Searching for Binh

I'M SEARCHING FOR BINH.

I no longer remember his full name but Binh was like my son.  I loved him like a family.  When he left for Bataan, Long and I saw him off at Puerto Princesa Seaport.  It was a sad time for me but I thought I should project a happy face so that Binh would not worry about me being sad.  Six months later I visited him in PRPC Bataan.  We took some pictures with my other students.  Then it was good bye again.

 

When Binh arrived in Australia, I thought he would write to me, but he didn't.  It was okay because he had to focus on his education.  But so many years had passed and he never wrote.  After almost 15 years I found Long.  This picture reminded me that Long and Binh were close friends in the camp.  Long said that Binh and he had lost contact.  I know I could see Binh again in the future.  If you guys know his whereabout, please inform me.  I'm getting older.  I want to see Binh again.

 

I found these two pictures today when I was cleaning and organizing my house.  Binh, please contact me on Facebook. 

Tôi không còn nhớ tên đầy đủ của Bình, nhưng Bình giống như con trai tôi. Tôi thương  Bình như một gia đình. Khi anh ta đi Bataan, Long (Mason) và tôi đưa anh ta ở Puerto Princesa Seaport. Đó là một khoảng thời gian buồn đối với tôi nhưng tôi nghĩ rằng tôi nên chiếu một khuôn mặt hạnh phúc để Bình sẽ không lo lắng về việc tôi buồn. Sáu tháng sau, tôi đến thăm anh ấy ở PRPC Bataan. Chúng tôi chụp một số hình ảnh với các học sinh khác. Sau đó, nó đã tạm biệt một lần nữa.

Khi Bình đến Úc, tôi nghĩ anh ấy sẽ viết thư cho tôi, nhưng anh ấy thì không. Không sao vì anh phải tập trung vào việc học của mình. Nhưng đã nhiều năm trôi qua và anh chưa bao giờ viết. Sau gần 15 năm tôi tìm thấy Long. Bức ảnh này nhắc tôi nhớ rằng Long và Bình là bạn thân trong trại. Long nói rằng Bình và anh đã mất liên lạc. Tôi biết tôi có thể gặp lại Bình trong tương lai. Nếu các bạn biết nơi ở của mình, hãy thông báo cho tôi. Tôi đang già đi. Tôi muốn gặp lại Bình.

Tôi tìm thấy hai hình ảnh này ngày hôm nay khi tôi đang dọn dẹp và tổ chức ngôi nhà của mình. Bình, xin vui lòng liên hệ với tôi trên Facebook. Bình có thể tìm thấy tôi khi con gõ Andrew Aaron Taylor vào hộp tìm kiếm.

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THE BILLETS WHERE THE REFUGEES LIVED

These billets were built using light materials such as bamboo sidings, wooden posts and frames, coconut shingles and concrete flooring.  

These houses were well ventilated because they had windows around them and also in the attic. They had bedrooms, kitchens, private bathrooms (only for showers) and living rooms. 

A few had gardens in the backyard and improvised benches where they could entertain their guests and chat with them. Those were the days.

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SHIP, BOAT, WATER and HUMAN SPIRIT

AN OPEN LETTER FROM PHUONG MINH NGUYEN
To Whom it May Concern:

My name is Phuong Minh T. Nguyen.  Twenty-three years ago I was fortunate enough to be rescued by Peleliu LHA 5 along with 155 boat people.  I was barely ten years old then.  My dream is to contact Peleliu LHA 5 to personally thank them from the bottom of my heart for saving me and the rest of the 155 boat people (and for giving us a second chance of life).  Ship, boat, water and human spirit... like the movie Titanic.

I am sharing this video hoping that I can meet one of the persons who rescued us.  I especially would like to meet the captain who led the four or six battleships sailing from Thailand to the Philippines. This good captain ordered his crew to rescue us and take us to the Philippines.  I believe in miracles. If I had not been rescued by these kind-hearted people, our boat would have definitely sunk and we would have all died.

I hope someone can email me back as soon as possible.   I really hope to gather some more details about this journey and brave rescue so I can share to my fellow Vietnamese refugees and their families how much those Americans cared for the (Vietnamese) refugees in the seventies, eighties, and nineties.

I am trying to heal the world to reduce the hatred among people against one another. We are the young innocent generations and we want to heal the world.

I hope I can get in touch with the captain who were on USS Peleliu LHA 5.  I wonder if they are still in California.

I have been thinking for so many years what we can do to ease the pain of people like me who are victims of war. I am not a political person. I am just an American citizen, and proud of it, who wants to make the world a better place.

I understand that with the power of the American government and the media in California, we, together, can heal our pain like the song of Michael Jackson, "Heal The World, Make it a Better Place".  God bless us all!

My email address is superstarphuongnguyen@yahoo.com. You may also reach me by phone at 714.390.6632. I live in Westminster, California, USA.

On a personal note, please help me heal my pain by letting me know more about the trip on June 10, 1990. I am 34 years old now and I hope to get some closure before I get older.

Sincerely,

Phuong Nguyen

October 11, 2013

Hello Phuong,

We had to edit your letter and we hope you don't mind.  PFAC Palawan is a venue for many former Vietnamese refugees to reunite, reminisce and rejoice.  We understood your intention of wanting to reconnect with your rescuers so that you can personally thank them and have closure.  We think we've helped you convey your message as fairly as possible.  Write to us again. Good luck and God bless!!!

PFAC Palawan Admin

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AN OPEN LETTER FROM LUAN HUYNH

An Open Letter from LUAN HUYNH

March 4, 2012

Dear Andrew,

I have read your blog at http://pfacasylum.blogspot.com/ and found your volunteer work in the refugee camp truly amazing and inspirational.

