- Being Vietnamese American and having immigrant parents, I think is a really big part of my identity.

- It was very difficult for my parents to understand the struggle that I was going through, being Vietnamese in the '90s.

- Immigrating to America definitely has been something that shaped all of us.

(gentle music) The struggles that they had to go through, 'cause they were like boat people.

They came here on boats.

That kind of trauma has just stayed with them.

As they tell me what they went through, I just understand it a lot more.

I felt like I was there and it just really means a lot because of, I guess, how surreal that feeling is and how, I mean, I'm lucky enough to not experience it.

- Being a kid and growing up in Southern California, a tragedy like that, it feels unimaginable almost.

- If my parents, my family had not left Vietnam, I wouldn't have this deep of a connection with my culture.

I think that when Saigon fell, a lot of people, a lot of citizens saw their country change in ways that they couldn't control, and I think that because they saw their country, the country that they love so much crumble, they wanted to preserve it and keep it going with them wherever they went.

- My family story is probably the number one reason why I, one, joined the army, and two, wanted to pursue a career in public service and in government today.

- It was very difficult for my parents to understand the struggle that I was going through being Vietnamese in the '90s, 'cause I wasn't American enough for them to consider me one of their peers.

But I wasn't Vietnamese enough to be considered Vietnamese even at home, 'cause every time I complained about something, they would compare it to what they went through to get here or what they went through in Vietnam, how life is so much better.

- I feel almost split.

Like, there's a part of me that's Vietnamese, and the American is separate, and I don't really know how to mesh the two together, 'cause at home I'm a little more involved in tradition and culture and I try to lean into it more, but going out to school every day and seeing my friends, we just don't have that overlapping culture.

I just wish that I had more Vietnamese friends in my area to feel that connection to my identity.

- I'm very glad to have grown up in San Diego as a Vietnamese American because there is a decent community of Vietnamese people here.

I've thought about if I had lived in a Midwest area or somewhere else in California where there's less people of my culture, I think it would've been a lot harder on me and for my family.

- I definitely didn't understand the significance that the war played on my family members.

Now, hearing it as an adult now, it really feels like I was there living it and seeing what my parents had to go through, which really hurts me, just 'cause they went through a lot.

- I hope they do not have to go through what we went through, but it's still a good lesson for them to learn about the past and drive in the future, but certainly, I do not want them to live or to went through what we did.

- I think growing up it, I felt like it was my responsibility to do well in school, to really honor their sacrifices.

I even wrote about it in my personal statements for college.

They sacrificed a lot, and I think they saw going to the US as an opportunity for a better future for me.

Oftentimes, they would say if we would've stayed in Vietnam, I wouldn't have the opportunity to go to college because my parents', my dad's involvement with the anti-war and anti-regime.

- So I think my responsibility is a lot bigger to make sure that future generations, other classmates, friends, peers can really learn about it, because I believe that having a connection to your culture is very important.

- Our responsibility is definitely to keep the traditions going, honoring our ancestors during Lunar New Year, keep the dances going, the singing, the music, the food.

- I hope that the path forward would be further exploration, understanding of the rich culture and heritage of Vietnam and history of it as well, because I think it would be really sad to be lost.

- I think the path forward in the diaspora and healing is conversation is talking to each other, but really listening to each other, and we do our best to not become combative, but healing from the past, where I think that it's very important, just like in anything, we should know our history.

- The more that we can get that first generation to open up, to tell their stories, just to start speaking, to start talking, we have to unearth some of that history and their stories as really critical parts of how we can move forward, because when those things are buried, when they're gone, I might have a friend whose father just passed away, and she has a lot of regret over stories that she didn't get to hear from him.

- So there's not many future moments to commemorate this occasion with them.

I think the future of Black April and fall of Saigon commemorations, we'll continue to honor everyone who was lost and displaced because of the war before us, but it also has to be forward looking as well.

It has to take the lessons from the war.

It has to take the lessons from the plight of all these boat refugees, the plight of my grandfather, my mother, and extend that to how we treat people, events, and wars in the future, and the wars that are ongoing today.

(gentle music)