My name is Cai, and I am a South Vietnamese Veteran and Ally to the American forces that fought during the Vietnam War.

I was in the South Vietnamese Air Force and a crew chief on an American C-130 Hercules cargo aircraft. This photograph was taken of me before the collapse of South Vietnam. I was very angry about what we had to endure and couldn’t believe even on the last day, that America was really abandoning South Vietnam. No one believed that this was really happening, but it did. On April 30th, 1975, the very same day that the United States pulled out, I was taken prisoner by the North Vietnamese and spent the next one and a half years in a prison camp in Vietnam.

I escaped and stayed hidden and somehow managed to build a boat to leave Vietnam with my wife and young son. But the boat sank and thankfully, we were rescued by The Malaysian Navy. I have no other photographs or possessions from my life there, as we had to flee with only the clothes on our backs. There were many refugees from Vietnam all over South East Asia.
The Malaysian Navy brought us to a refugee camp on the island of Pulau Bidong in Malaysia. Members of the Red Cross and The UN were on this Island to help relocate the many refugees. It was through a connection with the Lutheran Church that my family found their way to New York City, where I am now the proud owner of a Sunoco Gas and repair station in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn. My brother works in the business with me.

I met Jim Markson, who is pictured here in front of his bunker in Tan Son Nhut back in 1967, when he pulled into my gas station wearing his Vietnam Veteran hat in 2004. We learned that at one time we were both stationed at Tan Son Nhut, Saigon airport at the same time. We have been friends ever since. Jim recently presented me with a copy of his book, Vietnam and Beyond, written by him and his ex-spouse, Jenny La Sala.

I do not really have any other family back in Vietnam and there has been no communication.
~Cai, South Vietnamese Veteran

“It came with a heavy price tag for the United States also. January 31, 1968 was the single deadliest day of the entire War. The military was willing to pay that price; however, hometown America was not, and eventually we would leave.”
~Jim Markson, Vietnam Veteran and Author Vietnam & Beyond, available @ www.vietnamandbeyond.com/buy/

We are very grateful to Cai for sharing his story with Comes A Soldier’s Whisper, where we are all connected.
God Bless all who serve and keep us safe.

Vietnam Letters: www.VietnamAndBeyond.com

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