Between two cultures

For over twenty-five years, the Vietnamese American refugee community has called the United States of America its home. This paper analyzes the

The Vietnamese refugees began flowing into the US after the fall of the South Vietnamese government in 1975. Classified as political refugees, political turmoil forced them to leave. The Vietnamese had little or no time or choice to prepare for their relocation into another country due to their fear of unfavorable fate.

This first wave of refugee immigration from 1975-1978, composed mostly upper middle-class urbanites. Many of these people had a professional occupation, higher education, and some knowledge of English. Many were Roman Catholics originally from North Vietnam. They settled in South Vietnam after 1954 as refugees where they fled from the new North Vietnamese Communist government. Typically successful, these double refugees controlled much of the power and wealth of South Vietnam. The US Government helped most leave by ship or...