06/13/2024 with Christina Vo

With me today is Christina Vo a Vietnamese American who has written an exquisitely crafted memoir with her father, Nghia M. Vo. My Vietnam, Your Vietnam: A Father Flees, A Daughter Returns. Nghia, risking death, torture or imprisonment was miraculously picked up by a small rescue boat a few days after the fall of Saigon in April, 1975 and eventually forged a new life in the United States. Yet like many refugees Christina’s parents never spoke to their children of the horrors of the war and their harrowing escape, even only speaking their native language when Christina and her sister were asleep or out of earshot. So it was after college in the Midwest that Christina began to feel a yearning to discover her rich ancestral roots and journeyed first to Hanoi. The theme of reconciliation runs like a precious gem through our vibrant conversation. My Vietnam, Your Vietnam published by Three Rooms Press.