American sailor returns home to Vietnam
HO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam - For Hai Au Minh Doan, last week's visit by a U.S. Navy ship to Vietnam was more than historic. It was the end of a long journey home.
The Vietnamese-born American sailor, the son of a South Vietnamese Navy veteran, said Thursday that it has been his dream to see the homeland he left behind as a child with his family 17 years ago.
"To me, it's a great time," he said. "It's a great historical event that I came back here for, especially as an American Vietnamese."
The USS Vandegrift became the first American warship to sail into Vietnamese waters since the war ended nearly 30 years ago. Hai Au said his father didn't want to miss it, especially when he heard his son would be part of the returning crew.
Sang Minh Doan and his wife, Mai Tran, flew from their home in Westminster, Calif., to witness the two countries taking another symbolic step toward burying the past. With Vietnamese and U.S. flags flying overhead, the Navy frigate sailed up the Saigon River on Wednesday for a four-day port call.
"My dad was thrilled when he found out there was a boat coming back to Vietnam," said Hai Au, 27. "And when he found out that I was going to be there, he was like, 'Can I come, too?'"
His father, 54, fought for the U.S.-backed South Vietnamese navy from 1966 until the war ended in 1975, when communist forces reunified the country.
The family fled to America in 1986 when Hai Au, whose name means 'seagull,' was 10 years old. Hai Au went on to obtain a college degree in aerospace engineering and joined the U.S. Navy. He is as an officer on a nuclear submarine.
The Associated Press - November 23, 2003.
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