Commentary by Lt. Col. Harold Hoang
50th Mission Support Group deputy commander
11/3/2010 - SCHRIEVER AIR FORCE BASE,
Colo. -- With Veterans Day just around the corner, let me share with you
what this special day means to me. Bear with me as I walk you through
the history behind the day that we now know as Veterans Day and why it
has a special place in my heart.
Originally Veterans Day was known as
Armistice Day and traces its origin back to World War I, known at the
time as "The Great War." According to the Department of Veterans
Affairs, a temporary cessation of hostilities between the Allied nations
and Germany went into effect on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day
of the eleventh month. For that reason, November 11, 1918, is generally
regarded as the end of "the war to end all wars." It was a year later
when President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed November 11, 1919 as the first
commemoration of Armistice Day. November 11th became a legal federal
holiday in the United States in 1938. In 1954, at the urging of veterans
who served in World War II and Korea, the 83rd Congress amended the Act
of 1938 by striking out the word "Armistice" and inserting in its place
the word "Veterans." With the approval of this legislation (Public Law
380) on June 1, 1954, November 11th became a day to honor American
veterans of all wars. Here ends the history lesson.
As for me, Veterans Day means a great
deal. Whenever I have the honor of meeting veterans of past wars, I
always make it a point to thank them for their service. I am thankful
for veterans of all wars, but especially those who fought in the Vietnam
War. Those brave men and women had a direct impact on my life and the
lives of hundreds of thousands of "boat people" that fled the war torn
nation of Vietnam in 1975. Yes, I was one of the "boat people."
So how did I get to call this great
nation of ours home? Simply put, it was due to my parents' bravery and
sacrifices. On April 30, 1975, my parents having lived under Viet Cong's
rule before Vietnam was divided in two, decided to leave all behind and
took nine kids on a journey that changed our lives forever. My dad was
an officer in the South Vietnamese Army and served proudly alongside
U.S. Special Forces. When the Viet Cong took over South Vietnam he knew
it was time to "get out of Dodge." My parents knew the family would not
be safe because of his affiliation with U.S. Forces. They knew someone
would turn them over to win favors with the new ruling party. They knew
it was either live free or die...so off we went under the cover of
darkness.
Where were we going? Doesn't matter, we
weren't staying. We boarded a tugboat crammed with hundreds of other
refugees sea bound for freedom...we hoped. We were fleeing with only the
clothes on our backs and very little sustenance. There was no food or
water and very little comfort. Luckily for us, the U.S. Navy was on
watch ready to rescue refugees. Upon our encounter with the U.S. Navy,
we were directed to abandon our boat and climbed into a collection
point...a barge with chain link fence and sand bags for stability. I was
seven years old but can still remember my dad climbing behind my
three-year old sister making sure she did not fall into the ocean as the
barge swayed with waves.
We were starving and dehydrated. We
struggled through a couple nights without any food and very little
water. I remember people pushing and shoving their ways toward the Navy
ships fighting to get rescued. I also remember people fell between the
sand barge and a Navy ship. They were never seen again. Smartly my
parents kept us away from the madness until it was safe.
I don't recall the full details, but my
brothers and sisters still tease me about passing out from dehydration. I
told them I faked the dehydration, took one for the "team" so the
family would be rescued sooner. But I did wake up on board a Navy ship
with an intravenous stuck to my arm...kind of tough to get around that
one. I think it was about two to three days before we were plucked from
the ocean on our way to Subic Bay, Philippines. A few days later I got
my first ride in a C-130 to Anderson Air Base, Guam. Two more weeks of
paperwork, shots and whatever else and we found ourselves in a refugee
camp at Fort Indian Town Gap, Pa.
We got to Fort Indian Town Gap just
before Memorial Day and spent the next three months adjusting to a new
culture. But trying to start a new life for a family of 11 was
challenging when you hardly speak the language and had no money. Finding
a family willing to sponsor us and give us a new start was not easy. In
the end, it was St. Marks Luther Church in Storm Lake, Iowa that gave
us a new life...our first home in the United States.
Needless to say the climate didn't agree
with us. It was the first time we saw snow...all the way up to the
windows. I recall seeing my dad biking to work in the snow. He worked at
a turkey processing plant. It was not for him nor did he enjoy it but
it had to be done. It wasn't long before my parents uprooted us again
for Portland, Ore. We now consider Portland home.
So to veterans of all wars but
especially the veterans of the Vietnam War, we owe you a debt of
gratitude that cannot be repaid through words. We are forever in your
debt. Through your bravery and sacrifices we are living the American
dream...all the kids are successful, contributing to this great nation
and making a difference everyday. We're proud to be Americans and I
thank you from the bottom of my heart.
