My Uncle, Nhi Cao was born in Saigon, Vietnam on July 20th 1948.
He attended Taberd primary school in Saigon and graduated in 1966.
Soon after, he pursued a secondary education at Dacat University.
At 20 years of age, he was drafted to fight in the Vietnamese Army.
For seven years, my Uncle fought for the freedom of his country.
During the war, he met his soon to be wife, Yen Dang;
they got married in 1973.
They later had their first child, Thuy An, on April 15th 1975.
He remained in service until the fall of Saigon, which was on April 30th, 1975.
Being a former South Vietnamese soldier, the Communist government allowed him only the most humbling of jobs, that required vigorous manual labor.
In 1983, through a refugee program, my Uncle and his Family were sponsored to come and live in California.
He continued his education at El Camino Community College and Harbor Occupational Center.
He and his wife had their second child, Anthony, in 1986.
He is now a technician living in Hawthorne, California.

Seven years of tears, pain, blood, glory and sacrifice.
These years were crucial in the life of Uncle Nhi Cao.
the Communist takeover affected him in every way you can possibly imagine.
He was still a very young man as the Vietnamese Army came and drafted him into the war in 1968.
At 20 years of age, the man was obligated to abandon his personal goals and his family and devote it to the fate of his country.
At the time, it seemed like men were only drafted if they weren't one of the top students, but he later discovered those who were drafted were also those with college degrees and even PH.d's.
He, as well as many others, were naive and confused with many of the things that were occurring at the time.
He explained that everyone had no idea what to do.
All they could do was wait.
In 1975, it was all over and the Communist had taken over Saigon and changed it to Ho Chi Minh City.
He looks back and realizes the great amount of time it took to complete the battle.
He was explaining to me that there aren't words that can explain how he feels about the war.
he can only express that this event was part of a plan that came at him unexpectedly.
He remembers that the days and nights were rough and all the soldiers could really do was wait and see what they were supposed to do next.
Days turned into weeks... Weeks turned into months... Months turned into years.
It was seven years for my Uncle Nhi.
He entered the war just out of adolescence and came out of it a grown man.
Years of struggle and destruction led to the fall of Saigon and the rise of the Viet Cong.
After the war, he left with his half finished college education and a family to support.
Under the Communist rule, he was forced to accept doing construction work.
In 1983, my Uncle and his family were able to get sponsored to come to America.
Many may view my Uncle's situation as worthless, or a waste of time but he sees it totally different.
Although it was the government who forced him to enter the Vietnam war,he viewed it as an obligation to the people of his country.
He became a soldier, determined to fight against the communist government.
He explained that he would rather have died fighting for freedom and Democracy, for his family and friends, than to sit around in fear and oppression.
Despite the conclusion of the event, my Uncle Nhi found it all worth it.
He said that if there were no soldiers like him, things in Vietnam could have been much worse than they are today.
He feels confident in knowing that the time spent and efforts invested were for a just cause.
He ended his commentary simply by saying:

"You've got to do what you got to do".

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