When she left the hospital Huchthausen's unit placed her in a Catholic boarding school in My Tho and continued to collect enough contributions to pay for the school's $100 monthly bill. Nguyen soon became like a mascot to the Americans.
Huchthausen last saw his “Foster Daughter” in January of 1968, shortly before the Tet Offensive began. The Catholic school was overtaken by the North Vietnamese troops during the offensive and the bodies of 47 schoolgirls were found in a nearby ditch. Huchthausen's unit feared at the time that their little mascot was dead.
In 1980 Nguyen was able to smuggle a letter and photograph out of Vietnam. Somehow it reached the U.S. Embassy in Bangkok, Thailand. In the letter Nguyen made a plea for someone to help get her out of Vietnam and locate her “stepfather.” The photograph was of Nguyen and Huchthausen as they stepped from a jeep but she could not remember his name. A friend of Huchthausen's identified the phot and called him in Yugoslavia, where he was stationed. Nguyen applied through the Vietnamese government for the Orderly Departure Program (ODP). Through this program any refugee who is a relative in the U.S. or some other tie to the U.S. government can officially apply to leave his country and enter the U.S.
But it wasn't until November 1984that she and her daughter were allowed to leave. For the past 6 months they have been living in a resettlement camp in Bataan, Phillipines, waiting for their opportunity to come to America. Last week that wait, finally came to an end.
With help from the United States Catholic Conference Department of Migration and Refugee Services, the Huchthausens will provide Nguyen and her daughter with a place to live and the opportunity to find employment, possibly as a seamstress, a trade she learned in Vietnam. Huchthausen said he has received four job offers for his ”foster daughter.” Nguyen said she left her mother and three brothers in Vietnam but since the Communist takeover of South Vietnam in 1975 she has been dreaming of the day she would rejoin her American ”stepfather.” The Huchthausens, have two children of their own and have just recently moved back to the Washington area after being stationed overseas for several years. Huchthausen said that his family attended St. Mary's Church in Alexandria, when they were stationed in this area before. They now live in St. Bernadette's Parish, Springfield.
Minh Van Dang, senior case manager for the Migration and Refugee Services of the Diocese of Arlington, was with the Huchthausens at the airport. Minh, who came to the U.S. 10 years ago before the fall of Saigon, translated for Nguyen, who is still in the process of learning English.
"You (Nguyen) must speak English and we'll help you learn,” Huchthausen said. The diocesan Migration and Refugee Services, according to Minh Van Daag, will continue to assist the Huchthausens in
their attempt to help Nguyen and her daughter adjust to American life.
“We've been waiting for this moment for a long time,” Mrs. Huchthausen said. I think it will all work out now.
|