In closing, I encourage everyone to
thank a veteran today and everyday. Because it is the veterans who make
it possible for us to pursue life, liberty and happiness. I'd like to
close with a poem by Father Dennis Edward O'Brien "It is the Soldier."
Forgive me if you have read it before. But I do believe it's worth
taking a moment to remember what veterans have done for this great
nation. Enjoy the poem!
It is the Soldier
By Father Dennis Edward O'Brien
11ember
It is the Soldier
not the reporter, who has given us freedom of press.
It is the Soldier
not the poet, who has given us freedom of speech.
It is the Soldier
not the campus organizer, who gives us freedom to demonstrate.
It is the Soldier
who salutes the flag,
who serves beneath the flag,
and whose coffin is draped by the flag,
who allows the protester to burn the flag.
Lt. Colonel Harold Hoang is the son of Captain Hoàng Công Khâm Group 11 Strata Republic Of Vietnam Special Operations Group /
Trung
Tá Không Quân Hoa Kỳ Harold Hoàng là con trai của cố Đại Úy Hoàng Công
Khâm Đoàn 11 Sở Công Tác Nha Kỹ Thuật / Bộ Tổng Tham Mưu Quân Lực Việt
Nam Cộng Hòa
Đại Úy Hoàng Công Khâm / Biệt Hải / Đoàn Công Tác 11 Nha Kỹ Thuật trong những công tác xâm nhập miền Bắc Việt Nam
The Special Mission Services Logo /
Republic Of Vietnam Special Operation Forces
Captain Hoàng Công Khâm Coastal Security Services
Mr. & Mrs Hoàng Công Khâm
Members Group 11 Special Mission Services Republic Of Vietnam Special Operations Group
Nguyễn Duy Tựu & Đại Úy Hoàng Công Khâm ĐCT11/SCT/NKT
As
many of you may know, Veterans Day was originally called Armistice Day
and has its roots with the ending of World War 1. In 1918, on the
eleventh hour of the eleventh day in the eleventh month, after four
years of bitter war, an armistice was signed and the "war to end all
wars" was over.
But
the lasting peace envisioned by our fathers, grandfathers and
great-grandfathers was short-lived, and in the 82 years since the
trenches were abandoned on the battlefields of Europe, the United States
has been engaged in four more wars and numerous conflicts.
As
we commemorate Veterans Day, we gratefully recognize the hardships and
sacrifices made by the millions of men and women who have served our
great country in wartime and in peacetime. Today we pay tribute to our
veterans, whose patriotism has contributed so much to the cause of world
peace and the preservation of our American way of life. They have faced
the perils 'Is of an uncertain world with the certainty that they may
be called upon to risk their lives for an ideal they held so dear. And
that ideal is what we know as freedom. Those who have seen the dead and
wounded, the mud and the misery, the suffering and the sacrifice of war,
and those who have given their loved ones in mortal conflict, know full
well that "freedom is not free."
Today,
as many of us question those considered heroes by our youth, we know
that within our American society there is a group of heroes, selfless
men and women, who gave in wartime and peacetime, so we may enjoy the
freedom that we live each day. Those men and women are our veterans.
Our
World War 11 veterans are all part of a generation from which we take
inspiration. They won the war, they planned for peace, and they led our
country through the second half of the 20th Century. Without their subordination to the common good, our world would be radically different today.
For
those in World War II, innocent years of love and adventure were
substituted with years of fighting throughout North Africa, Europe and
the island hopping campaigns of the Pacific. They returned home after a
World War and began where their lives had ended years before. "As they
now reach the twilight of their adventurous and productive lives, they
remain for the most part, exceptionally modest," as Tom Brokaw wrote in
his book, "The Greatest Generation." "They have so many stories to tell,
stories that in many cases they have never told before, because in a
deep sense they did not think that what they were doing was that
special, because everyone else was doing it."
Mr.
Brokaw's insight has reminded me of a story about a Navy Corpsman, or
medic in Army terms, by the name of John Bradley. I believe he
epitomizes the great contribution and modesty of our American veterans.
John Bradley was one of the six flag raisers atop Mount Suribachi on the
island of Iwo Jima during World War 11. He was not only a flag raiser,
forever immortalized by the world-renowned picture taken by Joe
Rosenthal, but he was also a hero in his own right. He was awarded the
Navy Cross - our nation's second highest award for heroism - for risking
his life to save a United States Marine. His son James Bradley writes
an unforgettable clu-onicle of the legacy of the six men who raised the
flag on Iwo Jima in his book titled "Flags of Our Fathers." Perhaps the
greatest tribute to his father was a description of his Dad's reluctance
to speak of the flag raising. In fact, there was never a picture of the
famous flag-raising to be found in the Bradley home. If asked about the
action atop Mount Suribachi by his son, John Bradley's response was
always short and simple and he would quickly change the subject. It was
only after John Bradley's death in 1994 that his family found closed
cardboard boxes in a dark office closet with any memorabilia about the
war at all. You see, John Bradley's response to his young son's interest
in his belief that his Dad was a hero was merely, "The real heroes of
Iwo Jima are the guys who did not come back." Yes, John Bradley is an
ideal example of the nature of our veterans from each generation.
