Garden Grove : Vietnamese Refugee, 11, Wins Award for Essay
Linda Cao, 11, a sixth-grader at the Ernest O. Lawrence School, has won the George Washington Medal for excellence given by the Freedoms Foundation at Valley Forge, Pa., for a written essay.
An edited version of the essay, “A Christmas Tragedy--and a Rescue,” appeared on The Times’ opinion pages on Dec. 25, 1983, detailing in vivid description Linda’s escape from Vietnam three years earlier.
Linda attended Excelsior School at the time. She now is enrolled in Lawrence School’s program for gifted children.
Her essay was among 26 outstanding youth projects chosen by a national jury of 15 prominent Americans under the chairmanship of Gordon R. Hall, chief justice of Utah.
Linda, her parents and brother fled Vietnam in an overcrowded fishing boat on Christmas Eve, 1980. The family and 100 other refugees had paid gold to get aboard the boat. Her father died at sea of dehydration shortly before the family’s rescue by an American vessel.
Linda’s mother, Minh Vo, who speaks three languages, is a bilingual teacher for the district.
The Freedoms Foundation’s Orange County chapter will hold a presentation ceremony at 7 p.m. April 25 at the El Toro Marine Corps Air Station.
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