"I think that we are so privileged to be a part of an American society and a place where it is truly a free market. And if you really want to pursue a dream, you're able to. There are avenues that you have equal rights to; if you work hard, study hard, you can become and do whatever you want to do."
~ Quihn Quach- Vietnamese refugee and Thanh Quach's daughter
Fleeing Vietnam
"You know, and this is where I think I briefly told Judy, I was three. So I am not able to contribute too much to this discussion. Because I was three, and I'm not sure if they were memories or just stories that were retold to me. But I vaguely remember being with my mom, I'm the oldest child of four. And I vaguely remember being on a boat laying next to my pregnant mother.
"And that's really all I remember. So yeah, I really can't contribute very much. I could tell you what happened to our family. So my dad, who really spearheaded this idea, in '75, when we lost the country and the Communists took over. He was there at the embassy. And, you know, watched the helicopters and Americans leave. Obviously, he couldn't leave with them, because he had so much family left in Vietnam. So the next year and a half, he was essentially in exile, because he was part of the Vietnamese Republic Party. He was an exile so that he could devise a plan for us to leave Vietnam. So he went to the Mekong Delta and prepared a boat, bought a boat with the money that all of his brothers and sisters and my mom's brothers and sisters put together, as well as another family, to leave Vietnam one night, you know. So how they did it was I think they advised everybody, it's not like everybody can leave the boat at one point altogether, because they'll know that, you know, that people are leaving. So I think everybody was leaving from a small boat and had a liaison to the main boats in the middle of the sea. So everybody met up there. And then I guess we were at sea for 10 days. And there were difficulties such as pirates. Our food was thrown overboard and our water, I think. And then, after two more days, three more days, a Thai fisherman boat rescued us. And that's where we went to Thailand as refugees. So I don't remember very much at all of anything. And then afterwards, I think the Catholic Church, along with Judy and my father's aunt, sponsored us to Ames, Iowa, and we ended up going there. So then that was in '78. And then in '79, we arrived in Iowa. And that was my father's eight brothers and sisters as well as my mom's eight brothers and sisters, and then some other distant cousins."
Challenges of Coming to Iowa
"While in the United States? Well, first of all, we had no money. And as immigrants we barely spoke the English language. So my dad and his brothers and sisters for a year went to find a job. He was a CNA at a nursing home just cleaning up after old people. And remember, this is a man that was a Republican councilman in the Vietnam government. So when the Communists took over, they essentially abandoned or they jailed--put these people in an reeducation camp. My grandfather and my uncle who did not leave with us were in reeducation camp for a couple of years. And if you've, if you've ever seen a reeducation camp, and it's like, it's like the Jewish war camps, where they try to brainwash you to believe in communist welfare. But yeah, so but so when we were over here, my grandfather stayed back as well as one of my father's brothers, and he was put in reeducation camp. So while we tried to kind of fit into society, Ames, Iowa, you know, didn't have a lot of Asian immigrants. So I think we were the very few. I started school, and I remember being in ESL, which is kind of learning English. And then just as a child trying to adapt to being an American kid.
"It was a great place to live. My dad eventually went back to college, to get a degree in engineering. He was an electrical engineer. So we grew up in Ames, Iowa, for four years. I remember going to school there having good friends, but then also had, you know, times where I think I didn't understand this as a child, but having times where other kids made fun of me, you know, my flat nose or my accent or, or whatnot, or the fact that I didn't know English, but it didn't, it didn't really bother me. And then as we grew up, I was essentially an American. It didn't take so long because I was still little. I think it would have been more tough if I was like a teenager."
Advice
"Advice, I think that we are so privileged to be a part of an American society and a place where it is truly a free market. And if you really want to pursue a dream, you're able to. There are avenues that you have equal rights to; if you work hard, study hard, you can become and do whatever you want to do. My dad actually had an opportunity when we were in the refugee camp to either go to France or the United States. And he said, I will only go to the United States because I want my children to have 100% free opportunity to become what they want. So you know, I became a doctor. My sister became a dentist. My other brother became a doctor, and you know, in our family, there are a bunch of attorneys and engineers and so forth. So it's truly the American spirit, the American dream where we came from nothing. And with a little perserverance and hard work, you can achieve anything.
"I have two boys now that are half Italian-American, and I hope one day that they understand my story so they could understand the work ethic and what we've sacrificed to get here, you know? And never to take any of these things for granted. The freedom, the opportunities, and all you have to do is really work hard to really achieve your dream."