving the North Vietnamese and the National Liberation Front (NLF) in conflict with United States forces and the South Vietnamese army. From 1946 until 1954, the Vietnamese had struggled for their independence from France during the First Indochina War. At the end of this war, the country was temporarily divided into North and South Vietnam. North Vietnam came under the control of the Vietnamese Communists who had opposed France and who aimed for a unified Vietnam under Communist rule. The South was controlled by Vietnamese who had collaborated with the French. In 1965 the United States sent in troops to prevent the South Vietnamese government from collapsing. Ultimately, however, the United States failed to achieve its goal, and in 1975 Vietnam was reunified under Communist control; in 1976 it officially became the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. During the conflict, approximately 3 to 4 million Vietnamese on both sides were killed, in addition to another 1.5 to 2 million Lao and Cambodians who were drawn into the war."
"The Second Indochina War, 1954-1975, grew out of the long conflict between France and Vietnam. In July 1954, after one hundred years of colonial rule, a defeated France was forced to leave Vietnam. Nationalist forces under the direction of General Vo Nguyen Giap trounced the allied French troops at the remote mountain outpost of Dien Bien Phu in the northwest corner of Vietnam. This decisive battle convinced the French that they could no longer maintain their Indochinese colonies and Paris quickly sued for peace. As the two sides came together in Geneva, Switzerland, international events were already shaping the future of Vietnam's modern revolution. "
2007 Vietnam Veteran Moving Wall Memorial
"The Vietnam Veteran Moving Wall Memorial when it was at Blue Bell Creameries in Broken Arrow Oklahoma Sept 27 to October 1, 2007 In honor of those who served in the Vietnam War."
Vietnam Vet suffers from PTSD, murders wife
"Erin Burnett Out Front|Added on March 21, 2012CNN's Miguel Marquez talks to veteran Gary Hulsey, a Pacific, Washington City Council member who killed his wife in 1978."
".is an award-winning journalist whose work has taken her across the globe. In March 2010, she joined CBS News as an anchor and correspondent, contributing to the network’s broadcasts and platforms, including The Early Show.
Before joining CBS News, Nguyen served as anchor of the weekend morning edition of CNN Newsroom since 2004. During this time, she anchored the network's coverage of major news events, including the earthquakes in Chile and Haiti in 2010, Pope Benedict XVI's first papal visit to the United States in 2008, the Virginia Tech shooting in 2007, the death of Pope John Paul II in April 2005, and the London bombing attacks in July 2005. Nguyen also anchored portions of CNN's coverage of the tsunami disaster in South Asia, the Iraqi elections in January 2005 and the June 2004 handover of sovereignty to Iraq.
....
In 2007, the Smithsonian Institute recognized Nguyen as the first Vietnamese-American to anchor a national television news broadcast in the United States. In 2003, Nguyen won a regional Emmy Award for "Outstanding Noon Newscast," and received an Associated Press Award in 1998 for breaking news coverage.
She is also the co-founder of Help the Hungry, a non-profit organization that provides humanitarian aid to poverty-stricken families.
... Help the Hungry "..created from a deep desire to help those in desperate need. It was established in 2000 by Betty Nguyen and her family, after their first trip to Vietnam since fleeing the war. The poverty, hunger and despair was clearly evident... and still is. ..
*see GoodnewsEverybody.com Social Issues: Homeless, Needy, Poverty, Poor, etc...
Betty Nguyen Helps Vietnamese Struggling to Survive
December 27, 2010 6:46 AM cbsnews.com
"CBS News' Betty Nguyen traveled to her birth country of Vietnam to distribute humanitarian aid to those struggling to survive."
"CBN.com – “I was scared to death. I was literally scared to death thinking I’m going to die.”
The war in Vietnam robbed tens of thousands of Americans of their innocence and youth.
“While my friends were all going to college and getting married, I’m over there in a foxhole,” says Paul Tribus. “It was like the second or third day I was there when I saw the first casualty, when I saw the first man get killed… You never forget that.”
When he landed in the war torn jungles of Vietnam in 1968, Paul Tribus was only 18 years old. Trained as a machine gunner, he remembers his first day in ‘Nam like it was yesterday.
“My very first night in country we got hit, and I didn’t think I was going to live to see a second day,” he says. “My first 90 days in the country were probably the most intense of my life. I was probably in over about 100 fire fights.”
Paul TribusThe Vietnam War was a war of confusion. Near the northern border, everyone wore uniforms. You could tell who was your enemy.
However, down south in the smaller villages, your enemy could be the man that gave you a haircut that morning or the child you gave a candy bar to the day before.
“We’ve had several times where little kids would come into our area and be used as human booby traps -- as human ammunition. They didn’t know,” says Paul. “The Vietcong could take that kid and say, ‘You go into this camp of Marines. I want you to take this grenade or we’re going to kill your momma or kill your sister.’ So they would – so we didn’t know.”
The Vietnam War was also a war of personal isolation for many of the soldiers.
