To Vietnamese Americans, April is called “Black April Month” because millions of Vietnamese people have died due to the fall of Saigon since April 1975. American troops withdrew in 1973 after the 1973 Paris Peace Accords were signed.
South Vietnam was on its own, while North communist Vietnam was backed militarily and financially by Chinese and Russian communists.
North Communist Vietnam took over South Vietnam by military force on April 30, 1975. Hundred thousands of Vietnamese people fled the country, and millions of Vietnamese people both from North and South Vietnam died in the communist prisons as prisoners of war and while trying to cross borders by boat, on foot through jungles known as “boat people” as a general term.
Countless cases of people being robbed, raped and killed, and gone missing till this day, and their families have no closing. It is unimaginable for people to comprehend how horrible the persecution and life were for the people who used to serve in the South Vietnam government and all agencies, including professors, artists, and all of their families too.
My father was a combative Marine Captain who fought alongside American soldiers to defend the freedom and democracy of South Vietnam and was on duty in Saigon until the last moment of the Vietnam War. He was imprisoned as a prisoner of war (POW) by the Việt Cộng (Vietnamese communist = VC) for seven years in a hard labor prison. He never got to see his family for this whole time, and that is the classic case for the majority of us.
My dad survived the prison, and thanks to President Ronald Reagan, who signed the Special Release Reeducation Center Detainee Resettlement Program that allows these communist prison camp survivors and their families to come to America as political refugees.
As a tradition, Vietnamese Americans from all over the world always commemorate Black April Month to remember the sacrifice of Vietnamese and American fallen heroes who paid the ultimate price for our freedom and democracy. To mourn the sufferings and death of all prisoners of war who were tortured and killed by the Viet Cong. To mourn the death and share the pain of millions of innocent civilians who died on the way seeking freedom and democracy.
It is a very emotional month for most of our Vietnamese Americans. A small group of Vietnamese Americans always shows up every year on April 30 at the Boston City Hall Plaza to commemorate the Fall of Saigon right at 12pm, even during the shutdown time due to China Virus.
Editors Note: By the time I got to this email the event was underway -we regret not having this posted in time for those who would have wanted to attend.
All freedom and democracy lovers are invited to join us, and for your information, we always salute the American flag and the South Vietnam flag, which is the yellow flag with three horizontal red stripes. The Viet Cong flag is the red flag with a yellow star, and Vietnamese Americans despise the sight of it just as the Jews do the NAZI flag.
Thank you for caring and sharing the information!
Here are some photos (below) from the Trump rally on Thursday so you can see the American flag and South Vietnam flag on our banners, signs, and T-shirts. I just designed it for our special Trump rally event that occurred in Black April Month.
There is a deep meaning behind this: the South Vietnam flag is a symbol of freedom and democracy for the Vietnamese people, and lost the country to the Vietnamese communists backed by China and Russia. If we, the American people, do not exercise our civic duties and take necessary actions, our American flag could be a symbol of the past freedom and democracy that Americans know once the American communists who are backed by China and the New World Order forces complete their take over from the inside out. I cry just thinking about that possibility because I know what it is like to lose your country: you will LOSE EVERYTHING.
