Abstract:

The Vietnam War left not only bomb craters, forests destroyed by napalm, and vast numbers of casualties. The war also left about 100,000 fatherless children—Amerasians, who, because of their appearance, became outcasts from society. In 1988, after Congress passed the Amerasian Homecoming Act, Vietnamese youngsters who could prove they had been fathered by an American were issued with a ticket to fly to the U.S., and granted six months upkeep here. Overnight, society’s lowest ranks became "golden children" able to take a whole family to the U.S. But proving one’s paternity wasn’t a simple matter. For many, all that was left were physical traits suggesting American parentage and, with luck, an old photo of a father in uniform. To date, 38,000 offspring have moved to the U.S., and this video introduces us to a number of Amerasians, some who have moved, and others who are about to leave Vietnam. The reality that confronts them in the U.S. can be a challenge. Even if their look is no longer a problem in the melting pot of American society, the culture shock is considerable—language, food, culture—so much is strange to them, and they feel themselves to be neither Vietnamese nor American. For the first time in their lives, they learn to be proud of themselves as Amerasians.