I know, thread title sounds super gay: So I had a business dinner with this guy we are working on some O&G projects in Oklahoma. I knew the guy was Asian, but to be honest, its hard to tell where he was from. It was clear English was never his 1st language. Anyway, he asked about my background and I gave him the spill. Talked about my time in the military etc which then prompted this most amazing story. This guy was from South Vietnam. He was a teenager in the 70's in the south when the US pulled out and the NVA almost immediately took control. He told me that when this happened, they took his family and put them in prison in the North and forced him to build roads in Cambodia for years and years. I believe he said he was forced to work in the jungle for 6 years. Around 1981, he was 22 at the time, he and a group of 65 brave souls, men women and children, stole a fishing boat and took to the ocean. He said they sailed for 7 days and 7 nights only using the rising and setting of the sun to stay on whatever course that lead them. Eventually, they ended up in Singapore where they had refugee camps set up. If that story wasn't crazy enough, here is where father faith just watched over this guy. To back up a bit, the group of 65 had to pay to be apart of these escape plans. There was a guy in the camp he was forced to work in that wanted to leave but didn't have the money. This guy ended up saving money for him and paid his way. Where this is important and such a small world is that when they arrived to Singapore, you basically couldn't leave until you had a sponsor. That guy he paid for had family in the US.... So when he arrived to the US, he found him a US sponsor to allow him entry into the US. So, in 1981, he stepped foot in Tulsa Oklahoma. Didn't know a lick of English or have a dollar to his name. Said he walked 4 miles to work at a Chinese restaurant cleaning and fixing whatever they needed for $1.50/hr. There was much more in the middle, but this due is now a multi-millionaire. I just was floored. I find it rare that our generation has the people to just not give up in life. This dude escaped communism and won... There was just so much perspective this guy has on life that I very much appreciate. It also brings up the harsh realities of what our political climate did to the South after we pulled out without finishing the job. We literally went there, fucked shit up, and left it worse off. Highlights the abuse of politics in global conflict.
Good story, man. These are humbling and shows the truth about this country. People are dying to fight their way in for an opportunity at what we take for granted. Its not what our self-haters portray. Its the greatest opportunistic land on earth and that guy is one example of millions. Its people like this who remind us what we have.
And you all wonder why so many try to get in by any means possible? @tirk is dead on but how does that square with what Trump is doing to LEGAL immigrants and LEGAL green card holders? Don’t conflate these people with the illegals coming. Trump is using every power he can lie, cheat and twist to stop and reverse immigration, especially by those who don’t look like or aren’t related to him.
I would wager that if you were to somehow graph the level of success obtained by ethnicity you would find the vietnamese far out performing the others. They are some smart and very determined little bastards.
Yea, this guy and his family 100% assimilated. He told me other Vietnamese families give him shit because everything about his lifestyle is "American". They dont have that traditional Asian culture around everything they do. My realtor is from China. When you go to her home, its like stepping in a Chinese palace. Asian looking shit everywhere and the house smells like a Chinese buffet.
LOL. He said that M16's where everywhere. He used to hunt with them. He would even fish with it! He told me this story they had hollowed out trees with small holes in them that the NVA used to hide in to shoot out of. Fucking crazy.
I think that also applies to Chinese, Korean and other Asian immigrants. Makes me wish I had had some Asian blood when I was struggling with algebra and geometry.
