My Fellow Marines of Delta 1/7, Vietnam,

I am a Marine who served in Vietnam with Delta Co. 1/7 in 1966-1967.  I usually don't forward emails, but I'm making an exception in this case. 

My friend Quang is someone I know personally and someone who would call me every Marine Corps Birthday and thank me for my service.  If you've ever wondered what we were doing in Vietnam, read Quang's speech of appreciation.  I will try and provide a little background on Quang and why his "Veteran's speech of Appreciation" was important to me. 

Quang came into my life as a client as my business of commercial photography was beginning to wind down due to the changing market place.  I had just gotten a computer, but knew next to nothing about its workings or the emerging market of digital photography.  He immediately offered to help me learn the new technology and was giving and sharing of his knowledge in a way that I had never experienced in my career before. 

At that time he inquired about my service in Vietnam.  He sincerely thank me for my service, the first time I had ever been thank for my time in Vietnam.  I was slightly embarrassed and hardly knew what to say.  I quickly came to realize that without his help, the digital world would have left us behind and we would have most assuredly been out of business long ago. 

So, every year when he called me up on the Marine Corps birthday and thanked me once again for my service, I felt a compulsion to say, "No, thank you, because you've extended my working life all these years and for that I'm grateful".  Quang has called me for the last 11 years, every Marine Corps birthday and Veteran's Day and some 4th of July's, to thank me for my service. 

The irony of our relationship hasn't been lost on me.  We have a Marine and his country fighting to help provide a better life for the Vietnamese people.  A young boy from Vietnam comes to America, benefits from that effort and goes on to become a thankful, productive American citizen.  He was given a new chance at a better life and I was given a new business life.  I never dreamed that the person who would offer me a hand when the business needed it the most would be Vietnamese.  Thanks for letting me share.  Here is Quang’s speech.

This Saturday, 24^th July 2010 at 6:30 PM, the town of Prescott Valley, AZ will be hosting a Freedom Rally.  I was asked to speak for 10 minutes on my experience of coming to America and what it means.  

I wrote this in dedication to all Vietnam Veterans and I feel that it is important for me to share it with you prior to the Saturday event.  Here it is and God Bless you my friend.    

Speech begins

Thirty-five 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 my family and me 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 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.  Guess what, I did it legally and it is not from the state of Hawaii.   

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.   

Thirty-five 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 moths 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 is the freedom and the opportunities presented it 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 counsellor told me that I couldn’t 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 aiming 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 someway and somehow, I had forgotten how I got here and why I am 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.  The grown man 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 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 place on the map.  It isn’t a physical location.  It is an ideal, a concept.  And if you are an American, you must understand the concept, you must buy into 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 US 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 know this 46-page document, I learned of the 500,000 Americans who fought for this little boy.  I learned of the 58,000 names scribed 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, Fire-fighters 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

Thank you for taking the time to read this.

“God Bless America, land that I love.”

Semper Fi

Mike Bish

USMC

Delta 1/7, Vietnam (1966-1967)