Tram Anh Nguyen was a baby when North Vietnamese forces captured the city of Saigon on April 30, 1975. When her family arrived in Missouri by way of Fort Chaffee, Arkansas, in December that same year, they were among the first wave of Vietnamese refugees to come to St. Louis to build a new life.
Their story, as well as firsthand interviews with other local refugees, sponsor families and U.S. veterans of the war in Vietnam, is at the heart of Nguyen’s one-hour KSDK documentary special airing this week, “The Fall of Saigon: 50 Years Later.”
Nguyen was inspired to produce the storytelling project to recognize people like her parents and grandparents who sacrificed so much for family.
“To honor them and remember them and where we came from ... I wanted to tell their stories. The older generation kept them to themselves,” Nguyen said. “And it was kind of how I was raised, too. You don't have to speak about what you had to go through… the fears, the desperation, all that stuff, you just kind of dealt with it, and you moved on. That's kind of how I am now, but I'm like, ‘You know what? I need to learn more about my history, and in learning about my history and the history of our people, it would help us better understand ourselves.'”
Incorporating non-Vietnamese voices and stories in her documentary project was always part of Nguyen’s plan. She reconnected with one of her family’s sponsors, the Godars of south St. Louis County and St. Catherine Laboure Catholic Church. (Refugee sponsor families came from all manner of religious traditions; her family’s sponsors were Roman Catholic.)
The production also involved interviews with U.S. veterans who fought and lost loved ones during their service in Vietnam. Nguyen’s special includes footage from a Greater St. Louis Honor Flight that veteran Mark Morrison took to visit the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., where he experienced a moment of healing through seeing his brother’s name inscribed in the memorial’s marble.
“This isn't just Vietnamese history impacting the Vietnamese community. This impacts our community, here in St. Louis and beyond our borders, beyond the U.S. This is a story that has so many connections, it's like a web. [It] is not just Vietnamese history, but American history.”
Nguyen said this work, and the combined experiences interviewees have shared with her in the making of her one-hour documentary special, has taught her lessons she hopes others can build upon.
“I learned that it doesn't matter where you come from, how you were brought up … everyone has a story to tell. Everyone has an experience, a life experience, that can really connect to someone else, and it's just a matter of giving them that platform and that voice to speak. And in moments of crisis like the Vietnam conflict, you see bad, but often you also see good. There's so much good out there.”
“The Fall of Saigon: 50 Years Later” will air in its entirety on Tuesday following the KSDK 6:30 p.m. newscast. Thereafter, it will be available for streaming anytime through the KSDK app.
To hear the full conversation, listen to St. Louis on the Air on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or YouTube or click the play button below.
“St. Louis on the Air” brings you the stories of St. Louis and the people who live, work and create in our region. The show is produced by Miya Norfleet, Emily Woodbury, Danny Wicentowski, Elaine Cha and Alex Heuer. Jada Jones is our production assistant. The audio engineer is Aaron Doerr.