Selfless and modest men and women who have understood the price of
freedom and whose respect for those who made the ultimate sacrifice far
exceeds any consideration they may have had of their own contributions.
As
we take inspiration from the achievements of those veterans who
participated in the Second World War, what about the contribution of
those who fought in the Korean War - The Forgotten War. I had the
privilege in September to participate in Korean War commemorative events
at Pusan and Inchon, Korea, as this is the 50 anniversary of that
conflict. How many of us are aware that the North Korean attack into
South Korea was the first major test of communism against democracy
following World War 11. If the efforts of our veterans had failed, how
different would our world have been over the past fifty years.
Did
you know that America was significantly downsizing its Armed Forces
following the end of World War 11 and it was a minimally trained
American occupation force in Japan that was initially thrown into battle
to blunt the attack of determined and overwhelmingly superior communist
North Korean forces. Brave young Americans fought and died to preserve
freedom in South Korea. They fought a stand-or-die defense, against
overwhelming odds, within a small enclave of land in the southeast part
of Korea called the Pusan perimeter. This was done to buy time for
reinforcements to arrive and for training to be conducted. They held
their position and subsequently conducted a breakout in conjunction with
a daring amphibious landing at Inchon that resulted in the disruption
of the enemy rear, led to the liberation of Seoul and the ultimate
expulsion of North Korean forces from South Korea. This war was waged
for nearly three years by brave men and women who did not hesitate to
answer the call of our country to defend the freedom of the people of
South Korea and, in so doing, announced to the tyrants of the world that
freedom was still worth fighting for.
And
then we have the Vietnam War. A war that again found America's treasure
- its young men - fighting in a distant land in the name of freedom.
Brave men and women, who again answered the call of our country to fight
for an ideal. A war that became filled with controversy - controversy
at home - but there was no room for controversy for those brave
Americans in the midst of fighting in the rice paddies and the
countryside of South Vietnam. We paid dearly in the name of freedom with
58,000 American lives - brave Americans who were willing to risk and
sacrifice their lives in the name of freedom. Regardless of the
controversy of that war, the individual soldier, sailor, airman and
Marine served from a sense of duty to this country. To this day, nearly
30 years later, it has been the ties amongst the individual service
members and their loyalty to their units and each other that keeps the
memory of their service to our country alive.
In
my previous assignment, as the Commanding General, Marine Corps Recruit
Depot, Parris Island, South Carolina, I had the unique opportunity to
visit with many of the veterans groups who would hold reunions at the
Depot. Veteran groups would visit Parris Island because it is where
hundreds of thousands of Marines have completed recruit training and
marched across the parade deck to serve in our wartime and peacetime
Marine Corps. One particular unit, the I" Battalion, gth Marine Regiment
known as the "Walking Dead" due to the large number of casualties
during the Vietnam War characterizes the spirit of all veterans. Each
year they hold a national gathering, and members of the unit from all
over the country attend. I noted the friendships between unit members
and their families which had lasted throughout the years and the
camaraderie and sheer pleasure of each other's company they enjoyed. I
was especially moved when the socializing ceased and a wooden ammunition
box was carried forward that contained the names of their six hundred
and three fallen comrades who had made the ultimate sacrifice in
Vietnam. Heartfelt comments were made in their memory. Marines/fellow
Americans that will never be forgotten as long as any of their fellow
Marines live. The solemnity in that room, the emotion of that moment,
the consoling of sobbing men by each other, spoke to their service to
our country and their love of each other. This is the spirit and undying
loyalty of our American veteran.
And
then the Gulf War where thousands upon thousands of US servicemen and
women were deployed to Southwest Asia and thousands more at bases
throughout the world supporting the effort to again fight tyranny and to
restore freedom. A war titled "The I 00 Hour War" yet regardless of its
duration, its uncertainty at the outset caused every US service person
to experience the same anxiety and coming to peace with one's self and
one's God that has confronted every other serviceman in every other
generation.
And
we have had many other conflicts within the past years. Lebanon,
Grenada, Panama, Somalia, Haiti, Bosnia, Kosovo, and now the USS Cole,
all have challenged the fortitude and commitment of the American
serviceman and woman and their determination to uphold freedom and to
preserve our American way of life.
