Vietnamese Refugees

This week, people across the globe have watched the evacuation of Afghanistan with horror, with many comparing it to the fall of Saigon on April 30th, 1975. Melrosians watching that event 46 years ago were equally dismayed, and some took action to do something about it.

Within a month, the Melrose Clergy Club had formed a Vietnam Refugee Committee, which made plans to raise money and find local host families for the displaced. James McIntyre of First Congregational Church, the committee chair, wrote “We firmly believe that these South Vietnamese are our brothers and sisters, and that our love and concern should extend to them in their hour of need.

Over the next several weeks, Melrosians prepared for the refugees’ arrival. They purchased food, solicited donations for everything from toiletries to furniture, and worked to set up jobs and apartments for the newcomers. Once the families began to arrive in July, some volunteered to teach English to the children and take them on field trips, while others drove the adults to job interviews.

The families themselves had to overcome the trauma of losing everything, including skilled jobs in their home country. Pham The Dzan had been an air force supply officer before his family moved in with the Pulsfords of 166 Green Street. Dao Tan Bach had been a navy Lieutenant Commander. Tran Nam had lost both his job as a TV anchorman and his wife, mother to his five children. Brothers Ha Viet Giang and Nguyen Van Hung, who moved in with the Boyers of 33 Oakland Street, had run a printing service; they had lost everything when their luggage had fallen into the Pacific as they struggled to escape Hanoi in a US Navy cruiser.

By August the four families had all arrived in Melrose, a small part of the estimated 150,000 South Vietnamese refugees coming to America at the time. In large part they found a welcoming community, although the sentiment was not unanimous, as some questioned whether the newcomers were being given preferential treatment. Regardless, their experience might best be summed up by the words of a poem written by 15-year-old Pham Thuy Hanh.

Pham Thuy Hanh’s Poem

(sung to the tune of “Que Sera Sera” by Doris Day)

When I was just a little girl,

I asked my mother what will I be.

Will I be pretty? Will I be rich?

Here’s what she said to me:

Que sera, sera

Whatever will be will be.

The future’s not ours to see.

Que sera, sera.

When I must flee the Communists,

I asked my father what will I be.

Will I be alive? Will I survive?

Here’s what he said to me:

Que sera, sera

Whatever will be will be.

The future’s not ours to see.

Que sera, sera.

When I ended up in Arkansas,

I asked the US government

Will I be welcome? Will I be safe?

Here’s what they said to me:

Surely you will.

You will be welcome and safe.

We will do our best to help.

Things will be O.K.

Now I am living in Melrose.

I ask my sponsors what can I do.

Can I go to school? Can I have friends?

Here’s what they say to me:

Surely you can.

You can go to school, my dear.

Then you’ll have a lot of friends.

Don’t worry, my dear.