Author: amvetsne

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Interesting perspective from a Vietnamese Immigrant

The difference between legal and illegal.  This is something everyone in America should read….It looks like we did some good after all!

 

On Saturday, July 24th, 2010 the town of Prescott Valley, AZ, hosted a Freedom Rally.  Quang Nguyen was asked to speak on his experience of coming to America and what it means.  He spoke the following in dedication to all Vietnam Veterans.  Thought you might enjoy hearing what he had to say:

Start Quote:

35 years ago, if you were to tell me that I am going to stand up here speaking to a couple thousand patriots, in English, I’d laugh at you.  Man, every morning I wake up thanking God for putting me and my family in the greatest country on earth.  I just want you all to know that the American dream does exist and I am living the American dream.  I was asked to speak to you about my experience as a first generation Vietnamese-American, but I’d  rather speak to you as an American.

If you hadn’t noticed, I am not white and I feel pretty comfortable with my people.  I am a proud US citizen and here is my proof.  It took me 8 years to get it, waiting in endless lines, but I got it, and I am very proud of it.

I still remember the images of the Tet offensive in 1968, I was six years old.  Now you might want to question how a 6-year-old boy could remember anything.  Trust me, those images can never be erased.  I can’t even imagine what it was like for young American soldiers, 10,000 miles away from home, fighting on my behalf.

35 years ago, I left South Vietnam for political asylum.  The war had ended  At the age of 13, I left with the understanding that I may or may not ever get to see my siblings or parents again.  I was one of the first lucky 100,000 Vietnamese allowed to come to the US.  Somehow, my family and I were reunited 5 months later, amazingly, in California.  It was a miracle from God.

If you haven’t heard lately that this is the greatest country on earth, I am telling you that right now.  It was the freedom and the opportunities presented to me that put me here with all of you tonight.  I also remember the barriers that I had to overcome every step of the way.  My high school counselor told me that I cannot make it to college due to my poor communication skills.  I proved him wrong.  I finished college.  You see, all you have to do is to give this little boy an opportunity and encourage him to take and run with it.  Well, I took the opportunity and here I am.

This person standing tonight in front of you could not exist under a socialist/communist environment.  By the way, if you think socialism is the way to go, I am sure many people here will chip in to get you a one-way ticket out of here.  And if you didn’t know, the only difference between socialism and communism is an AK-47 aimed at your head.  That was my experience.

In 1982, I stood with a thousand new immigrants, reciting the Pledge of Allegiance and listening to the National Anthem for the first time as an American.  To this day, I can’t remember anything sweeter and more patriotic than that moment in my life.

Fast forwarding, somehow I finished high school, finished college, and like any other goofball 21 year old kid, I was having a great time with my life I had a nice job and a nice apartment in Southern California.  In some way and somehow, I had forgotten how I got here and why I was here.

One day I was at a gas station, I saw a veteran pumping gas on the other side of the island.  I don’t know what made me do it, but I walked over and asked if he had served in Vietnam.  He smiled and said yes.  I shook and held his hand.  This grown man’s eyes began to well up.  I walked away as fast as I could and at that very moment, I was emotionally rocked.  This was a profound moment in my life.  I knew something had to change in my life.  It was time for me to learn how to be a good citizen.  It was time for me to give back.

You see, America is not just a place on the map, it isn’t just a physical location.  It is an ideal, a concept.  And if you are an American, you must understand the concept, you must accept this concept, and most importantly, you have to fight and defend this concept.  This is about Freedom and not free stuff.  And that is why I am standing up here

Brothers and sisters, to be a real American, the very least you must do is to learn English and understand it well.  In my humble opinion, you cannot be a faithful patriotic citizen if you can’t speak the language of the country you live in.  Take this document of 46 pages – last I looked on the Internet, there wasn’t a Vietnamese translation of the U.S. Constitution.  It took me a long time to get to the point of being able to converse and until this day, I still struggle to come up with the right words. It’s not easy, but if it’s too easy, it’s not worth doing

Before I knew this 46-page document, I learned of the 500,000 Americans who fought for this little boy.  I learned of the 58,000 names inscribed on the black wall at the Vietnam Memorial.  You are my heroes.  You are my founders.

