“If You Lose Your Country, You Lose Everything”: A Vietnamese Intelligence Officer Immigrates To America

Anthony Dung Luu was born in Hanoi in 1951, and moved to Saigon in 1954. His grandfather was a lawyer for the High French Court, and his parents worked for the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Communication. He joined the Army of the Republic of Vietnam in 1972 as a Military Intelligence Officer, and after training, served in the IV Corps Area in the Mekong Delta. He felt the budget cuts in 1973, and in April of 1975 he was responsible for coordinating the evacuation from Saigon. After the end of the war, he responded to a call for ARVN Officers to report, and that turned in to six years in a reeducation camp, two years in the south, and four years in the north. He was finally released in 1981, and in 1983 he fled to Thailand, eventually taking a flight from Bangkok to San Francisco. In this interview, he talks about his childhood, growing up in Vietnam, his impression of the American involvement in South-East Asia, and his own service. He describes his experiences as a Military Intelligence Officer, and the fall of Saigon. He discusses his time in reeducation camps, and his escape to Thailand. Finally, he reflects on being a man without a country, and his hope to be recognized as a Veteran in his adopted country.