Calendar/Handbook – Vietnam,1980

After April 30, 1975, personal belongings in Vietnam became very scarce and precious. My wallet was not just to keep my money, but also to keep my favorite pictures. The wallet that I carried with me when I escaped also held a precious calendar/handbook about 2.25″ x 3.50″. I kept it in between the plastic, so the photos would avoid the water when I escaped by boat. In that calendar/handbook, I wrote every detail of my journey, while I escaped from place to place within Vietnam.

The calendar/handbook recorded the days I left Lam Dong in September 1979, to the days of hiding in Saigon, to Vung Tau, and to the final day, when I successfully made it out from Vietnam at Rach Gia seaport and came to Thailand on February 12, 1980 and, eventually, to the US in July of 1980.

This book is very valuable and extremely important to me, because every time I look at it, it tells me how many struggles I have been through, and it gives me great hope and encouragement to face the future ahead.

Son Nam Doan