Furor in Westminster Quelled : Vietnamese Accept Fry’s Apology, End Recall Campaign

Averting a “critical situation,” leaders in Orange County’s Vietnamese community accepted an apology from Westminster City Councilman Frank Fry Jr. today and ended a recall effort against him.

Chuyen V. Nguyen, a spokesman for a Vietnamese ad hoc committee, said at a news conference that members of Orange County’s Vietnamese community regretted remarks branded as “insensitive” that Fry made to a group of South Vietnamese military veterans. But he added, “It’s forgivable. It’s forgettable.”

Fry, who was out of town on vacation, asked Dr. Daniel H. Ninburg, chairman of the county Human Relations Commission, to release a statement on the councilman’s behalf. The statement, in part, said: “I would like to apologize for my statements that have caused this outcry.”

As a result of Fry’s apology, Nguyen said the recall effort will be terminated and that anti-Fry posters which were hung Monday in portions of the county’s Little Saigon area will be taken down.

Tells Hopes for Harmony

“It takes a big man to apologize and councilman Frank Fry appears to be one,” Nguyen said. “With this apology, we hope to promote greater harmony between the Vietnamese and Americans. The Vietnamese people are a peace-loving people who are pleased with this outcome.”

In addition to Vietnamese residents, Jewish people, Latinos, Koreans, Chinese and other ethnic groups had voiced concern and fear that Fry’s statements could ignite antipathy toward them and other nonwhites.

Westminster Mayor Charles V. Smith said he was fearful that the controversy could generate strong emotional feelings and further divide the community.

Mai Cong, president of the Vietnamese Community of Orange County Inc., praised the county Human Relations Commission for helping “to defuse” the situation in the community.

“It almost became a critical situation . . . a crisis,” Cong said during the news conference.

The commission served as mediator and helped Fry and members of the Vietnamese ad hoc committee reach an agreement late Monday night. (Story, Part II, Page 1.)l

Apology Quoted

In his apology, Fry, who has been on the City Council 18 years, said he did not “intend to insult” Vietnamese residents or members of the South Vietnamese military group.

The military veterans were denied a parade permit by the Westminster City Council last week. At the meeting, Fry told the veterans’ group that they should commemorate their war dead on a U.S. holiday.

The councilman added, “If you want to be South Vietnamese, go back to South Vietnam,” a remark that prompted members of the county’s Vietnamese community to threaten a recall campaign.

In the apology statement released today, Fry wrote:

“I would like to clarify what I meant in my statements at the City Council meeting last Tuesday. In my statement I did not intend to insult the right of all people to take pride in their ethnic, racial or national heritage. I did not intend to belittle the sacrifice made by our allies, the South Vietnamese, during the Vietnam War, nor did I mean that those who died in the war should not be honored.”

“I would like to apologize for my statements that have caused this outcry. Our community and nation have received tremendous contributions from immigrants including the Vietnamese. I empathize with the difficult process of adjustment and assimilation faced by new immigrants and citizens.”