The Triumph of the Will : Despite war scars, Vietnamese flourish here

More than 50,000 Americans died in the Vietnam War. So did more than 3 million Vietnamese, both military personnel and civilians, in the north and the south. Many who managed to survive have lived on with physical and psychological wounds long after the last shot was fired. If American veterans too often received minimal help in recovering from the war, the Vietnamese who fought on the losing side received even less.

Thousands of onetime soldiers of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam who fled to the United States today live in Orange County. Many arrived after suffering imprisonment following the fall of Saigon, which occurred 20 years ago this Sunday.

What is remarkable is how well most have come to grips with a new land and new lives, finding in America what they fought for in Vietnam. Some have seen their children become lawyers, doctors or engineers. One veteran’s son graduated from West Point and is now a U.S. Army lieutenant.

As part of the healing process, Vietnamese veterans are raising funds to build a memorial in Westminster, heart of Orange County’s Little Saigon, to honor U.S. and Vietnamese war dead. This cause--directed toward a monument similar in spirit to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington--is a worthy one.

The trauma of the war is still just below the surface in both Vietnam and America--as demonstrated by the nationwide controversy over former Defense Secretary Robert S. McNamara’s new book about the decisions that led to deeper U.S. involvement in the war.

Vietnamese war survivors, a veterans counselor says, often find it difficult to open up to strangers, even counselors who speak their native language. And despite the successes in U.S. universities, the workplace and elsewhere, Vietnamese communities often are beset by crime and gangs.

Overall, the adjustment of Vietnamese refugees in America is comparable to that of other immigrants. Polls have found that although many felt they were pushed out of their homeland, surprisingly few would return to Vietnam if the Communists were ousted from power. Large numbers of the newcomers have become American citizens.

Recent years have seen a flourishing of the arts in Little Saigon. A new generation, born in America, is finding more entrances to mainstream culture and easier inclusion in society, unhampered by language problems and ancient customs.

By living out in the United States what they fought for in Vietnam, they have written a new and impressive chapter of the long-running saga that is the American Dream.