A Conclusion and a Request

Where do I go from here?

On May 5th my father wrote from aboard the American Challenger:

Dear Nance, troops and Rabs [my mother’s parents],

I am sitting in an upper deck cabin looking out the porthole at booms and rigging of this 21,000 ton freighter. Below all these wires and steel are 5,029 [or is it 5,009] refugees not counting us four Americans—Bowman, Taber, Gass and me. Jones never made it out of Saigon in time to join us. TSN was bombed, rocketed and closed the night before he was to come. The irony was that the day before, Monday, an empty C-46 arrived in Phu Quoc with only 2 cases of brandy aboard. Jones, Hai and a few others should have been on that flight. I assume Jones made it by chopper to the fleet or Subic Bay, but I fear for Mr. Hai.

As it was Mr. Hai did not make it out with the April 30 evacuation and wrote a story, “My Escape to Freedom” which he sent to my father a year later, expressing thanks despite the fact that my father was not able to secure his safe passage.

My father closed his May 5th letter with the words:

This has been a unique experience but one I would not want to repeat.

Yesterday morning I awoke realizing that I had taken a journey from July 1974 when my family arrived in Saigon to April 30, 1975 when Saigon had collapsed at the fates of so many were decided; those who got out and those who didn’t.

Contemplating Sagion, 2015

It has been a unique experience, this retracing of the past. Is it one I want to repeat? April 2025 is, after all, the 50th Anniversary of the End of the Vietnam War.

The stories of the Vietnam Era are legion, there is no way I could ever tell them all. I have worked on this story since 2012 and it has, despite the tough subject, been rewarding.

I have several guest features, “in the wings,” and will continue to publish through the end of June.

I look to you, dear readers, to speak up and let me know if you find value in these posts and whether you’d like to see them continue through April 30, 2025.

I look forward to hearing from you,
Kat

P.S. If you have read my book and liked it, I would really appreciate it if you could read a short 5-star review on Amazon or Goodreads to help spread the word.

The “Black April” sale of my book will continue through May 15, just $11.99. Please consider gifting a copy to a friend or a library that might find some benefit in the history of Vietnam.

Writers thrive on connection with their readers—and on monetary support too. Consider becoming a paid subscriber if you like Stories of Vietnam. You’ll receive weekly emails of “Stories of Vietnam,” which offer a historical and personal glimpse into the Vietnam Era as we approach the 50th Anniversary of the End of the Vietnam War.

Kat-Fitzpatrick.com.