The U.S. is a landing spot for thousands of people fleeing persecution, war and violence. And that can trigger mental illness in many of these U.N.-sanctioned refugees. But getting help can be a challenge.
Bon Bui was born in Quảng Bình, Vietnam in 1946 and fled to the South during the war. He became a South Vietnamese Marine during the war and was trained by US forces in the United States. After Saigon fell in 1975, he become a prisoner of war for 10 years before finally relocating to America under an asylum program. Bui recounts the atrocities of war first hand.
Patrick Lam was just nine years old in 1979 when he was forced to leave Lái Thiêu, Vietnam by his grandmother who had organized an escape by boat. He left with his uncle’s family leaving behind his mother and three siblings. After being rescued at sea by the captain of an oil rig, Patrick and his relatives were taken to Kuku Island where Patrick learned self-sufficiency.
In 1967, Pham Thein Khoc’s college education came to a halt when he joined the South Vietnam Army as a combat engineer. Shortly after the Vietnam War, Pham was arrested and taken to a prison camp in Bình Thuận, where his physical and emotional health deteriorated. After enduring years of post-war anxiety in Vietnam, Pham and his family were finally able to immigrate to the United States, although Pham had to leave his oldest son behind in Vietnam.
