Post by Legion Etrangere on Oct 14, 2010 17:28:57 GMT -5
Our second Vietnam Veterans Reunion is now history.
We had a great time, and even though there were only two of us that participated, it was a great event. Turnout was not as high as last year, due mainly in part to no parade. We hope to rectify that for next year with a larger (and longer) parade in the "Little Saigon" district of Houston, Texas, which encompasses a large portion of Bellaire Blvd, east of the Sam Houston Tollway (about 10 miles W of downtown Houston, Texas). Note, there are over 265,000 Vietnamese in Houston, Texas and 2/3 live in the "Little Saigon" neighborhood along Bellaire Blvd.
Highlights from the event:
* Meeting a Dien Bien Phu survivor, Mr. Doang Nguyen. Mr. Nguyen served as a signalman at DBP HQ and was wounded early in the battle and flown out as a casualty. He approached our table and we talked for several minutes.
* Meeting Jaime Sanchez, author of LEGION OF THE LOST. We emailed Jaime about a week before the event and sure enough, he found us at our table! He had his two daughters and wife with him. We talked for several minutes, snapped some pics and off they went in search of a croissant (it was lunch time).
* Interview by TV-VAN / Ch. 56 News. I was interviewed by Dr. Alvin Nguyen about the reason for the fall of Dien Bien Phu. I gave a 20-minute on air lecture about the battle, the reasons for the French loss and the inevitable American involvement. We presented Dr. Nguyen with pics from last year.
* Meeting ARVN airborne. Once more we met up with our kith and kin, the ARVN airborne from last year; got several pics and shook hands all round. We presented Sgt. Stephen Ly with repro French para badge which was placed onto his jacket.
* Presenting a wreath on behalf of U.S. Army Special Forces in Vietnam (1960-75) and CEFEO Forces that fell in battle (1946-54). For the first time ever, the Vietnamese Community allowed for the presentation of a joint memorial, alongside 30 other ARVN memorials at the Vietnam War Memorial. It was a last minute, closely run operation; I attended with Van and we presented a lovely wreath that was made by Mrs. Dieu Ly, who has only been in the U.S. for several years. After the presentation was over, Mrs. Ly, who spoke on broken english approach Van and in tears said, "thank you thank you fight for Vietnam fight for us. Fight for Vietnam." A small group congregated around Van and there was not a dry eye in the house.
Unfortunately this year we were unable to have dinner with the ARVN due to prior conflicts.
However, we signed up five (5) local Vietnamese into our unit. The rule of thumb here is that one will make it out. But we continue to build our connections and our depth into the local Vietnamese community.
Were now gearing up for the 4th Annual event next year!
Watch for the pics on our website!
Regards,
Mick
We had a great time, and even though there were only two of us that participated, it was a great event. Turnout was not as high as last year, due mainly in part to no parade. We hope to rectify that for next year with a larger (and longer) parade in the "Little Saigon" district of Houston, Texas, which encompasses a large portion of Bellaire Blvd, east of the Sam Houston Tollway (about 10 miles W of downtown Houston, Texas). Note, there are over 265,000 Vietnamese in Houston, Texas and 2/3 live in the "Little Saigon" neighborhood along Bellaire Blvd.
Highlights from the event:
* Meeting a Dien Bien Phu survivor, Mr. Doang Nguyen. Mr. Nguyen served as a signalman at DBP HQ and was wounded early in the battle and flown out as a casualty. He approached our table and we talked for several minutes.
* Meeting Jaime Sanchez, author of LEGION OF THE LOST. We emailed Jaime about a week before the event and sure enough, he found us at our table! He had his two daughters and wife with him. We talked for several minutes, snapped some pics and off they went in search of a croissant (it was lunch time).
* Interview by TV-VAN / Ch. 56 News. I was interviewed by Dr. Alvin Nguyen about the reason for the fall of Dien Bien Phu. I gave a 20-minute on air lecture about the battle, the reasons for the French loss and the inevitable American involvement. We presented Dr. Nguyen with pics from last year.
* Meeting ARVN airborne. Once more we met up with our kith and kin, the ARVN airborne from last year; got several pics and shook hands all round. We presented Sgt. Stephen Ly with repro French para badge which was placed onto his jacket.
* Presenting a wreath on behalf of U.S. Army Special Forces in Vietnam (1960-75) and CEFEO Forces that fell in battle (1946-54). For the first time ever, the Vietnamese Community allowed for the presentation of a joint memorial, alongside 30 other ARVN memorials at the Vietnam War Memorial. It was a last minute, closely run operation; I attended with Van and we presented a lovely wreath that was made by Mrs. Dieu Ly, who has only been in the U.S. for several years. After the presentation was over, Mrs. Ly, who spoke on broken english approach Van and in tears said, "thank you thank you fight for Vietnam fight for us. Fight for Vietnam." A small group congregated around Van and there was not a dry eye in the house.
Unfortunately this year we were unable to have dinner with the ARVN due to prior conflicts.
However, we signed up five (5) local Vietnamese into our unit. The rule of thumb here is that one will make it out. But we continue to build our connections and our depth into the local Vietnamese community.
Were now gearing up for the 4th Annual event next year!
Watch for the pics on our website!
Regards,
Mick