At this time, I would like to ask all the Vietnam veterans to please stand.  I thank you for my life.  I thank you for your sacrifices, and I thank you for giving me the freedom and liberty I have today.  I now ask all veterans, firefighters, and police officers, to please stand  On behalf of all first generation immigrants, I thank you for your services and may God bless you all.

 

Quang Nguyen
Creative Director/Founder
Caddis Advertising, LLC
“God Bless America”
“One Flag, One Language, One Nation Under God”

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Veterans Claim Center

Who?
Discharging Service members, Veterans, their families and Survivors

What?
Claims clinic – Discharging Service members, Veterans, and their families and survivors will be able to:

– file disability claims

– submit evidence

– speak with a claims processor

– speak with Regional Office Leadership

– in some cases have a VA medical exam completed..

ALL IN ONE DAY!

Where?
Phelps County Ag Center
1308 2nd Avenue
Holdrege, NE 68949

When?
Thursday, August 15th, 2019. 10:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.

Questions?
Contact your County Veteran Service Officer or the State Service Office at 402-420-4021.
Vietnam War Commemoration Pin image
Vietnam War Commemoration Ceremony

The Lincoln Regional Office will also be hosting a ceremony to commemorate the anniversary of the Vietnam War. The ceremony will be held at the Phelps County Ag Center at 1:00 p.m. during the Claims Clinic. Come join us as we honor the brave men and women who served in Vietnam. During the ceremony Vietnam Veterans will be honored with a special lapel pin commemorating their service.

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244th Army Ball & 75th Anniversary of the D-Day Invasion

I am SFC Warren and I’m contacting you on behalf of the USSTRATCOM Army Element at Offutt AFB. I’d like to extend an invitation to your members, regardless of service, to join us for the Army’s 244th Birthday celebration being held at the Beardmore Event Center in Bellevue on June 7th at 6PM for the social hour and 7PM for the start of dinner.

Attached is a flyer with details about the event and below is a link for RSVPs. A cash or PayPal option is available and guests do not need a PayPal account to pay online. I’d also be happy to RSVP on behalf of guests and accept payment if that’s preferred.

Invitation CLICK HERE

 

Let me know if there are any questions. Have a great day.

V/R,

Matthew C. Warren

SFC, USA

Army Element SEL | J5

Offutt AFB, NE

Comm: 402-232-4854

SIPR: [email protected]

JWICS: [email protected]

 

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AMVETS 75th National Convention – 2019-20 Proposed Resolutions

Greetings AMVETS Department Leaders,
As your National Legislative Affairs Associate, I look forward to meeting you at the upcoming AMVETS 75th National Convention, August 21-24 in Louisville, Kentucky. In the meantime, enclosed you’ll find 19 resolutions for your review and consideration at state-level department conventions.
The resolutions  ​ are arranged by subject matter. The majority originated at headquarters (HQ) and are being sent in accordance with AMVETS Constitution and Bylaws. Most are current and expiring, because they were passed at the 2017 AMVETS National Convention, but need to be renewed after two years. Since the issues they deal with remain important to veterans and our work on Capitol Hill, I hope you’ll support their re-authorization. Only one of the resolutions is being proposed by HQ for the first time.  It deals with post-traumatic growth and promising new approaches to treating the mental health needs of veterans.
Should you have any department-led resolutions you would like distributed to other states, please don’t hesitate to send them along. I would like to email them early next month, prior to the start of state conventions.
If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me at [email protected] or 301-832-2982.
Respectfully,
Thomas Himes
AMVETS Legislative Affairs Associate
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Creighton Baseball Salute to Veterans and First Responders

Saturday May 11th 6:30 PM TD AmeriTrade Park  Creighton vs St Johns

Wanted to share the link for digital tickets for this year’s game.  Up to 4 Free tickets can be claimed by visiting the link below and entering the promo code GOJAYS

 

www.GoCreighton.com/Salute

 

Come see military and First Responders equipment displays, skydivers, flyover, fireworks, music by Guitars4Vets and tribute to our fallen.

 

Enlistments will be conducted on the field between the 2nd and 3rd inning all-branches. Last year 82 future warriors took the Oath of Enlistment to a standing ovation by the over 15,000 in attendance.

 

Color Guard provided by Omaha Fire and Police Department and the 30′ x 50′ American Flag will be brought onto the field by the 10 schools representing America’s Heartland at the 75th D-Day Commemoration Parade in Normandy France in June 2019.