I was
in Miami for
four days. I spent the first day at Kim Anh’s new house, but I decided to spend
the next three days at Uncle Luu Hung's, realizing this was a rare
opportunity for me to learn from my host’s life-long experience. Through the
few conversations I had with him, I learned a great deal from this old and wise
man with so much experience: from the Viet Minh period when he had to
live in the resistance zone, to his evacuation to South Viet Nam, and finally
to his emigration to the United States and resettlement in Miami.
On the
wall of Uncle Hung's living room, I saw the citation of the US Army
Commendation Medal with "V" Device ( V= Valor), which was awarded to
Luu Huyen for meritorious action while he commanded a Joint Vietnamese-American
reconnaissance team in an operation against the enemy maquis. (Uncle Hung was
an official of the Chieu Hoi (Open Arms) Ministry under the First and Second Republics).
Luu
Huyen passed away when his son Doan was only two and a half years old. On the
day of my visit to Miami Doan was 18 and a student at UCLA. Although fifteen
years had elapsed, Mr. and Mrs. Buu Hung were filled with emotion each time I
mentioned Huyen's name: they spoke about their son with much pride in their
voices and on their faces. Uncle Hung showed me an album containing photos of
Huyen's funeral. The photo that moved me the most was the one showing little
Doan wearing mourning garb, with a pacifier in his mouth. In another picture,
he held on to his mother's dress. In yet another he stood by himself next to
the wreaths of flowers in front of his father's coffin. Everyone in the funeral
procession was preoccupied or crying bitterly for the deceased. Doan was then too
small to know the big loss of his life.
Doan
was an excellent student at Mayfair
High School in Cerritos, California.
I had the chance to read the school newspaper and learned that he had earned
the Cal Grant Scholarship, Honorable Mentions, PTA Council Scholarship, and
several commendation certificates from the school.