Dat: Tackling Life and the NFL

3. Flee for All

C H ฀ P T E R 3 Flee for ฀ll BY E฀RLY J฀NU฀RY฀ in฀ 1975,฀ the฀ news฀ coming฀ across฀my฀father’s฀four-band฀radio฀was฀not฀good.฀Despite฀a฀cease- fi ฀re฀that฀had฀been฀signed฀in฀Paris฀two฀years฀earlier,฀the฀North฀ Vietnamese฀Army฀(NVA)฀launched฀a฀major฀offensive฀on฀January ฀6,฀capturing฀Phuoc฀Long฀City฀and฀the฀surrounding฀province.฀ On฀March฀1,฀an฀even฀more฀powerful฀offensive฀was฀unleashed฀ on฀the฀Central฀Highlands฀of฀South฀Vietnam,฀resulting฀in฀nearly ฀sixty฀thousand฀troops฀dead,฀injured,฀or฀missing.฀By฀March฀ 25,฀1975,฀Hue,฀the฀third฀largest฀city฀in฀South฀Vietnam,฀and฀the฀ Quang฀Tri฀province฀had฀fallen฀to฀the฀Communist฀regime.฀It฀was฀ clear฀to฀everyone฀that฀the฀outcome฀of฀this฀war฀was฀no฀longer฀in฀ question.฀South฀Vietnam฀would฀soon฀fall,฀and฀all฀the฀freedoms฀ we฀had฀enjoyed฀would฀cease฀to฀exist. ฀ My฀father฀was฀well฀aware฀of฀this฀fact,฀and฀he฀had฀begun฀serious฀ preparations฀for฀a฀family฀escape฀plan฀early฀in฀1975.฀But฀it฀was฀ essential฀for฀him฀to฀be฀extremely฀cautious฀in฀making฀his฀plans฀ and฀even฀more฀guarded฀in฀whom฀he฀trusted.฀South฀Vietnam฀was฀ Flee for ฀ll ✮฀ 37 filled฀with฀spies฀who฀would฀quickly฀and฀willingly฀provide฀information —escape฀plans,฀military฀initiatives,฀troop฀locations,฀and฀ the฀political฀preferences฀of฀the฀residents—to฀the฀enemy฀to฀gain฀ favor฀with฀the฀NVA.฀As฀the฀NVA฀and฀Vietcong฀moved฀farther฀ and฀farther฀south,฀these฀traitors฀were฀responsible฀for฀the฀brutal฀ slayings฀of฀thousands฀of฀innocent฀men,฀women,฀and฀children.฀ With฀each฀village฀and฀town฀that฀fell,฀the฀NVA฀would฀quickly฀ determine฀which฀residents฀fell฀into฀the฀category฀of฀“Traitor฀to฀ the฀People’s฀Cause.”฀If฀you฀had฀served฀in฀the฀South฀Vietnamese฀ Army,฀aided฀its฀soldiers,฀spoken฀out฀against฀the฀NVA,฀planned฀to฀ escape฀the฀country,฀or฀anything฀else฀deemed฀to฀be฀detrimental฀to฀ the฀Communist฀movement,฀you฀and฀your฀family฀were฀subject฀to฀ severe฀public฀beatings,฀imprisonment,฀torture,฀or฀even฀summary฀ execution.฀Quite฀often,฀all฀it฀took฀to฀be฀proven฀guilty฀of฀such฀ “crimes”฀was฀the฀accusation฀of฀a฀snitch. ฀ So,฀my฀father฀went฀about฀his฀evacuation฀plans฀in฀as฀much฀ secrecy฀as฀possible.฀In฀addition฀to฀following฀the฀progress฀of฀the฀ war฀on฀his฀radio,฀he฀heard฀the฀stories฀of฀the฀unmerciful฀NVA฀ slayings฀from฀hundreds฀of฀South฀Vietnamese฀refugees฀who฀had฀ been฀driven฀out฀of฀their฀homes฀as฀the฀war฀front฀moved฀south.฀ By฀April฀of฀1975,฀the฀once-quiet,฀relatively฀small฀community฀of฀ Ben฀Da฀was฀overflowing฀with฀homeless฀victims฀of฀the฀war.฀The฀ small฀Catholic฀church฀in฀Ben฀Da฀served฀as฀the฀initial฀shelter฀for฀ the฀refugees,฀and฀once฀the฀church฀filled฀to฀its฀capacity,฀the฀migrating ฀masses฀camped฀outside฀the฀church,฀in฀the฀streets,฀and฀ wherever฀else฀they฀could฀find.฀In฀early฀April,฀Ben฀Da฀had฀turned฀ into฀a฀tent฀city฀of฀sorts฀as฀the฀NVA฀had฀taken฀control฀of฀twelve฀ provinces฀and฀more฀than฀eight฀million฀people.฀Finally,฀on฀April฀28,฀ 1975,฀the฀war฀that฀once฀seemed฀so฀far฀away฀from฀my฀siblings฀arrived ฀on฀our฀back฀porch. ฀ It฀was฀time฀to฀put฀my฀father’s฀plans฀into฀action.฀My฀siblings฀ went฀to฀bed฀that฀evening฀just฀as฀they฀had฀done฀on฀virtually฀every฀ other฀night฀of฀their฀lives—with฀few฀fears,฀concerns,฀or฀worries.฀ 38 ✮฀ Chapter 3 But฀as฀darkness฀fell,฀my฀mother,฀who฀was฀four฀months฀pregnant฀ with฀me฀at฀the฀time,฀hurriedly฀and฀frantically฀awoke฀my฀two฀ brothers฀and฀three฀sisters.฀My฀father฀had฀received฀the฀word฀from฀ his฀associates฀that฀it฀was฀time฀to฀go,฀and฀there฀wasn’t฀a฀minute฀ to฀waste.฀The฀NVA฀was฀on฀the฀move,฀and฀by฀morning,฀Ben฀Da฀ would฀become฀like฀the฀rest฀of฀South฀Vietnam:฀under฀the฀oppression ฀of฀the฀Communist฀movement.฀My฀parents฀were฀so฀intent฀ on฀leaving฀as฀soon฀as฀they฀received฀the฀word฀that฀they฀didn’t฀ even฀ bother฀ changing฀ my฀ siblings฀ out฀ of฀ their฀ pajamas.฀ They฀ herded฀up฀the฀kids,฀grabbed฀a฀few฀clothes฀and฀a฀handful฀of฀possessions ,฀and฀left฀their฀home฀that฀night,฀knowing฀they฀would฀ never฀return.฀They฀had฀no฀idea฀where฀they฀would฀end฀up฀or฀how฀ it฀would฀all฀turn฀out.฀But฀my฀father฀was฀brave฀enough฀to฀risk฀ the฀lives฀of฀his฀family฀members฀so฀that฀we฀could฀pursue฀the฀life฀ he฀believed฀we฀deserved.฀Sometimes฀courage฀is฀about฀standing฀ your฀ground.฀But฀in฀this฀particular฀case,฀my฀father’s฀courage฀was฀ de...