Home Away From Home
As nightfall descended on Saigon, Vietnam, the Dao family joined the masses huddled on the floor of a military cargo plane in preparation for an immediate evacuation. The year was 1975. The Vietnam War was coming to a bitter end, and just about everybody was desperate to get out of the country.
Nearly two months and two refugee camps later, the Dao family arrived in Coffeyville, Kansas where they began to put down roots for a new life in America. From that day on, the discoveries
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A Life of Courage,
“Home Away From Home” is not just another Viet Nam War memoir. Author Nghiep Dao, has written a thoughtful, brave and intimate story of his childhood escape just before the Communist take-over of Saigon and his life growing up with his troubled family in the unlikely farming town of Coffeyville Kansas. It is the proud story of courage, perseverance, hope and success in the face of discrimination and culture shock.
The story begins one bright morning on April 23, 1978 when eight year old Nghiep woke up to a house full of nervous relatives pacing back and forth and was told to quickly empty out his school satchel and fill it up with as much clothing as he could. When he asked why, he was told by his father, who worked for a branch of the U.S. Embassy known as the Defense Attache Office, that he wouldn’t be going to school that day but would instead be going to Nuoc My, a place he would later learn was America. The family was stealthily ferried to the airport and the waiting cargo plane, avoiding notice from their neighbors, any of whom might have been a Communist informer.
Details of his parents’ lives during the “American War” as it is known in Viet Nam, came to light over the years and after many return visits to his homeland, Nick, as he now calls himself, perceptively ferrets out the heart-felt meaning of his own life here in his “Home Away From Home.” Highly recommended for young and old alike.
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|Home Away From Home,
This is a first hand account of a family who evacuated Vietnam just before Saigon fell in 1975. This book chronicles their escape via a military cargo plane, a stay for 2 months in Camp Pendleton in California until a sponsor was found. Coffeyville, a small town in the middle of Kansas became their new home. This is an intriguing, at times sad and sometimes humorous story of how a Vietnamese family initially struggled to adjust to their new life in America. It is clearly evident that author Nghiep Dao has a vivid memory for details and conversations and a penchant for remembering humorous situations. This is a story you cannot help but be caught up in.
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|Really good ride, easy read,
I r-e-a-l-l-y liked this book — so much so that I bought 10 copies for the local library to add to their Book Club collections! Yep, I put my money where my mouth is. It’s a great story — a fascinating part of history told from an interesting vantage point — and an easy read because it’s so engaging. Buy it, I’m sure you’ll enjoy the ride.
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