Sam Tran, my uncle, passed away yesterday in Virginia. I will always remember him for his bright smile and unconditional love. I’ve known him my entire life, and never once did he show anger towards anyone (including us, “the kids “:)

Born in 1923, he lived until age 88. Our thoughts and prayers are with you and your family, Bac Sam.

Bitcoin ฿ prices have gone through the roof. It was over a dollar when I recently read about it in March/April and as of today ฿1.00BTC = $18.12US.

Meebo launches check ins for the web. Here’s the office reaction to the first public demo.

Just got back from a trip to Cambria. I’m writing this blog from my iPhone. Hopefully I’ll update more frequently.

http://music-mix.ew.com/2010/04/20/guru-of-gang-starr-dead-at-43/

April 4th marks the day Dr. Martin Luther King was assassinated in 1968.

Vietnam Final Escape

For many years, the image above (photographed by Hubert Van Es), was incorrectly labeled the US Embassy in Saigon. The photographer himself stated that the picture is an image of the rootop of an apartment at 22 Gia Long Street.

Leaving Home
I was 4 years old on April 29th, 1975. I still remember the day my parents took me and my little brother to the front gate of the United States Embassy. My uncle Bac Sam was present and Cau Quan, my mother’s best friend’s sister. I was carried on Cau Quan’s shoulders and my brother was in my dad’s arms.

When we reached the gates, there was a mob outside of the fence keeping them out of the courtyard. My father was an employee of the US Embassy, working with the CIA and had clearance to enter. The mob outside him made it impossible for our entire family to pass through, because if the MP guards on the other side cracked open the gate, it would have let in a flood of desperate humanity. One of the guards was at the top of the fence and reached down to pull me up and over. I guess he thought that my parents wanted to send the children over first, and they could let the adults in aferwards. I remember my father shouting at the guard to let me go, and that he didn’t want to separate us. We turned back that night and did not leave on the last helicopter out of Saigon.

Looking back, this was the one of the smartest things my father did. Over the last 3 decades I’ve read or heard of many stories where families were separated due to similar situations. Parents would rush their children into a boat while trying to gather their baggage. Others would split up and take separate ways, hoping to regroup somewhere else. In the end many of these families were split permanently, and some could not make the journey and end up staying behind. These heartbreaks and tragedies were commonplace in the years following the fall of Saigon and far too numerous to list. Almost everyone in the first few waves of the great Vietnamese exodus experienced these separations first hand or had friends or relatives who spit up and were not reunited for many years. Go ask any Vietnamese person and you will hear a gut-wrenching story that has similar shades to what I just described.

Tags: fallsaigon vietnam april 29 1975 us embassy evacuation thailand boat people

DiD US Presidential Election 2008　バラク・オバマ

I found the road to eternal riches. I know this because it is the only road where your fellow travelers will give you the wrong directions.