Photo By Sgt. Melissa Lee | Sgt. Maj. Chuong Nguyen’s ribbons are mounted on his service “C” uniform in his...... read more read more
Subscribe
MARINE CORPS AIR STATION MIRAMAR, Calif. - The Marine Corps is made up of people of many ethnicities and different walks of life, and by celebrating each one and their contributions, Marines stay ready and able to defend the freedoms their culture helped create.
One of these celebrations happens in May for Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month.
One Marine who is thankful for this month is Sgt. Maj. Chuong Nguyen, sergeant major of Marine Wing Support Squadron 373 and a West Minster, Calif., native.
Asian Americans have contributed to the growth of the nation and to the military. Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month is a way to pay respects to those who serve, explained Nguyen.
As a child growing up in Vietnam and the oldest of four siblings, Nguyen’s parents always wanted more for him. He attempted to escape the country for the first time at age 9 with his aunt and uncle.
“I had to do three attempts to escape Vietnam,” said Nguyen. “The first time, I got caught. It’s not like you can just get on a boat and leave. If the police saw you, they’d tell you to go home but when I got caught, they took us to jail where I was stuck for three months. When they let me go, I had to try to find my way home.”
Nguyen was the oldest boy in the family and his parents worried about his future in Saigon, Vietnam.
“My parents didn’t want me to fall under the regime of the Vietnamese government,” said Nguyen. “When you turn 18, you have to serve in the military; it’s a mandatory service. From what I’ve seen and what my parents taught me, unless you have a lot of money for bribery to the government, when you go into military service they go and clear mine fields from what’s left from the war. People come back missing limbs for no reason.”
His parents wanted him to keep trying to get out. During his second attempt, Nguyen and his family heard that the police were coming so they left the boat before they could be thwarted again. Lucky for them, the third time was the charm.
“I escaped by boat with my aunt and my uncle and my family stayed behind,” said Nguyen. “When we escaped, a [Naval destroyer] picked us up. She was patrolling the Philippine Sea and they dropped us off there, where we lived in a refugee camp for a year.”
From the refugee camp, he and his family traveled to the United States. There, then 12-year-old Nguyen had the challenge of adapting to his new environment in California.
“I think the hardest part for me was just being separated from my parents and brothers at a young age,” said Nguyen. “I was without them for five years and I was brought up in a tight family. Everything my parents taught me helped me to be successful, even in the Marine Corps.”
As a teenager and a refugee in America, Nguyen sponsored his family to come to America just a short time before he left for boot camp.
“My family came over in late 1993,” said Nguyen. “I went to boot camp in 1994. My Parents didn’t want me to go because they thought I was going to get blown up like in Vietnam. Once I explained to them what the Marine Corps was, they understood the military was different in America.”
In many Asian cultures, family is the most important thing in life and they tend to be very close with one another, explained Nguyen.
“The Marine Corps is a big family and I treat all Marines like they are my family,” said Nguyen. “I serve because America gave me those freedoms that my parents envisioned for me and now it’s my turn to give back to America.”
| Date Taken: | 05.22.2013 |
| Date Posted: | 05.30.2013 14:31 |
| Story ID: | 107784 |
| Location: | MARINE CORPS AIR STATION MIRAMAR, CALIFORNIA, US |
| Web Views: | 671 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Sergeant major embraces past to recognize Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month, by Sgt Melissa Lee, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
