T. Harry Williams Center for Oral
History Collection
ABSTRACT
INTERVIEWEE NAME: Kim Nguyen #
4700.0971
IDENTIFICATION: Vietnamese living in America
INTERVIEWER: Dudley Meier, Jr.
PROJECT: Americans in Vietnam
DATES: 11/27/75
FOCUS DATES:
ABSTRACT:
Tape 1420, Side A
Born in Vietnam, from wealthy family; attended French school in
Vietnam, then Sorbonne; she has one child; Vietnamese people in
Shreveport; hard to find jobs in America; hard working nature of
Vietnamese in America; remembers when Vietnam split into North
and South; early schooling; everyone had to be a soldier in
Vietnam, no end to military service; school curriculum, French
and German; parents' views on languages; taught language at
Defense Language Institute, Fort Bliss, El Paso; Blue Dragon
restaurant in El Paso; move to Shreveport; worked on General
Westmoreland's staff in Vietnam; friend who teaches language at
Fort Bragg; Vietnamese shocked by fall of their government; bad
leadership; Vietnamese get togethers in Shreveport; Vietnamese
violinist they know; America is a rich country; have to work hard
in US; differences in American and Vietnamese customs; adjusting
to American life, food; father was businessman, first man in
Saigon to have a car; father started import/export business out
of his garage; can't remember French in Vietnam; people in North
moving South, and vice versa, after division of country; arrival
of Americans in Vietnam, language differences; Vietnamese
teachers at language school in El Paso; brother is professor of
French; people moving around Vietnam, to America; fear of
Communists; problems getting access to her money; have to pay
cash, no credit in Vietnam; didn't learn to do housework when
younger because family was so wealthy; embarrassed in US because
she had to learn to cook, drive car; Americans are very
independent; Americans know how to make money; in Vietnam, people
love children, sometimes spoil them; opinions on Diem, Nhu,
Madame Nhu; Vietnamese people know history of their country very
well; most people in Vietnam work in offices or do agricultural
work; Kim became a Baptist in 1969, when she moved to Shreveport;
was raised Buddhist; views on religion; visiting Buddhist temples
in Vietnam; holidays in Vietnam; Vietnamese children learning to
speak English;
Tape 1420, Side B
American holidays; wants to return to Vietnam eventually;
Vietnamese refugees finding jobs in US; Vietnamese people who
wanted to return to Vietnam; importance of education and hard
work; her family, children; transportation in Vietnam; relations
with American sponsors; borrowed money; gender roles in Vietnam;
children's positions in family; wedding attire, diamonds;
influences Americans had on Vietnam.
TAPES: 1
TOTAL PLAYING TIME: 1 ½ hours
# PAGES TRANSCRIPT: 2 pg index
RESTRICTIONS: copyright retained by interviewer
and/or his heirs