Nestled in the vast expanse of desolate plain, the refugee stands as a fragile testament to human endurance. Rows of makeshift tents, there canvas edges frayed by the wind, stretch as far as the eye can see. The sounds of daily life, chattering, laughing and a distant hum of various generators. It was a peaceful Thanksgiving week during World War Two.
Cuong Nguyen, a former police officer that used to work in the old government of Saigon, Vietnam. Now working after his mother in Tra vinh Vietnam, a background of work and triumphs. The stories of the refugee camps during World War Two. Refugee camps are known for a placement, often seen where stories of survival, strength, and hope unfold despite the barriers of language, culture, and loss.
My father was a young adult at the time, only twenty-five when he was placed in the refugee camp.
“The place was filled with rats, diseases and the mourning of injured people,” Nguyen said. “It was difficult to find a proper education system.”
In the camp, he signed up as a policeman to work for the country. Although it had good pay, he was treated poorly by other policemen.
“Vietnam is a very awful and communist country, they would hit me for small things such as not cleaning the floors properly.” Nguyen said. “The people I worked with there were harsh and not very forgiving for the small mistakes I made.”
The camp was very crowded, he suffered intense amount of pain and variety of mental health issues since the place didnt have a very good pharmacy. It was heavily crowded and expensive. Even though he was helping his country, people still treated him like dirt.
Since it was almost Thanksgiving, everyone was in a festive mood. Until he received a devastating letter.
“It was in the middle of lunch, when I had received my letter, from my sister. It was the news of my fathers death.” Nguyen said, “My heart has dropped and I frozed into place, I couldnt think or talk to anyone in days.”
Despite that, Nguyen worked hard and tried to find education to get his mind off of the death of his father. He couldnt live a stable life at home as his siblings were out serving in the war and many were losing lives during the bombing and shooting around the area.
“I would go home everyday and woul have to find my own food as there were little to small scraps of bread on my plate,” Nguyen said. “My brother would serve out in the war, and many of my family members could be asleep in there homes until a bomb strikes on the house and they all pass away.”
Later on, the people in Vietnam would let him free from the camp after a devastating 15 years to go to South Vietnam, only for him to be imprisoned in jail for being a ‘Communist’
“As soon as I arrived in South Vietnam, I was automatically forced into a jail cell,” Cuong said. “They saw the North Vietnamese people as enemies and accused us of being a Communist just because we lived in the north.”
After he served his years in jail, he was released and escaped Vietnam for freedom. Creeping up were the days days of the Vietnam war coming to an end in the Fall of Saigon in April, 1975. The mixed feelings of serving in Vietnam lingered in his memories.
“I am terrified because I know the Communist spies are tracking me and will come for me one day for my assasination,” Cuong said. ”I hope to never return to the north of Vietnam, the people there will come for me immediately.”
Although, in the end, my father laughed in his chair during Thanksgiving when asked for his story again since he was the one of 4 siblings that survived the tough days in a North Vietnam refugee camp.
