She was one of the girliest girls I knew since grade school, with her stylish culottes and pink garments of all different shades for all different occasions. She was the epitome of a mixture between pure innocence and quirk that boldly took her rightful place in the middle of my heart. Mary Anne wasn’t just all of that; she was also my affectionate girlfriend, my warm-hearted best friend who I could talk about anything with, from the most trivial things to the very meaning of our whole existence. At the time, all I could feel was the absolute joy that I got from spending my time with her. We had our entire happiness in the future planned out, a dream wedding and all, but maybe that was the reason why I wouldn’t have ever imagined that I would be feeling so lost and empty just a few years later, alone and missing a part of myself.…
When I woke up, I still had that guilty feeling in my stomach. Oh well, how could I fix what I did anyways? While I was thinking about my problem, Cush came by and told me it was time to get my mules ready, so we could deliver supplies to the Yankees. Later on, we got ordered to form into a wagon train and we soon started our journey. After traveling for some time, we arrived at a warehouse, where we had to pick up our supplies.…
I identify as a Vietnamese-American, however, this was never the case. It was almost ironic how strongly I identified with American culture when my family’s time spent in America was fairly new. Since my parents traveled to America after the Vietnam War in the 1980’s, my siblings and I are the first American-born generation. I grew up as an American, so I quickly found out that I had no knowledge of the Vietnamese culture, language, or history. It came to the point where I realized, I couldn’t truly know myself before I knew where I came from.…
My “battle buddy” had received an injury in the evening, and the senior staff concluded it would be best to bring her to the hospital after lights out. I had just a moment to decide whether I wanted to stay back at the encampment and work toward that…
Meanwhile, poor Sarah was home worrying about me, and the weather, which appeared particularly nasty. Texas is where we learned the phrase “tornado watch.” In fact, when we left Texas to finish flight school in Fort Rucker, Alabama she said she would never live in Texas again. At the time, I was too worried about dying in a helicopter crash or failing the next phase and “washing out” to give her the attention she deserved. We were newlyweds, and she forgave me-…
We've sat in the darkness for weeks. Surviving off nothing but rations we could find. Sealed from the rest of the world, we are the remaining of the blood bath we call war. Sitting in New York, believed dead from our own country. It's understandable no one makes it out alive from New York.…
I left in the middle of the night. I had to go. There was so much that I need to to see in this beautiful country. I met someone named Cara, she a Native Vietnamese girl. I met her when I went out with the guys.…
one day a boy and his brother walks down the street to a restaurant called taco dinner, When they were walking past an ally and a small pipe bomb with chemicals blows up both brothers screaming in pain the acid burning the skin off their bones, They were rushed to the hospital in critical condition the younger brother faitting and the older brother watching his brother dying. A day later in the newspaper it said younger brother Chris M Herald was reported dead on january 12 2002 time of death 9:14 am at portland memorial hospital from a supposed gang fight 2 hours before the accident, there a high radiation level where the bomb went off, “I stopped reading, I told myself he’s in a better place but all i could think about is Chris screaming in pain and me not doing anything to help him”, “knock knock” hello anyone home it's the state police department, Mr.herald? I told them “ go away”, the cop said “ok have a good day Mr.herald”.…
With and without hope, full and empty of the sea from space. For eons, we lived far deep in the depths of the ocean hidden away from the outside world. It is a sacred place to live at the time where believing something impossible can never be forgotten from all stories that were told about my home. My home that has sunk to the bottom of the ocean and now my people struggle to survive for many eons that go by quickly. It is a good thing to know at least for now some of us has survived the longest up until we were able to rebuild some parts of our city in ruins.…
“Before I was born everything was normal or I was told everything was normal. My parents would hold me in their arms as shopped for groceries. We were happy, we had freedom. All of this ended to soon when entertainment became dull and rare. The rich were the entertainment but they wanted freedom.…
Growing up in a Vietnamese family in America, the value of life is highlighted by working hard and knowing your roots. Stories about family hardship and history told from the older generation in my family are mostly ones of war. I have heard many different elements of war: war crimes, anticommunist sentiments, and the escape from Vietnam. Hearing these stories has always resonated with me, motivating me to work hard for the sacrifice of those before me. In that sense, I worked rigorously to provide myself an education from the College of Natural Sciences at the University of Texas and was excited about pursuing a professional health career.…
My name Lin Dao and I am writing to you from Hanoi which is located in Vietnam. You must be wondering why I took the liberty of finding out where you worked and decided to contact you specifically. The two part being is that I have recently watched a documentary called “Regret to Inform”. I am sure that, as a history teacher, you have seen this heart wrenching documentary about a woman whose husband died during the American War, or the Vietnam War as you call it, and how she contacted other women and also told their stories. The second reason is that one day when I was so kindly helping a tourist find their way around, I heard that they did not know much about the Vietnam War because it was not that focused upon during history classes.…
Growing up as a first-generation Vietnamese immigrant was difficult. My parents had little education. They spoke no English and had no understanding of the American culture. Nevertheless, they raised my sister and I the best they could. I was fortunate to have immigrated at the young age of 3.…
Five years ago me and my family had just PCS’d to Fort Hood TX. I was 16 years in with 4 deployments under my belt and motivated to dive in to my next assignment, continuing to do my part in the ongoing “War on Terror”. I was apprehensive when I found out I was to be assigned to a Military Intelligence unit and even more so when I was assigned to a BN Staff position. I couldn't believe it. I tried my best to fit in but the pace of work and the attitudes I encountered infuriated as well as frustrated me at the same time.…
“Keep running, don’t stop!” I said to my little brother, as we ran for our life across the field. We had escaped the village before the G would capture us. The G were an organized crime group that specializes in kidnapping, assassination, and hand to hand combat; they’re widely known for kidnapping and training kids to do their dirty work. We had been running from them since we escaped their main camp, a few months ago.…