REDSTONE ARSENAL, Alabama -- As a city fell behind him, one future Soldier rose to meet the challenges ahead.
Col. Thomas Nguyen, chief of staff, U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command/Army Forces Strategic Command, was 8 years old when, with the help of the U.S. military, he escaped during the fall of Saigon, South Vietnam, in April 1975.
"During one of my first interactions with an American Soldier in Saigon, he offered me a bag of M&Ms," Nguyen said. "To this day, when I open a bag of M&Ms it brings back memories of how gracious American Soldiers were to the people of South Vietnam."
In the spring of 1975, the armies of North Vietnam and the Viet Cong were rapidly advancing southward, and by early April the defeat and occupation of South Vietnam was nearly certain. The evacuation of South Vietnamese citizens by the Americans began April 23 from the Tan Son Nhut Air Base in Saigon.
On April 30, the last Americans, 11 Marines, were evacuated by helicopter from the American Embassy roof. That day marks the fall of Saigon and the end of America's involvement in the Vietnam War. The South Vietnamese government capitulated shortly afterward and the city was renamed Ho Chi Minh City.
In remembrance of the 42nd anniversary of the fall of Saigon, Nguyen recalled his path from Vietnamese citizen to American citizen and Soldier.
Two weeks prior to the fall of Saigon, Nguyen, his mother, Cao, and sister, Linh, were escorted to Tan Son Nhut and flown out on a C-5 Galaxy transport plane headed to the United States. His journey took him from Saigon to the Philippines to Guam and to Camp Pendleton, California, before ultimately settling down in Annapolis, Maryland.
"My mother wanted to keep me and my sister as far away from the war as possible, so she sent us to a Catholic boarding school outside of Saigon," Nguyen said. "I remember she came and told us one day that we were going to take a trip to this place called 'America.' We really didn't know what that meant, but she picked us up and we went back to our house and had 30 minutes to pack our bags.
"We met our sponsor at the American Embassy, and once there, we were shuttled to the airport," he added. "We boarded a C-5 and were whisked away, as we waved goodbye to our grandmother. I didn't really know where we were going and thought we would return soon."
The total number of Vietnamese evacuated in the first part of 1975 totaled 138,000. The Nguyens, along with 130,000 others were resettled throughout all 50 states.
Resettling wasn't easy and Nguyen said his mom worked as a housekeeper, sometimes cleaning three to four homes a day to provide for them as they started out in their new country. He also said learning a new language had its difficulties.
"It took a little time to learn to speak English, and I didn't grasp the language fully for a few years," he said. "We were very blessed to have an American sponsor family in Annapolis. They were Catholic like us and had children the same age as my sister and me. We interacted with the children in the neighborhood, which assisted in our transition.
"This will always be the land of opportunity and a country that prides itself on bringing in people of different cultures, integrating them, caring for them, and giving them opportunities not always available in other countries," he added.
After growing up in Maryland, Nguyen went to Towson University where he became a member of the Reserve Officers' Training Corps and was commissioned in 1991.
When asked about his choice to join the Army, Nguyen said, "With all of the things the United States provided to my family, I thought it was the right thing to do… to give back to my country what it gave to me."
As he rose through the ranks, Nguyen made history as the first American of Vietnamese descent to command an Air Defense Artillery, or ADA, battalion, and the first to lead an ADA battalion into Afghanistan to train the Afghan National Police and Afghan National Army. From 2013 to 2015, he was the first American of Vietnamese descent to command an ADA brigade.
"I feel blessed to have served our nation for the past 26 years and to have had the opportunity to lead the greatest Soldiers that the world has ever seen," Nguyen said. "It is an honor to contribute to the defense of the United States of America and a privilege to have had the opportunity to assist in the defense of our partner nations such as Afghanistan and the Republic of Korea."
On July 11, 1995, President Bill Clinton announced the formal normalization of diplomatic relations between America and Vietnam. As diplomatic ties between the nations grew, the U.S. opened a consulate general in Ho Chi Minh City, and Vietnam opened a consulate in San Francisco.
Nguyen said that for three decades his grandmother was the families' biggest connection back in Vietnam.
"Mom used to write letters back and forth, but being able to communicate by phone was impossible. In the early to mid-1990s, my mother was finally able to talk to my grandmother on the phone for the first time. Shortly after that call, my grandmother passed away."
In a journey that took nearly 40 years, Nguyen finally returned to Vietnam in 2014 with members of his family. His father-in-law was an American Soldier who fought in the war, and Nguyen convinced him to return together.
"I went back to where I grew up. I didn't recognize much, but the smells of the street vendors brought back a lot of memories," Nguyen said. "As we ventured around the country, people welcomed us with excitement and genuine respect for the Americans who served there during the war.
"My family and I are extremely grateful for the many opportunities America has given us," he added. "Just like many of the South Vietnamese immigrants of that time, this became our new country. If you ever hear me speak in public, I seldom proclaim that I am a Vietnamese-American. While I am extremely proud to be of Vietnamese descent, I view myself as an American first."
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