Fresher in memory, closer in time, the Vietnamese struggle has not seen closure, either at home or abroad. Scattered around the Pacific perimeter, overseas Vietnamese still distrust the Hanoi regime. Within the United States they number over 1.4 million, with almost 600,000 concentrated on the West Coast. Inside California, the Vietnamese rank as the fourth largest Asian group, after Filipinos, Chinese, and Japanese. But making it in America has come at a cost, especially within the traditional family unit.
Violence also mars intra-Vietnamese contacts, especially in the Golden State.
Last year, fighting erupted outside an Orange County shop where the storeowner had dared display the North Vietnamese flag and a picture of Ho Chi Minh. Then a month before this April 30 anniversary, a Southeast Asian Art Gallery in Oakland found itself picketed for featuring silk lithographs of Uncle Ho. Thoughtful Vietnamese worried for their community. Within Vietnam, its people struggle with memories of a war that wrecked their homeland and left an estimated 3 million Vietnamese dead along with 58,000 Americans. Vo Viet Thanh, who stressed higher economic growth, greater efficiency in business performance, and less restrictive policies.