“After I was there maybe about six months, I didn’t want to be very friendly towards anybody,” says Paul. “The problem was you got so close and then they would get killed or be severely wounded and sent home.”
But in the midst of all the chaos and tragedy, something happened to Paul. It all started with a small booklet named “Holy Joe.”
Holy Joe tract“I remember sitting by some sandbags waiting for a truck to pick me up. I looked down and this Holy Joe tract was there. I picked it up and read it. It was this testimony about salvation. I never heard that before.”
Days later, in the heat of battle, Paul Tribus prayed.
“I found myself at the bottom of a foxhole. We were getting overrun by a bunch of Vietcong. They were coming up the hill, and we were getting shot. I cried out to God, ‘I am not ready to die. Whatever that tract says, whatever Holy Joe had, I need. I need to make a commitment.’
“I felt something happen to me there. I’m not saying that I had this great flash of light or anything. But I felt something happen that changed my whole life.”
Paul served his country well. He risked his life to save fellow soldiers who were wounded. Later, he was awarded not one but two purple hearts.
But serving in Vietnam took a heavy toll on Paul’s emotions. Like so many soldiers, Paul suffered from Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome.
Seemingly insignificant images and sounds can put soldiers right back in the midst of the war’s intensity.
“Your human body has what they call the adrenal glands. In the case of emergency they rise, and you’re able to do superhuman things. They’re only made to kick in once a month or once every couple months. Could you imagine it happening 10 times a day? That’s what Vietnam was like.”
Vietnam Vets ConferenceTwenty years after the war, Paul attended a CBN Vietnam Vets conference. It was a turning point for Paul’s recovery. Through times of prayer and group seminars, the scars of war began to heal.
“They dug up some things,” Paul recalls. “They had some guys come in, and it wasn’t just preaching to the choir. They touched some things in my life that I did not realize that God was bringing up and dealing with. What a healing time.”
Paul now pastors at Rock Church in Newport News, Virginia. Even though there are still times when the horrors of Vietnam haunt his memory, he feels God is continually healing his emotional scars.
He thanks God daily for his loving wife and family.
Paul Tribus“I think our Christian walk has got to be daily,” says Paul. “I did a little word study one time on victory. That word victory comes from two words. It comes from victim and story. So once I was a victim. I still am a victim, but I’ve got a story to tell. My story is, I won a victory. Christ wins. I could be an overcomer through Christ.""
Music:
Fifty Thousand Names Carved In The Wall ~ George Jones
"Fifty Thousand Names Carved In The Wall ~ George Jones"
*got a copy of the song at this event (WWII Veterans Tribute, in Morris, Minnesota)
Movies
Good Morning Vietnam- trailer clip-
"Good morning vietnam
un clasico del cine
con Robin Williams
esta pelicula es algo digno de verse
algo digno de compartirse
es un honor compártir con el mundo esto"
"..The walk in the city was powerful. People waved, smiled, made the sign of the cross and welcomed us along the streets. The police did not bother us. The people who could speak English talked to us about Jesus and not politics. So many soldiers have been here in the past, how honored I was that we could come with the cross, with love, and peace.
After a hot day of walking we returned to our room. I lay on the floor praying and thanking Jesus for letting us carry the cross and His message in this communist nation. So clearly Jesus spoke to me, "Thank you, thank you for carrying the cross, thank you and Denise!" Tears gushed from my eyes and I lay crying at His words.
cross in the streets
I will never forget this moment. Oh, I love you, oh, Lord of Host, the Lord God almighty. Denise and I rest in your arms.
A pilgrim follower of Jesus,
Arthur Blessitt
Luke 18:1 ..
*see GoodnewsEverybody.com Movies: The Passion, Crucification, Easter, Resurrection, etc..
"HANOI, Oct 1 (AFP) -- Typhoon Ketsana caused an estimated 120 million dollars damage to Vietnam, the government said on Thursday in a report.
The initial damage estimate covers five of 12 provinces affected by the typhoon which made landfall on Tuesday, killing 92 people and leaving 19 missing, said the Central Committee for Flood and Storm Control (CCFSC).
A detailed report, obtained by AFP, said the disaster flooded more than 170,000 homes, left a similar number with damaged roofs, and caused the collapse of more than 6,300 other houses, mostly in Quang Nam province.
It said 503 schools were also damaged, along with many community health centres and hospitals.
Losses to farm animals were heaviest in Quang Tri and Thua Thien-Hue provinces where about 147,000 poultry, more than 1,600 head of cattle and 2,800 pigs died, the CCFSC report said.
Almost 50,000 hectares (20,000 acres) of rice paddy, sugar cane, corn and other agricultural land were damaged, it added.
The report said more than 14,500 high-tension power poles broke in the typhoon.
Authorities on Thursday said they were stepping up efforts to deliver food to stranded victims.
Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung visited the flood-hit central provinces, where local officials asked the government for 24,100 tonnes (26,510 tons) of rice and about 40 million dollars to confront the disaster, VNExpress news website reported. (AFP)
"
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