Within
each generation, you can see that we have had young, inexperienced
Americans who became tough and capable soldiers, airmen, sailors,
coastguardsmen and Marines, They became veterans. This is our day to
honor all veterans - to remember those who have made the ultimate
sacrifice and to pay tribute to those who have served honorably in
peacetime and wartime and contributed so much to the freedom we and
others enjoy throughout the world today. They are all brave men and
women, who have been willing to selflessly serve their country in the
name of freedom.
As
I close my remarks today, I am reminded of our national anthem. The
verses that we hear many times in a lifetime, yet pass idly by without
great meaning. The last verse strikes me as capturing the spirit of
Veterans Day and the unequaled contributions our veterans, throughout
each generation, have made to this great country of ours. To our
veterans, this verse is a tribute to you. "Oh say does that
Star-Spangled Banner yet wave, over the land of the free and the home of
the brave!"
Ladies and gentlemen, America has truly remained the land of the free, because it is the home of the brave ... our veterans!
Thank you.
BGen James R. Battaglini
Deputy Commanding General
I Marine Expeditionary Force
Box 555300
Camp Pendleton CA 92055-5300
Tran Viet Hue 68, 71, Chung Tu Ngoc 72, Dao Van Thoai 75, Pham Hoa 72
1 comment:
Lực Lượng Đặc Biệt và Nha Kỹ Thuật Việt Nam Cộng HòaJune 21, 2011 at 10:00 PM
Here is my excerpts:.
... My dad was an officer in the South Vietnamese Army and served proudly alongside US Special Forces. He was a Captain in Green Beret and was part of the Special Operations Group . His missions were to go deep into the enemy
territories to gather intelligence.
... kind of tough to get around that one. According to my sister Carolyn, just before I fainted while waiting to be rescued, a young soldier walked over and took our water. My sister who was still on the barge, looked at
our father who was part of the security parameters, he looked away. The man slowly picked the water container up and started to turn the cap to take a drink. She looked at our father again, and again he looked away.
Suddenly she understood! She knew then our father would not risk his life for a few sips of water while the rescue ship was there. It's because we were at a very chaotic time, a lawless place where almost everyone was hungry and thirsty, and all soldiers with their weapons on them.
My sister took charge! She pointed at the man and screamed: "Hey man, put that water down. Put that down. That is my water." He continued to about take a drink. My sister did not care, she knew that he was a grown up man
and she was just a little kid. She screamed louder, demanding the man to put down the precious water. Because she screamed so loud, everyone was looking at her and the man. At that time he knew that he could not be a bully with a kid in front of thousands of people. He said "OK, OK, gee, take it easy!" and put the water container down. She jumped down and got
the container back. At that time I fainted. My other sisters Diane and Mary cried out. Carolyn ran over, picked me up and screamed even louder, "my brother, please help us, he is dying!" Our father heard that and jumped down. People tried to stop him because only women and children were to allow to be there to be rescued first. He cried and pushed them away
while yelled out for help. The security commander on the ship through the loud speaker ordered people to let our father go up the ship with me in arms...
Thanks. Carolyn Hoang,
... My dad was an officer in the South Vietnamese Army and served proudly alongside US Special Forces. He was a Captain in Green Beret and was part of the Special Operations Group . His missions were to go deep into the enemy
territories to gather intelligence.
... kind of tough to get around that one. According to my sister Carolyn, just before I fainted while waiting to be rescued, a young soldier walked over and took our water. My sister who was still on the barge, looked at
our father who was part of the security parameters, he looked away. The man slowly picked the water container up and started to turn the cap to take a drink. She looked at our father again, and again he looked away.
Suddenly she understood! She knew then our father would not risk his life for a few sips of water while the rescue ship was there. It's because we were at a very chaotic time, a lawless place where almost everyone was hungry and thirsty, and all soldiers with their weapons on them.
My sister took charge! She pointed at the man and screamed: "Hey man, put that water down. Put that down. That is my water." He continued to about take a drink. My sister did not care, she knew that he was a grown up man
and she was just a little kid. She screamed louder, demanding the man to put down the precious water. Because she screamed so loud, everyone was looking at her and the man. At that time he knew that he could not be a bully with a kid in front of thousands of people. He said "OK, OK, gee, take it easy!" and put the water container down. She jumped down and got
the container back. At that time I fainted. My other sisters Diane and Mary cried out. Carolyn ran over, picked me up and screamed even louder, "my brother, please help us, he is dying!" Our father heard that and jumped down. People tried to stop him because only women and children were to allow to be there to be rescued first. He cried and pushed them away
while yelled out for help. The security commander on the ship through the loud speaker ordered people to let our father go up the ship with me in arms...
Thanks. Carolyn Hoang,
