This sort of thing could not happen elsewhere:
DA NANG, Vietnam – Only three days into office, South Vietnamese President Duong Van Minh delivered an unconditional surrender to the North Vietnamese in the early hours of April 30, 1975. That same morning in the seas off the coast of South Vietnam, a boy who once enjoyed the outdoors with his siblings and his community in the city of Hue, found himself and his family aboard a ship drifting further and further away from his homeland.
Some 34 years later that same boy is sailing back to his homeland, this time as the Commanding Officer of the U.S. Navy’s Arleigh Burke class guided missile destroyer, USS Lassen (DDG-82).
No other Navy.
Agree…with misty eyes…only in America. Best
A result not of diversity, but of dedication and bravery, and not just Cmdr. Le’s.
Too bad nobody on the street can be bothered to tell the difference.
Nope. No other. No other country ether. I was a PACE instructor on the Burke back in the early 90s. They rock.
FANTASTIC!!! Congratulations to Cmdr. Le, the US Navy and the USA!!! Truly, the only place this could happen.
My wife was born in Saigon, several years before the fall, the daughter of an ARVN artillery officer. I’ve had the good fortune to have visited the country a couple times, admittedly under different circumstances than those who post regularly here. Toured around Nha Trang and Cam Ranh Bay where my father was stationed many years earlier.
After seeing news articles about the upcoming port visit I sent the skipper a brief email congratulating him on his assignment and his visit. He replied with a very nice, thoughtful response.
Agree with PJ above completely, and with our host. No other Navy, indeed.
Damn, bc. For some reason I thought you were MY age–now I realize that your FATHER is my contemporary! I AM a fossil!
Part of me would like to get back to DaNang–but another part wouldn’t. The old “can’t put your foot in the same stream twice” bit. But would be interesting I’m sure.
I can’t imagine what is going thru CDR Le’s mind…
I’ve had the same thoughts…but its been forty one years for me… DeNang and its people have moved on …my/our collective memories have not. Best
Damn Straight, Skipper!
We don’t give a rat’s patoot about where you came from or what your name is. We only care about whether you want to be a part of the family.
CDR Le, you do us proud!
Take a read on Medal of Honor winner CDR Lassen. Earned while a SH2 LTJG aviating at night getting two F-4 bubbas shot down over NV. It is a great namesake for CDR Le to Lead. He has a building named for him in Millington with another Medal of Honor winner Fr. Capodanno.
Congrats Skipper Le.
Bravo Zulu đại uý Le
Actually, warriors or children of warriors returning later to the land of their birth is not unheard of. Some colorful tales in Ottoman history.
But usually they returned to kill those who had exiled them, punish or exile those who had switched sides opportunistically back then while claiming all their wealth for their own, and to claim their vanquished’s women for their own.
My, times have changed. Now we come in the name of theater security engagement and enhanced trade opportunities.
I like the old way better.