Vietnamerica: A Family's Journey

This section opens with a condensed account of the Tran family’s exodus to the US. Single panels with a similar viewpoint from an airplane door depict their movements from refugee camps in the Philippines, Guam, and San Diego to their resettlement in South Carolina. A family photo depicts everyone smiling with the words “Freedom” and “Liberty” in the caption as the family began the naturalization process. The following page features a collage of events highlighting the happier moments of the family’s transition in America: They enjoy making a snowman, celebrating Halloween, buying a new car, and welcoming their newborn son, GB.

The narrative continues, giving various accounts from people who remained behind in Vietnam and those who struggled to adapt in America. The stories are told to GB and provide him with a larger picture of the aftermath of the war. Thi Mot explains to GB that she didn’t know whether Dzung Chung was even alive until years later, when the mail ban was lifted. Dzung Chung tells her son that she thought she’d return to Vietnam in a few months once the new government settled and didn’t expect to live the rest of her life in a new country. His uncle Vinh describes the care packages his mother sent and the difficulty of writing her to let her know that her stepfather had passed away. Le Nhi had no interest in returning to Vietnam because she had no family left there, and Huu Nghiep was disenchanted with the new regime. Do shocks GB by telling him that he holds no grudge against his time in the labor camps. Instead, Do sympathizes with what Tri Huu and his family must have gone through trying to survive in a new country. Scenes depict Dzung Chung overworked as a waitress and mother, and Tri Huu being verbally and physically violent with his family.

The final images return to the Tran family’s completing the five-year process of naturalization. In contrast to their smiles in the opening family portrait and the administrator’s optimism that they’re officially American citizens, the closing image shows the parents, Manny, and Lisa frowning. Only Vy and GB are smiling, and Le Nhi, who has passed away, is absent from the photo. The closing caption reads, “Your journey has ended!” (243)

Dzung Chung describes the family’s final days in Vietnam and the chaos surrounding their departure on April 25, 1975. As Northern forces approached Saigon, Dzung Chung said farewell to her mother and stepfather, who chose to remain in Vung Tau and wait for Vinh’s return from service. Tri Huu told Thi Mot that they’d return as soon as they could, believing that their flight from the country was temporary. Tri Huu and Dzung Chung then tried to convince Do to come with them, but he too decided to stay in Vung Tau to help the thousands of refugees entering the port city. Back in Saigon, Tri Huu assured his mother, Le Nhi, that they’d return to Vietnam within a year, and she consented to leave the country.

Several splashes (a single panel that takes up the entire page) depict masses of people crowding the streets, carrying what few belongings they could, as cars filled the roads with dense traffic. At the airport, Dzung Trung, the children, and Le Nhi waited for Tri Huu and Leonard. The two men were prevented from entering the airport, so Leonard pretended that Tri Huu was a wanted communist prisoner that he was bringing in for questioning. When they reunited with Dzung Chung and the others, Leonard attempted to pass the Tran family off as his relatives to obtain priority passage. His plan failed, and he realized that everyone at the airport was trying to get onto the planes using the same reason or through bribes. Leonard refused to leave without his companions, and as an American working for a private company, he used his influence to get everyone aboard a plane.

The sequence that follows shows a single leaf floating across nine solid black pages. The illustrations resume with GB moving into his new apartment in New York. Having finished school and looking for a job, he talks to his mother on the phone and tells her he can’t join his parents on a trip to Vietnam for two months. As he unpacks his belongings, he finds the book his father gave him for his graduation, The Vietnam War. Inside the cover, he reads his father’s inscription: “To my son, Gia-Bao Tran. ‘A man without history is a tree without roots.’ –Confucius” (278). GB calls his mother back and asks if he can still go with his parents to Vietnam.