Resignation and Regret in Little Saigon

For some, it was the second defeat. The second abandonment. And they cried.

But for most in Orange County’s Little Saigon, there was little outcry or indignation on the day that President Clinton made his historic announcement that the United States is normalizing relations with Vietnam.

Unlike the heated demonstrations and raised voices that greeted past indications of a thaw between the former adversaries, the news this time was met mostly with resignation, regret and a few quiet tears--signs that many here in the nation’s largest Vietnamese community had braced themselves for the inevitable long ago.

Clinton’s move has little practical significance for most residents, because trade and travel restrictions had already been lifted in the last two years amid improving relations. But the decision held plenty of symbolic meaning for the 70,000 to 100,000 people who live in the Little Saigon area.

“The Clinton Administration is full of broken promises,” said Dung Tran, president of the Orange County chapter of the Vietnamese Professional Society in Southern California.

Tri Thich, a monk at the Bat Nha Temple in Garden Grove, wept as he listened to Clinton’s speech. “We’ve lost our country, our government, our flag, our homeland,” the 50-year-old lamented. “For Vietnamese Americans, the President’s decision is like the second defeat, the second April 30, the second time we’ve been abandoned. We have nothing else to lose.”

But many others interviewed in the cafes, strip centers and pho noodle restaurants that make up the bustling heart of Little Saigon said the establishment of full diplomatic ties seemed anticlimactic because relations between the adversaries had been warming for several years.

“We have to move forward,” said Mai Cong, president of the Vietnamese Community of Orange County, a nonprofit organization in Santa Ana. “The news is disturbing but a decisive step for us to come to terms with what has happened. We have to let go so that we [can] move on.”

At the Asian Garden Mall in the heart of Little Saigon, business was brisk Tuesday, with only a few pausing to watch Clinton’s live announcement on rows of flickering television screens at the Ultimate Electronics International Appliance store.

But nearby, Hai Nguyen, 60, shook his head, voicing concern that the United States must remain alert in its dealings with Vietnam’s Communist government.

“They are liars,” said Nguyen, an Irvine computer programmer and onetime major in the South Vietnamese army. “Any time, anywhere, they can change their ideas. You cannot trust them. I think the United States must be very careful now.”

Others spoke out Tuesday in favor of Clinton’s move, voicing opinions that not long ago could not have been uttered in Little Saigon.

“It is time to forgive and forget,” said Nhieu Nguyen, 70. Many Vietnamese immigrants to the United States “talk about lack of human rights in Vietnam,” he said. “Then this is the reason to start relations with America,” to improve the situation.

For Annie Le, 53, normalization means safer travel between the two countries.

“There are a lot of people going back to Vietnam, and the President’s announcement now is like an OK for travelers,” she said. “It makes sense and is good timing.”

Kevin Huynh, 30, took a break between customers at his parents’ clothing store to consider the topic.

“This is a good thing for both sides--for the United States and for Vietnam,” Huynh said. “Now Vietnam will have a chance to put its head up. It has been so poor for 20 years and now it will be better. And for the U.S., now we will have more chance to get more information on the MIAs and POWs. It’s good for everyone.”

Giam Tran, 53, stood near the entrance to a clothing store at the Asian Garden Mall, watching the lunchtime crowds. He gestured toward the small tables where knots of middle-aged Vietnamese men sat drinking coffee and smoking cigarettes.

“The former soldiers here--they are narrow-minded people. They hate the Communists,” said Tran, a former history teacher in Vietnam who arrived in this country in 1990. “I know why they feel like this, but everything in the world changes. Maybe even these people can change; maybe the Communists can change too.”

At the Vietnamese Community Center in Santa Ana, workers rushed to set up a new color television set in time for Tuesday’s announcement. But as the hour approached, employees were forced to hastily drag in an older set, just in time to tune in to the Little Saigon television station that would carry Clinton’s statement.

The center’s staff pleaded with those present to stop their activities and listen to the President speak. About half of the room’s 60 occupants inched toward the front of the room for a better view of the grainy set, while others continued to read newspapers, play their card games and finish their chess matches.

After the announcement, Santa Ana resident Anh Trang Nguyen, 67, said it was a sad day for her.

“I can’t support it,” she said. “We should not declare the normalization until things change in Vietnam. There still are not human rights in Vietnam, and there is not freedom in Vietnam. The standard of living is low, it is poverty-stricken, the people are poor, and they are hungry.”

Tears clouded the eyes of 83-year-old Oanh Nguyen, who has been in the United States for 12 years.

“How can we stand it?” she asked. “The Viet Cong are bad people. How can we live with the Communists? It is difficult for me as an old woman to live in America, but it is impossible to live in Vietnam. We can’t normalize until the Communists are gone.”

Duy Le, 65, offered an impassioned speech condemning the Communists to anyone who would listen.

“As long as Vietnam is under Communist rule, normalization will not make a difference!” he claimed, pumping his fists. “President Clinton is being deceived. They will not change. The country will not be changed for the better by this.”

Meanwhile, at the Richard M. Nixon Library and Birthplace in Yorba Linda, visitors strolling through the Vietnam exhibit seemed befuddled by Clinton’s actions, unsure how his decision squared with those of his predecessor a generation before.

“It’s a little too soon. There’s still a lot of broken hearts out there. For some of us who are in this museum today, there’s a lot of bitterness toward a man who wasn’t even there,” said Wayne Anthony, 49, of Redwood City, Calif., who spent 1967-68 in Cu Chi with the U.S. Army.

“It’s real difficult to watch someone who may have attempted to avoid [serving in the military during the war] making decisions to be there again. What’s his purpose?”

Younger visitors, lacking Anthony’s personal, bitter memories, were more supportive of Clinton’s move.

“It’s about time to reconcile. After all, the war ended 20 years ago. I think the two countries should move on,” said Tommy Chan, 29, a Long Beach psychologist.

“Having an adversarial relationship hasn’t helped” get information about American soldiers missing in action, Chan said. “Why not try something different?”

Times staff writers Phuong Nguyen, Tina Nguyen, Jodi Wilgoren and Thao Hua contributed to this story.