A legacy of Vietnam, lost in translation

A legacy of Vietnam, lost in translation

(EXCERPT) By Gaiutra Bahadur Inquirer Staff Writer

The photo - of a black man in a uniform - is Dung Nguyen's only memory
of his father. It was destroyed, like all other mementos signaling
ties to the United States, when Saigon became Ho Chi Minh City in
1975.

" 'Burn it, hide it, get rid of it as soon as possible. That's the
stuff of the enemy,' " Nguyen, 35, explained through a translator.
"The Communists were very strict about it."

They were not able to erase all traces of America at the Vietnam War's
end, however. Nguyen was himself, with the color of his skin, evidence
that U.S. soldiers had been welcomed there. He understood that through
the taunts of the bullies who beat him up at school: con cua ke thu.

Son of the enemy.

The Camden man and tens of thousands like him - the children left
behind by U.S. servicemen - are called the Bui Doi, "the dust of
life." They were stigmatized in the country where they were born. And
many of the 23,000 brought to the United St...

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Otis Willie
Associate Librarian
The American War Library
http://www.americanwarlibrary.com