Ev and I had the pleasure of meeting a couple from Vietnam last night. Married for 46 years, Ana and Kahn, who moved here after much trouble in Vietnam in 1989. They raised three children here; lost one child. Two of their children studied hard and became doctors; the other chosse engineering. They all won scholarships to Temple and Howard University. The parents told the children they must study hard because they were so lucky to live in the United States. I wish everyone could hear their testimony to why this country is the greatest on earth.
Kahn escaped from Vietnam only after several tries. On one, he was on a ship that sank, killing most of those on board. He and another man survived only after holding on to slippery oil barrels for hours. They finally discovered that by looping their pants around the barrel and tying them together, they had something to grab hold of. However, their escape was discovered; they were arrested by the Communists, and he spent 15 months in prison. The situation was terrible. They were given only water and a tiny amount of food. At one point, they were circled with barbed wire and had to eat anything they could find. The only thing he refused to eat was rat!
Finally he was able to escape through Cambodia to Thailand. After two years he was able to send for his wife and children to come to America. He was willing to take any work, including bricklaying and other menial jobs. He went to a community college, which discovered he knew everything about anatomy and microbiology, and they trained him as a phlebologist. One time he was rebuffed and not allowed to take blood from an infant’s skull for blood tests. The parents did not trust his ability. He decided he didn’t want to do that work any more. Then he trained as a nurse. He was the only male in a class of women, and couldn’t get work afterwards. He went to work in a prison.
He is so very thankful to be in America. He studied for his citizenship and is a tribute to what this country can mean. I wish our people could hear his words, and those he preached to his children about this being the greatest country in the world. He is so right.
I was blessed to meet him and his lovely wife.
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