Honoring Ngo Định Diệm, South Vietnam’s President | October 30, 2010

Yesterday, I had the honor of being invited to Honor South Vietnam’s President, Ngo Dinh Diem who fought for freedom and democracy in South Vietnam for as long as possible before the fall of Saigon. Mr. Le Dinh Luan called my Dad a few months back and asked if I would be willing to make a speech about the outstanding characteristics of President Diem. And of course, I said yes!

Writing my speech was a hard task. Not only would I be speaking in Vietnamese, but I had to do a lot of research on President Diem, and information on this spectacular man is hard to come by. After lots of reading and consulting with my Dad, who is a history buff, I decided to talk about a few things very few people know about:

• President Diem never married or had children. He never had a single woman by his side during his Presidency of 9 years
• He lived an extremely simple life. His meals were not pretentious and neither were his clothes or hobbies
• He won $25,000 as an award in 1960 for being an outstanding Freedom Fighter, but did not keep the money to himself. Instead, he donated it to the 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, who was escaping from Communist Tibet to India
• President Diem helped move over 1 million Northern Vietnamese into the free South Vietnam after the Communist Party took over North Vietnam

I was privileged to stand onstage at the podium, a map of Vietnam on the front, with an impressive altar displaying President Diem’s photo to my side, reading my speech to a large crowd. I feel proud of be one of the few young Vietnamese-Americans who can speak, read, and write at a higher level of Vietnamese and can defend the flag I so rightfully believe in. Making a difference in the lives of those around us is a hard and unique task and President Diem changed the lives of over a million people. And in turn, changed the lives of countless Vietnamese American overseas today.

After my speech, Mr. Tom Ha, the emcee of the event suggested that I sing a song as well. I chose a song honoring the soldiers of the Vietnam War, which I felt was very fitting.

Once I was done performing, Viet Soul, a Vietnamese band had their performance set while the reception started. The food was great! Fried rice with grilled pork and crispy fried Vietnamese rolls. Following the reception, there was a photo opportunity onstage and a lot of people came and complimented me on my Vietnamese and how proud they were of me. My heart swelled inside. It was glad to know that my efforts about Vietnam were being appreciated. I can’t wait for the event next year!