Vuong was born in Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam, on a rice farm. His grandmother was a young woman who grew up in the countryside while his grandfather was a white American soldier in the Navy originally from Michigan. His grandparents met during the Viet Nam War, married and had three children, Vuong's mother being one of them. His grandfather had gone back to visit home in the U.S. but was unable to return when Saigon fell to communist forces. His grandmother had separated his mother and aunts in orphanages, concerned for their survival before reuniting as adults. They fled Viet Nam after a police officer came to suspect that his mother was of mixed heritage and in turn was working illegally under Viet Namese law.