After the war ended in 1975, Thai said the Communist regime imprisoned him for 11 years. He was forced into hard labor and spent more than a year of isolation inside a tiny cell.
On Monday at a Veterans Day ceremony in Norcross, he stood proudly in his military uniform and saluted along with fellow Vietnamese-American veterans. About 100 people attended the event, which honored the veterans for their service. Dozens of seniors also will receive wheelchairs, walkers, shower chairs and other items as part of the ceremony.
Thai said he was grateful to celebrate on the same day that veterans of the U.S. military are honored, noting that the South Vietnamese fought alongside American troops in the Vietnam War.
“This is my second home,” Thai said of the United States, speaking in Vietnamese during an interview on Sunday. “I am very happy and proud to take part.”
Monday’s ceremony was held at the First Senior Center of Georgia, which provides health-related and social services to more than 1,000 seniors. Von Tran founded First Senior Center along with several other organizations that provide transportation, social services, end-of-life services and medical assistance to seniors, most of whom live in Gwinnett County.
Tran’s father served in the South Vietnamese army during the war and delivered food and other goods to American military bases. In 1983, when Tran was 9 years old, she escaped Vietnam with four siblings and her parents in a fishing boat. It was a grueling six-day journey without enough food or water.
As part of Monday’s event, Friends of Disabled Adults and Children, a nonprofit based in Tucker, is giving away about 20 wheelchairs, 50 canes, 50 walkers and 11 shower chairs to seniors.
The organization, known as FODAC, collects new and used medical equipment, wheelchairs and other items and refurbishes them. FODAC distributes about 10,000 items worth about $15 million each year, said its chief executive, Chris Brand.
In Sunday’s interview, Thai recalled his time in prison after the war.
“It was a very difficult and hard time,” Thai said. “I had a very difficult time with hard labor, eight to 10 hours a day with little food, with torn clothes, and it was a lot of hardship for me. We ate potato with rice and that’s it.”
He added he was in isolation for 16 months. “They were trying to brainwash me, and I refused to adopt their communist propaganda,” he said. “So I disagreed, and they put me in isolation so they could control my mind.”
Thai said the Americans awarded him and his unit medals for their role in the successful battle for the central city of Hue in 1968.
“I’m so proud of my awards,” said Thai, who at Monday’s ceremony wore one of the medals pinned to his uniform.
Oanh Vu, 89, another veteran who attended Monday’s event, served in the South Vietnamese military and was forced into a labor camp for one year after the war. In 1993, he moved to the U.S. and became an American citizen in 2002. He now lives in Chamblee with one of his sons.
“I’m so proud of the time I served in the military,” he said.
He added that his health is not good and he was grateful to be receiving a wheelchair as part of Monday’s event.
