As I am getting older, I feel that there is a need to understand my own roots, especially when I am always being labeled as an “Asian-American”. I was born and raised in a family with a very traditional Vietnamese culture, where we are constantly being reminded to love and respect others. All that I hear, most of the time from my relative, is how my grandfather, has influenced the family, despite the fact that my grandfather passed away almost 17 years ago. I have heard from my grandmother, and my grand-uncle, who came to visit from Vietnam last month, and I can feel his love and dedication for this family.
My grandfather, Toan Dinh was born on December 28, 1919 in Thuc-Hoa, North Vietnam. He was born to a wealthy family. His father, Luong Dinh, was an owner of hundreds of acres of farmland. He was educated under the French system. He married my grandmother, Uyen Vu, at the age of nineteen and at that time she was only sixteen. He was twenty-three when they had their first child and they ended up having seven daughters and two sons.
My Grandfather, His Story - Our Lives
by Vy-Thao Dinh
At the age of twenty-six he became the mayor of a town named Truc Ninh. Besides being a mayor he was also a teacher. He taught unprivileged kids and earned the nickname Mr. Teacher Toan. He was involved in a movement to gain independence from France. The independent party was known as the Viet Minh, but later it became the Vietnamese Communist party when Ho Chi Minh took control of the party. At that time my grandfather left the party. After the Viet Minh beat the French at the battle of Dien Bien Phu, both sides signed a peace treaty at Geneva, Sweden. They divided the country into two halves at the 17th latitude. After the French left Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh and his party members massacred hundreds of leaders and thousands of rank-and-file members of various nationalist groups, who refused to join Ho Chi Minh’s party. My grandfather had to
change his name to Chuong Dinh and went into hiding. He moved from house to house to escape from prosecution, and my grandmother had to bring him food. Based on a story told by my grand uncle, one time when the Viet Minh was waiting outside the house that my grandfather and some of his friends were hiding in. A rooster saved them because it crowed at twelve at night. The Viet Minh retreated when they heard the rooster because they thought it was morning. Besides murdering their oppositions the Viet Minh also built their party with uneducated farmers. They took away land from wealthy families and gave them to the loyal members of their party and because of this my grandfather lost everything. After seeing many of his wealthy or educated friends being captured and killed in 1954, he took his wife and kids down the Mekong River to escape from North Vietnam. On the journey down the Mekong River my grandfather displayed a picture of Mother Mary in the control room of the boat.
Every day the whole family gathered together to pray for a safe escape. After 7 days their prayers were answered, the whole family arrived safely to the south side of Vietnam, now called, The Republic of Vietnam. At first my grandfather and his family settled in the city of Qui Nhon, where my father and my two aunts were born. My grandfather joined the South Vietnamese army and moved his family to Saigon, the capital of South Vietnam. During these years the big family went through many changes. My grandfather’s first four daughters were married, moved to different cities and started their own families. At the end of April 1975, with the protection of God, they all escaped the destruction of the North Vietnamese Communist that was brought to their homes and they all moved back to my grandfather’s home.
Once again, my grandfather led the family to another long journey to escape the Communism as the falling of Saigon was getting near. The next journey was more difficult than the first. After four days on the broken ship with four thousand other refugees, without food and water, my father was near death on the fourth day. Once again with the protection of Mother Mary, the family escaped harm. The whole ship was rescued by one of Denmark’s merchant ship. All the refugees on the ship were allowed to stay in a refugee camp on Main Land China. After four months in China, my grandfather’s family was accepted to the United States. The family spent another three months in an American refugee camp, the Camp of India Town Gap, in Lebanon, Pennsylvania. After receiving a sponsorship from a Baptist Church in Houston, my grandfather brought the family to settle in Houston, Texas in 1976. He later passed away at the age of 72 on November 27th, 1991 in Houston, Texas.
