A Sense of Duty: My Father, My American Journey

by Quang X. Pham

Book Overview

"A Sense of Duty" explores the inner conflicts of a young man caught in the often contradictory forces of national identity, loyalty, truth and trust in the aftermath of America's most divisive war. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0891418733
• ISBN13: 9780891418733
• Release Date: April 2005
• Publisher: Ballantine Books
• Length: 261 Pages
• Weight: 1.11 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.4" x 9.4"

Customer Reviews

Wonderful

Quang X. Pham has penned a marvelous book that should be read by every Vietnam veteran, everyone who lived during those tumultuous times, and every young student wanting to understand the times and the tremendous sacrifice made by so many. Pham's book is a powerful account of one Vietnamese family's experience during the war, the end of the war, and their survival in the years that followed. Pham's mother struggled with establishing a new life in the U.S and his father struggled to stay alive during years of hard labor and `reeductation" by the North Vietnamese. Through it all, the author grew to manhood, joined the Marines and served honorably as a pilot. Over the years, a sometimes bitter, sometimes thankful, and often confused young man grew to know the strength of his family and especially the strength of a father who sacrificed so much. Quang Pham signed my book during a reading in Portland, Oregon but I didn't see what he had written until I had left. It says: "Thank you for your service in Vietnam." Well, thank you, Quang, for your years of service in the Marines and for your father's tremendous work and courage during the war. Loren W. Christensen, author of ON COMBAT and WARRIORS.

Where credit is due

There has been too little written about the only country (and it's soldiers and citizens) who were the true losers in the Vietnam War. The people of South Vietnam have every reason to be bitter about the outcome and the aftermath of that conflict. Surprisingly, they rarely are. Instead they are for the most part diligent, driven, and highly successful at improving their lives without asking for help. Quang has written a wonderful book that begins to give his father's generation of South Vietnamese its due. His family deserves our admiration, and Quang's book deserves to be read by all Americans who treasure honesty and integrity from America's true allies, past and present. This book will be with us for a long time.

A Memoir to Remember

American history is filled with stories of successful immigrants. Quang X. Pham's story, A Sense of Duty, is a fine addition to this list. His candid account as a refugee in America also chronicles the story of his father--like my father, a decorated pilot in the former South Vietnamese Air Force (VNAF) who ended up serving years of hard labor in a Vietnamese reeducation camp after the war ended. As a native of South Vietnam whose life shares similarities to Pham's, I found his story an absorbing read. This was especially true when reading his recollections of what happened when his childhood ended unexpectedly and his father had to put his family on a plane to escape the fall of Saigon. Those who take their happy childhoods for granted will learn much from this story of a young boy who was compelled to move forward with his new and difficult life while his father's fate was unknown. Readers will be inspired to discover how Pham overcame these challenges to achieve his American dream of becoming a U.S. Marine Corps pilot. A Sense of Duty has given me another perspective on the Vietnam War, and an even greater appreciation for the former South Vietnamese Air Force. South Vietnam and its once-mighty air force no longer exist, yet this memoir will preserve the nearly forgotten legacies of people like Quang's father and mine, who served their country with pride and honor. I highly recommend this great book to everyone.

A Family and Duty

A SENSE OF DUTY is the accounting of the American Dream fulfilled and like so often in our National past, it is the story of strangers to our shores who adopt, adapt and succeed. The Father, Phan Van Hoa, trained by the U.S. Military as a Fighter Pilot, but very much a Hero and Patriot of his native Vietnam, was able to get his wife and children onboard a U.S. C-130 just hours before the fall of Saigon, only to remain behind to continue the fight and then be made a prisoner of war for a long twenty-one years. Duty as an example and an excellent roll model. The Mother, Nguyen Thi Niem, keeping her children under her protective wings, ended up in Southern California, by way of Arkansas, and though a struggle was able to learn English and find work and see to her children's education and proper upbringing. Again Duty and an excellent Roll Model. Finally there is the son, Quang X. Pham, the author of this book who completes college, joins the Corps, becomes a Marine Pilot serving in Desert Storm and in Somalia and is now a successful businessman and author. You begin to think there is something in the genes about duty and responsibility and being recognized as a Roll Model. This is an excellent story and gives a rare glimpse into the true nature of Vietnam and how the citizens fought to maintain their National Sovereignty. For too long we as a Nation have had misconceptions about Vietnam and have only been exposed to more negative displays via the tv media. It is Vietnams loss and our gain that this family is now part of our family. I am anxious now to see what Mr. Phan's next book subject will be and I will put my name on the reserved list. Billy Ray Watkins Fernandina Beach, Florida

Remarkable Read

Quang X. Pham's important book is an extraordinarily well-written story by a man who is still sorting his memories, his feelings and his accomplishments against a backdrop that includes his family's flight from South Vietnam, his father's brutal imprisonment by the communists and his own service in the United States Marine Corps. It is also balanced against this nation's conduct of the war in Vietnam and the resulting attitudes and prejudices-right and wrong-that he has encountered all his life. Pham's early recollections of his father's service as a pilot in the VNAF (Republic of Vietnam Air Force) reveal the rightful pride he felt-and still feels-in the man's dedication to his duty. The description of his father's downing by enemy forces while flying in support of U.S. Marines is riveting, as is the account of his rescue only a short time later by a U.S. Marine helicopter crew. Early in the book Pham recalls the bombing of the Presidential Place by traitorous elements of the VNAF as enemy units ringed Saigon; the blast knocked him away from the desk where he was studying just across the street. Only days later, when the fall of the South Vietnamese government was certain, his father hustled the family aboard an American aircraft in the middle of the night while he stayed behind to do what he could. Pham wouldn't see his father again for nearly 20 years. Pham and his mother and two sisters struggled, with the help of relatives, friends and the American government, to make a life in the United States. That they succeeded beyond what anyone could have predicted is a tribute to their own tenacity; a tenacity that was characterized by hard, hard work. That it was difficult is obvious (they knew no English when they arrived). Pham's story of his ultimately successful efforts to fit into American society as a preadolescent boy is probably the best-and most painful-part of the book. My heart hurt for him when I imagined myself in his position. That the family had little news of his father-even whether he was dead or alive-was that much more pain. The last part of the book deals with Pham's oath of citizenship (to a country he clearly loves), his graduation from UCLA, his service in the Marine Corps as a helicopter pilot during Desert Storm, and finally, his father's homecoming. On the surface, these events would appear to mark what should be an eminently happy and tidy ending. But real life never hands us tidy endings. None of us. Despite his accomplishments-and he has had many-one gets the feeling that Pham may never be totally satisfied with the answers he is looking for; they may be answers to questions he doesn't even know. And that, in the end, is what makes the book so enjoyable. Although few can claim experiences similar to Pham's, his telling of the story is so very human that there is much in it with which we can identify. Like Pham, all of us spend time looking for answers we'll never discover. We're all alike. I