Diễn Đàn Cựu Sinh Viên Quân Y Hiện Dịch

Vietnamese veterans cemetery planned
Group is raising money for project that includes cultural center for refugees near Adelanto in San Bernardino County.

By ROXANA KOPETMAN <https://www.ocregister.com/reporter-profile/roxana-2211-kopetman> / ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

WESTMINSTER - In a Vietnam military cemetery some 8,200 miles away from Orange County's Little Saigon, a large, bronze statue used to stand as a national symbol. It was "Thuong Tiec," known as "The Mourning Soldier."
The statue of the pensive fighter at rest was knocked down after April 30, 1975, the day the North Vietnamese captured South Vietnam. Since the end of the Vietnam War 38 years ago, the cemetery itself has fallen into disrepair. And many in Orange County's refugee community fear the communist government is planning to build a highway through the sacred grounds some 20 miles from what is now Ho Chi Minh City.

Organizers are planning a fundraiser dinner at 6 p.m. Sunday at the Paracel Seafood Restaurant, 15583 Brookhurst St., Westminster. The cost is $40 per person or $80 for VIP seating. Contact Huynh Chinh, 714-839-2896. To send a donation: RVN Veteran Cemetery, 9882 Bolsa Ave., Westminster, CA 92683. Contact 714-418-9790 or Phat Bui, 714-713-4079.

The desecration of the Bien Hoa National Military Cemetery angered local Vietnamese Americans. For a long time, they felt helpless. Then they decided they could do something here: recreate the cemetery, but make it more than a cemetery. They made plans to build a cultural center for all Vietnamese refugees in the United States.

"Our goal is not only to build a cemetery, but also some kind of cultural center," says Irvine resident Quy Van Ly.
A committee led by Orange County Vietnamese Americans, most of them former prisoners of war, has plunked down $94,000 toward buying 55 acres in San Bernardino County for the Republic of Vietnam Veteran Cemetery Overseas, or RVN Veteran Cemetery.

The committee is working to raise money - including a planned dinner Sunday in Westminster - to buy the land where they look to build a temple, an ash mausoleum, a monument, a museum, guest housing and - of course - a re-creation of the Mourning Soldier statue.

"We want it to be a historical place for future generations," says Ly's wife, Jo. "When people visit, we want them to have something to do. It makes the trip worthwhile. It won't be just a place to visit your dead parents and grandparents."

A few months ago, the committee - the Republic of Vietnam National Veteran Cemetery Builder Staff - opened an office in Westminster and hired a part-time clerk. A large, tentative plan of the cemetery and center hangs on one wall. Drawings of the different components are part of a slide show presentation - from the entrance gate to the temple that would welcome visitors. Trung Pham, a Vietnamese sculptor living in Canada, already has created a sample statue and plans to raise money to re-create the one knocked down in Vietnam.

Committee members put the cost of the project at about $5 million, including $250,000 for the land near Adelanto. So far, they have spent $94,000 for the land and are paying the remainder in $25,000 installments every six months, says Westminster resident Chinh Huynh, president of the committee.

The cemetery plots and ash mausoleum would be open to South Vietnamese soldiers and their families. Already, 177 people have signed up for a spot in the cemetery or to have their names carved into the memorial, says Huynh's wife, Kim, also an organizer.

Meanwhile, some 20 committee members meet regularly at their new office. Some of them are retired. Others work. Huynh, for example, is a doctor in Westminster. Quy Van Ly and his wife, Jo, are dentists.

One of their main goals is to bring in money to pay for the project. On Saturday, more than 300 supporters in Seattle gathered at a dinner and raised over $10,000. On Sunday, they plan another one at the Paracel Seafood Restaurant in Westminster.

Sometimes, the contributions come from surprising places.
"We got a check for $2,000 from a Vietnamese chaplain in Bahrain," Quy Van Ly says.

"We think the ball is rolling," Ly says. "Now that we have the land, we show that we are serious about doing this project."

Committee members hope to tap into the popularity of Orange County's Little Saigon, the largest in the nation, as a destination for Vietnamese across the country.

"This Little Saigon is like the capital of the Vietnamese refugees. A lot of people visit here," Huynh says. "When they come to Little Saigon to visit, they can plan to go to Las Vegas and stop at the cemetery."

A museum at the cemetery, for example, could display items related to the Vietnam War, they say. An area with kiosks or a small play area would give children something to do. A wall, patterned after the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., would have the names of South Vietnamese soldiers who served in the war inscribed. And the temple would be a nondenominational place to worship.

Committee members hope to complete most of the project in the next five years. In November, they met with San Bernardino County officials and were told they will have to file for a permit and a cemetery subdivision, according to David Wert, the county's public information officer. The site's zoning allows for a cemetery, subject to approval.
For some former soldiers, it would be a final destination.

Y Vo of Corona wants to be buried there. "We have a slogan: When we live, we fight together. When we die, we rest together," says Vo, a former soldier who says he spent 13 years in prison, or re-education camp.
"We still fight for freedom," Vo says. "To rebuild the cemetery overseas, that means we continue to fight for freedom."

Garden Grove resident Hien Pham, the committee's secretary, says he hopes the federal government will step in and contribute.

"We used to fight side by side," Pham says. "We want to ask the U.S. government to help us to complete this project in order to honor our fallen comrades."

It's also up to future generations to help keep up the cemetery, once built, they say. Onsite accommodations to house guests and the sale of souvenirs could raise money, Jo Ly says.

"This is for the future generations," she says. "Not just for us."