Garden Grove second SoCal city to fly South Vietnam flag
GARDEN GROVE - A crowd cheered and shouted "Thank you" as
city officials made the former flag of South Vietnam the official banner of
the largely Vietnamese-American community.
It became the second Orange County city to recognize the flag. A similar
resolution was approved last month in neighboring Westminster.
The resolutions are largely symbolic, since neither city has flown the flag,
which is a gold star against a red field. City officials said their actions
Tuesday were intended as a symbolic gesture aimed at alleviating
confusion about which flag to use during ceremonies and events.
"We used our blood for that flag, we died for that flag," South Vietnam
army veteran Leslie Le, 70, told council members before the resolution
vote.
"The (South Vietnamese) flag is how we want to be represented as the
Vietnamese- American community," said Xuan T. Vu, of the Vietnamese
American Public Affairs Committee, and part of a vocal crowd of about 200.
He had urged Councilman Mark Rosen to introduce the resolution.
Four speakers asked the council to make the American flag the official flag
of the Vietnamese-American community.
"This is America, not Vietnam," Carolyn Baxter said. "They came here for a
home. They should accept an American flag."
"There's a simple reason why we support having the South Vietnamese
flag: It symbolizes freedom," said Mindy Nguyen.
The yellow banner with red stripes is a powerful symbol for Vietnamese
emigres in Little Saigon, an area straddling Westminster and Garden
Grove. The area is home to the largest Vietnamese community outside that
nation.
Many fled the country during the communist takeover and regard the
current Vietnamese flag, adopted by North Vietnam and followers of Ho Chi
Minh, as a symbol of oppression.
The South Vietnamese flag "represents the hopes and dreams and
democracy of the Vietnamese people, rather than a flag of conquest, which
is what the communist flag represents," said Councilman Rosen.
Vietnamese government officials have voiced their opposition.
In a letter last month, Vietnam's ambassador to the United States, Nguyen
Tam Chien, urged Gov. Gray Davis to "take proper measures to stop the
resolution" in Westminster.
The governor's office replied, noting that Vietnam and California enjoy
good relations, however city councils are free to set their own policies.
The flag controversy first surfaced in Virginia last month. In that case, the
State Department intervened, persuading state legislators to nix a measure
that would have required the state to display the former South Vietnamese
flag at official functions.
The Associated Press - March 12, 2003.
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