Little Saigon

personal identity, Lam’s personal stores does shed more light on how false interpretation of a native’s cultural, such as focusing on the differences rather than similarities of cultural practices, can hinder an immigrant’s own perception of self identity and hinder one’s process of adapting to the new nation. Putting Lam’s presentation of cultural differences aside, he illustrated the presence of a floundering period that children of first generation immigrants tend to have. In Lam’s writings, the family members can be generally categorized into three groups. There is the first generation of immigrants, where people like Lam’s father can choose to not assimilate into mainstream culture or uptake a new identity, as communities such as “Little Saigon” were created to fortify their cultural interest (Lam 34). Then there are the second generation immigrants, such as Lam’s niece, who are born as Americans and hold no other significant identity. In their mindset, Grandma’s story of the tragic love of the princess did not exist as “princesses only sleep in enchanted forest” and waits for “Prince Charming[’s] kiss” (Lam 10). But what about immigrants similar to Lam; immigrants that grew up with “ two traditions, two languages, two sets of behaviors? As Lam said; how does the 1.5 generation choose between, “wanting the larger world” and “inexorably break[ing] his parents heart” (Lam 35)? As a second germination immigrant, I have experienced the same dilemma myself. Although I was…

the American immigrants from Vietnam. In these stories, versions of paradise are both lost and gained. The experience is solely that of the Vietnamese refugees who fled Vietnam for America and other places in 1975 during the fall of Saigon. Lam’s stories depict the experience of the refugees; the vivid pursuit of the American Dream, the struggle that leads to transformation, mediation, and forms new ways of being in a foreign land. The story is narrated repeatedly in a convincing and a…

The purpose of the interview was to learn about Vietnam, the country where my informant was born and lived until 1975 when Saigon was invaded by the North Vietnamese. In addition, I had desired to see Vietnam from a perspective other than the Vietnam War where Americans fought. However, there is another reason I chose Vietnam, I work with students whose parents are from Vietnam even though the parents are a younger generation their culture is alive and lived out in their community. Some of…

Soldiers of the Charlie Company were ordered by Lieutenant Calley, on March 16, 1968, to leave the village of My Lai destroyed. During the Vietnam War, the United States supported South Vietnam and were in the process of fighting North Vietnam because of their communistic viewpoints. The fighting had been different than any other war, the Viet Cong's fighting style consisted of sneaky sniper attacks and booby traps. Their fighting style had aggravated the United States soldiers and they soon…

the few that the American soldiers have truly lost. Indeed, General Maxwell Taylor who led the war in Vietnam noted that the Americans were ill-prepared. Despite their heavy artillery and supposedly well trained soldiers supported by the locals, the South Vietnamese, he viewed it as dirty and dangerous business . That such admission can come from a high ranking official who was the main architect is an indication of what transpired in the trenches and bunkers. Tim O 'Brien’s capture of legs of…

orchestrate the leadership needed to finish the set objectives of the war. In South Vietnam, the conflict emerged when there was division in the country, attempting to form a new style of government and struggled to develop a democratic society. Facing civil war with a weak infrastructure from needing the resources of people, they found themselves hampered from the pursuit of French colonial rule. For the North Vietnamese much of the same could be said of their perils. They too were struggling…

I am so proud of my husband and son, they are protecting our country and are so brave. __ Has been training for years to do this and my son is so dedicated to our country. I am so honoured in having 2 men from my family in this way. News of ‘Operation Rolling Thunder’ is spreading and I can only worry what it will bring, the operation has 4 main objectives were to boost the morale of the Saigon regime, to persuade North Vietnam to halt supporting South Vietnam without taking any ground forces…

In the opening scene of the episode, “The Crash,” Ken Cosgrove is shown in a car with Chevy executives. They are loudly encouraging him to speed. One pulls out a gun and then the other covers Ken’s eyes, leading to them getting into an accident. This is the first we are seeing of Chevy’s treatment of Ken. Clearly, they are reckless both with their own safety but particularly with Ken’s. It almost seems like they are trying to get him killed. In light of this theory, Ken Cosgrove could easily be…

Before Ky was born in 1959, Vietnam was divided into two states at the 17th parallel during the Geneva Conference of 1954. These two states were known as North Vietnam and South Vietnam. The North was governed by a Communist Party and the South was governed by the Republic of Vietnam. Since many of the people in the North feared the persecution from the Communist regime, nearly one million individuals fled for the South. Among these one million individuals was Ky’s family. By moving to the…

The Vietnamese War has always been a sensitive subject to Americans and the Vietnamese from that day forward. A poem named “Vietnamese Morning” written by Curt Bennett, truly speaks of that day. Bennett also reminds us how it is still affecting many of those men, women, and loved ones today. Curt Bennett was an American flight pilot during the Vietnamese War. Curt Bennett explains, expresses, and tells his experience throughout this poem, Vietnamese Morning. I decided to write about this…