Travis Air Force Base, California —
It was April 28, 1975, and the Vietnam War was coming to an end when Saigon fell to North Vietnamese forces. South Vietnamese naval officer Tam Do Nguyen spent three years fighting with the U.S. Navy’s 7th Fleet when life as he knew it ceased to exist.
The U.S. Navy offered him evacuation on a ship bound for America, as the military was beginning to lose hope over the impending fall of South Vietnam.
“The U.S. Navy forced Tamdu to make a difficult decision,” said U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. Tom Nguyen, a maintenance dispatcher with the 660th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron and nephew of Tam Do. “Either I stay in Vietnam with my family or I get on a boat and go to America, even though it means leaving the only country I’ve ever known and heading into an unknown future. My uncle went on a boat.”
Two days after he left, Saigon fell to communist forces. Tam Do saved all the money he earned and settled in Corona, California, where he eventually bought a house. After getting married and having two children, he brought his family of 17 to the United States from Vietnam in December 1993. Tom was one of them. Four-year-old Tom was among the 17 people.
Tam Do’s family focused on assimilating into American culture, and Tom became a U.S. citizen at the age of 16 and later pursued a career in the U.S. Air Force, an idea that came from his cousin, a former U.S. Army Ranger. It was something.
Tom, who joined the U.S. Air Force as an aircraft maintenance technician in 2011, said, “I joined because I wanted to give something back to the country that has become my home and given me the opportunity to live in a free society.”
After completing basic training and technical school, Tom was assigned to Altus Air Force Base, Oklahoma, where he worked on the development of the E3-Sentry and RC-135 riveted joint aircraft, and then to Kadena Air Force Base, Japan.
In the summer of 2016, I met Sawako Hanashiro, a native of Okinawa, who was attending university in Shizuoka and returning home for vacation. They married, had a child, and were later assigned to Fairchild Air Force Base in Washington. After pursuing various avenues for career and citizenship, Sawako joined her husband and countless others in the military exactly two years ago.
“I joined the Air Force because I found it difficult to find meaningful work as a resident alien,” said Senior Airman Sawako Nguyen, a gastroenterology technician with the 60th Medical Operations Squadron. Ta.
Sawako currently works as a gastroenterology technician at the David Grant USAF Medical Center at Travis Air Force Base. She has not only taken the Defense Foreign Language Proficiency Test and served as a Japanese interpreter in multinational joint exercises such as Exercise “Cop North,” but also recently achieved the rank of Senior Airman and below. The promotion is scheduled to occur six months before the actual promotion date.
“I want to be a bridge of communication between people. In patient care situations, as a medical technician or as an interpreter during exercises, I always try to bridge the communication gap between them and make even the slightest good happen.” “We try to make their experience better,” Sawako said. “I was there to be their bridge, so seeing all this great planning and conversation happening right in front of my eyes was the coolest thing during Coop North.”
Representing Asian cultural heritage, the Nguyen family continues to strive for self-improvement through their military careers. Sawako recently applied for US citizenship and Tom applied to become a sergeant first class.
“My passion is helping people,” Tom said. “As a maintenance expediter, I try to get to know the maintainers, know their motivations, and help them. Being a sergeant first class only gives me more opportunities to help others. ”
The month of May was established by President George H.W. For the first time, it has been designated as Asia Pacific Island Heritage Month. On May 19, 1869, a railroad whose workers were mostly Chinese.
“For me, Asian Pacific American Heritage Month means going beyond stereotypes and recognizing the potential of immigrants to exceed society’s expectations. I was born in Vietnam and grew up in America in the ’90s. But I saw firsthand the impact of cultural resilience and acceptance,” Tom said. Honestly, who wouldn’t want to enjoy a comforting bowl of pho after a long day off-roading or fly fishing? ”
This month is an opportunity to celebrate the diverse cultures of Asian and Pacific Islander peoples, like the Nguyen family, and highlight their contributions to both their heritage and their homeland.
