Viet Refugee Recalls Ordeal
By Gene Birkhead
Staff Writer
Most Vietnamese refugees left their country just one step ahead of the Communist forces that overran the Saigon area in the last days of April. Not so for Nguyen Thanh Nguyen. He and his family decided to try to escape only after they saw what life under the Communists was like. They suffered imprisonment and risked death at sea to find freedom, but their story has almost a fairy tale ending.
Nguyen, who came to Colorado Springs Nov. 8 under sponsorship of Bill Tostanoski of Security, was general manager of a Saigon printing company employing 600 persons. He had no intention of leaving his homeland, believing the Communist promises that citizens would not be oppressed. "They were lying," he said. It was not long before citizens' homes were being commandeered by Communist cadres, and people were being required to get official permission to buy even such foods as chickens.
Late in May, Nguyen, his wife Yen Bach Nguyen and their five children, ranging in age from 3 to 13, made their first attempt to escape. They drove to Vung Tau, a seaport about 93 miles from Saigon hoping to slip out by boat. But a full moon made this impossible and they had to return to Saigon. A day or two later they drove to Ca Na, about 372 miles from Saigon, where they boarded a fishing boat with 45 other Vietnamese trying to escape. Once at sea they met a fishing boat from Taiwan, but the boat refused to take them on. They were soon in such rough seas that about 24 children aboard became ill, and the boat had to return to shore. Because of the Communist threat they were transferred to smaller boats. The family was put ashore at a small village and were immediately arrested by the Communists.
They were imprisoned for three days with only rice and water for food. Nguyen said the Communists who questioned them were illiterate. They were looking only for American money or gold and missed the significance of the plastic bag he was carrying with the names and addresses of a number of Americans. They took his watch, his camera and his electric razor, which they apparently were unfamiliar with. He overheard them speculating that it might be some kind of bomb. However, the Communists eventually let them go. If they had found American money or gold, Nguyen is sure they would still be in prison.
It was now June 5. Again they returned to Saigon, but knew they must make their escape because they were now under suspicion. On June 12, they again went to Ca Na and boarded another fishing boat with a group of refugees, hoping to sail to the Philippines. Nguyen said they knew nothing about navigation, but set the compass at 90 degrees, hoping that was the right direction.
"We don't know nothing, just pray," Nguyen said.
They were at sea for five days and six nights. They had fish and some rice to eat, but their water ran out and the youngest child, Quang Khoi, three became ill. Nguyen said they believed the child was near death, when early in the morning of June 18 they sighted a Danish ocean freighter of the Maersk Shipping Co.
"We prayed to God for this ship to stop and rescue us," Nguyen said. The ship did stop and took them without hesitation. He had nothing but praise the kindness of the Danish crew. They not only took the family aboard, but the captain immediately informed his home office of the rescue, and asked them to get in touch with the Japanese consulate to see if the refugees could be landed in Japan. The ship was headed for Nayaya, and the Japan had so far refused to allow any Vietnamese refugees in that country. Permission was granted for them to disembark at Jokahama, where they were put under the care of the Japanese Caritas, Catholic Charity organization. They were not only the first Vietnamese refugees to be allowed to enter Japan, they also found themselves celebrities. Japanese television featured their arrival on all channels, the cameramen flying over the ship by helicopter to film the event. The Japanese newspapers also carried the story with many pictures of the family.
Nguyen had left Saigon with a number of American names and addresses carried in a plastic bag, but during the voyage in the fishing vessel the package had gotten wet and the ink had run, obliterating them. The only one that could be read was a printed returned address label on a letter from Bill Tostanoski, who had done some business with Nguyen's firm in Vietnam. It was this scrap of paper that brought the family to Colorado Springs.
The family remained in Japan until the end of October, when they were given permission to enter the United States and were sent to Indiantown Gap, PA. Nguyens' first attempt to reach Tostanoski found him out of the country on business, but Mrs. Tostanoski was able to reach him and a sponsorship was arranged. Tostanoski, whose work frequently takes him to the Far East and other parts of the world, was back for Christmas, and the two families had a gala holiday.
Nguyen has served as an interpreter for the Vietnamese Resettlement Committee since coming here, but his quest for permanent employment took an unusual turn. He had written a letter to McKinney Mohler Maersk, president of the Maersk Steamship Co., in Denmark, thanking him for the rescue of his family. Back came a letter from Maersk saying he was getting in touch with the New York and San Francisco offices of the company to see if either could offer Nguyen employment. Shortly afterward, he was called for an interview with the San Francisco office, and was asked to report for work there Jan. 2.
"They not only save my life, they give me a job," Nguyen said. "The free world is so wonderful"
Amazingly enough, a Maersk Line crew member managed to snap this shot of my parents a few days after we were rescued. We were on that Danish cargo ship for 10 days.
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