Reading the blog make me feel so nostalgic of that “once upon a time”….

I am a former Vietnamese refugee who stayed at the Palawan refugee camp as an unaccompanied minor between 1988 and 1990. Even though I was not your student I still feel a connection with people like you who volunteered your time and money to help refugees like us back then.

Until this day when I have resettled in America and have integrated rather well into a new country I find what you and others gave up back then to come to the Philippines to help us even more meaningful and selfless. I have often asked myself if I can now be like those volunteers and put my life “on hold” for a stretch of time and go to some corners of the world and help some less fortunate people. I might not be able to do so honestly (I need to keep working to pay the bills. The best so far I can do is to participate in a few charity programs so it is no comparison to your work.

Please accept my sincere admiration and appreciation.

Sincerely,

Luan Huynh

 

Luan, I admire your sincerity and modesty. Thank you so much for this beautiful letter. I will treasure this forever. With your permission, I would like to post this letter on my blog. Please forward your picture to me if you want it included with the posting. thank you and God bless you.

Please keep in touch.

Andrew Taylor

PFAC, Our Second Home!

Behind:  Mona, Lenny, Benny, Florence, and Virgie,

     Front Row:  Sammy, Pilar (Babes), Maricor, Maritess Dalisay,

     Nenita, Gemma, Bessie, and Andrew

 



Typical Boat that the Refugees Used to Cross China Sea

 



Gemma Ledesma

 



Estella, Mayette, Bessie, Marivic, and Minh Chuong

 

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Happy New Year Everyone!!!

Happy New Year to all my Vietnamese friends and former VRC, UNHCR, and PFAC colleagues. You can find me and many former PFAC residents on Facebook when you type impeccable37@yahoo.com in the search box. 

Thanks a lot.

Andrew Taylor



An Open Letter from Tuyet

I read through your entire blog. You brought back so many memories. I was in tears, due to both happiness and sadness while reading your blog entries. Unfortunately I was never one of your students, but I remember you as Teacher Andrew. You were so tall and skinny, always happy. I used to peek through the class window while you were teaching and wished I were in your class. I was in Palawan from 1988-1991. I was 15 when I got to the camp, as an unaccompanied minor.

I can't believe you keep in touch with so many people and remember their names so well! I am so sad to have lost contact and forgotten the names of so many friends there. I am not sure why I even write this to you...I guess I am just so grateful that you have this blog. I was googling for "Vietnamese Refugee Camp in Palawan", thinking I would get a Wiki page to send it to my friend, who is interested in knowing which refugee camp I stayed at. Sadly I couldn't find any "official" site describing the history of the refugee camp in Palawan. But I found your blog among with some others. I spent the last 4 hours reading your blog.

Anyhow, thank you for touching so many lives. It seems you were/are so loved, and I can't help but loving you for that :-). Take care and please post more! I will be checking back!

Tuyet

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MY BEST FRIEND AND BROTHER ANH DO

FRIENDSHIP, AN IMPECCABLE BOND

In any relationship such as love or friendship, chemistry always plays a great role in order for it to survive. Then there’s compatibility, respect, and humility (being able to acknowledge one’s shortcomings). All of these, combined, make a solid foundation for a great relationship.

My spouse, Do Le, found a best friend in the person of Andrew Taylor, in very unlikely circumstances and place. Over fifteen years ago, Anh Do, as I call him intimately, left Vietnam and sought asylum in the Philippines. There he was housed in a refugee center on the island of Palawan, where thousands of refugees were in the same situation. And Do had nothing- no money, no family, no English, and almost no self-esteem. Everyday was an emotional struggle. He felt isolated, exceedingly lonely, and sometimes depressed. Then Andrew, an American volunteer English teacher, came into his life. Whether Anh Do was a refugee or desolate did not matter to Andrew. He treated Anh Do with great respect, compassion, and love. With that unconditional love that he was bestowed upon by his new-found friend, Anh Do’s perspectives on life changed. Anh Do gradually regained his lost self-esteem. He started to trust himself and other people again. He believed that he could face the world with optimism and courage knowing that someone else cared.

A relationship that commenced as a casual acquaintance became a bond of perpetual friendship. Anh Do and Andrew soon found out that they were both interested in so many different things. They both enjoyed swimming, bowling, island hopping, pop music, and Heineken beer. In addition, they both shared the same moral values and perspectives. More importantly, they both believed in optimism, true love, respect, trust, forgiveness, and family.

During his visit last year, Andrew said that what really brought him and Anh Do together and keeps their friendship intact until now is their longing for the love of the family. As a middle child, Andrew grew up in a family where he felt that all of his other siblings were loved more than him. Anh Do, on the other hand, was isolated from his family at a young age. Two different persons in two different situations: Andrew lived with his family but often felt rejected, and Anh Do felt rejected when his parents gave him away to a relative when he was a young child. In other words, Anh Do and his friend Andrew were looking for that missing brotherly love and eventually found that love in each other.

In the book All About Love, Bell Hooks pointed out, “Those of us who have already chosen to embrace a love ethic, allowing it to govern and inform how we think and act, know that when we let our light shine, we draw to us and are drawn to other bearers of light. We are not alone.” When people give pure love, elevate others and inspire them to be what they can be, they are bearers of light. They enable others to see light and eventually armed them with the ability to pass on that light to other people. Andrew passed on the light to Anh Do, which eventually is able to pass on to other people now.
Anh Do and his brother Andrew (as he calls him), have known each other for fifteen years and their impeccable bond or friendship is getting stronger and stronger as years go by.

Khang Le
San Francisco, California

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