New SaiGon -- San Jose, California

Big show for NINE Vietnamese artists at San Jose main library

2006-12-06T17:16:00.000-08:00

More than 100 people showed up at the reception for NINE, the exhibition of nine Viet-American, Bay Area artists on Nov. 19 at the shiny, new Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library in Downtown San Jose. The nine artists are part of a vibrant, new cultural community growing in San Jose, the largest city in the San Francisco Bay Area. The artists (left to right) are Dao Hai Trieu, Trinh Mai, Lam Quang

Art exibit Sunday at main library

2006-11-18T19:06:00.000-08:00

You are invited to an art exhibition of 9 Viet-American artists of the Bay Area at the Dr. Martin Luther King Library, Downtown San Jose, CA. The reception is on Sunday, November 19, from 2-4PM. Second floor. There will be refreshments. The exhibition will be open during regular library hours and will continue until December 19, 2006.

OneViet links worldwide Vietnamese

2006-05-07T09:38:00.000-07:00

It's in beta, or the testing stage, but OneViet already shows a lot of promise as a way to link all Vietnamese in the world. On it's Web page OneViet says that it "is a network of city portals for all Vietnamese around the world. "Our individual city portals are maintained by local editors and feature news, blogs, interviews, community announcements, event photos, directories and

Vietnamese hui enters American mainstream

2006-04-03T06:50:00.000-07:00

Yep, that's right. The hui, a form of private financing long a Vietnamese favorite, is the latest Vietnamese contribution to American culture. The San Jose Mercury News reports that debtors, facing the high finance rates of banks, are turning to the hui where they can get much lower rates.

New Saigon's Vietnamese are flexing political muscle

2006-02-06T06:38:00.000-08:00

It's campaign time in San Jose as candidates line up to run for mayor. And the candidates have made it clear that San Jose's Vietnamese population can make or break a candidate. Read about it in today's Mercury News.(Photo: Dai Sugano -- Mercury News)

Blast from the past: How San Jose became the New SaiGon

2006-02-05T11:27:00.000-08:00

By Dennis Rockstroh The following is from a speech delivered at the San Jose Museum of Art on August 29, 2003. It was on the occasion of the art exhibition, Flights of Dreams, a show by Vietnamese American artists: Tonight I want to tell you how San Jose became the New SaiGon. I left Old SaiGon in October 1971 after spending a total of five years in South Vietnam, first as a soldier, then a

Happy Spring

2006-02-05T10:58:00.000-08:00

Spring-like weather? Early blossoms? Not really, because the first day of Spring for New Saigon and San Jose's Vietnamese (and Chinese and Koreans) this year was Jan. 29.

Welcome Year of the Dog ( Bi'nh Tua^'t)

2006-01-29T10:02:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year, everyone!

Shame on Microsoft and Yahoo

2006-01-17T06:50:00.000-08:00

These two American giants are aiding the Chinese in its crackdown on dissent and free speech. Shame.Read this New York Times editorial:Beijing's New Enforcer: MicrosoftMicrosoft has silenced a well-known blogger in China for committing journalism. At the Chinese government's request, the company closed the blog of Zhao Jing on Dec. 30 after he criticized the government's firing of editors at a

Secret Bay of Tonkin documents released

2005-12-02T08:20:00.000-08:00

The National Security Agency, the U.S. goverment arm that listens in on communications around the world, has released fascinating documents relating to the Bay of Tonkin "incident" that led to the 1964 de facto declaration of war in the American war in Vietnam. This is a treasure trove for historians and those interested in studying the steps that led to war. As expected, the documents show

Viet Mercury sale is off

2005-11-23T07:17:00.000-08:00

The Mercury News has announced that its sale of Viet Mercury "will not go forward." The reason remains a mystery. Publisher George Riggs said the newspaper and local investors who planned to buy Viet Mercury determined that ``current revenue and costs would not ensure the viability of continuing the publication.''Translation: the buyers don't have enough money. Apparently, there is no other buyer

On the American wars in Vietnam and Iraq

2005-11-17T07:23:00.000-08:00

Newly-released secret documents reveal that the Bush administration is struggling with the same issues that faced the administration of Richard Nixon. The similarities are eerie. There are big differences to be sure. But note the similarities:In 1995, former Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara, the architect of the American war in Vietnam, looked back and listed the major reasons for the

Viet Mercury -- R.I.P.

2005-11-11T10:34:00.000-08:00

Is the Mercury News also for sale?

2005-11-02T07:07:00.000-08:00

In the wake of the sale of Viet Mercury, is the mothership also up for sale? Knight Ridder's biggest shareholder says Knight Ridder, which includes the Mercury News, should be sold.

Viet Mercury's last issue is Nov. 11 after Mercury News sold the San Jose Vietnamese weekly

2005-10-28T12:32:00.001-07:00

The last copy of the San Jose Mercury News' Viet Mercury will be distributed on Nov. 11. The name "Viet Mercury" will remain for a short time, but it will have to change under the conditions of the sale. Mercury News Publisher George Riggs said that Viet Mercury was sold because it had been consistently unprofitable. The company had previously said that Viet Mercury was profitable. However,

Madison Nguyen is sworn in

2005-09-21T07:06:00.000-07:00

History was marked with a swearing-in ceremony and a rain storm. Check here for an inside story.

Come one, come all to the Children Moon Festival in downtown San Jose

2005-09-16T14:13:00.000-07:00

The Children Moon Festival (Tet Trung Thu) will be presented by the Viet-American Cultural Foundation at Cezar Chavez Park, in downtown San Jose from 12 noon to 10 p.m., Saturday, September 17. Admission is free. It is a Vietnamese event to celebrate the children and family spirit with the arrival of the harvest moon. There will be food, games, children’s contests, raffles, entertainment

Madison Nguyen: the torch is passed to a new generation of Americans

2005-09-14T19:47:00.000-07:00

The election of Madison Nguyen, the first Vietnamese-American to sit on the San Jose City Council, marks a dramatic changing of the guard for the country’s 10th largest city.For the past 30 years, in the lingering smoke of the surrender of South Vietnam to the North and the flow of an estimated two million Vietnamese into the South China Sea, San Jose’s Vietnamese community was under the thumb of

Madison Nguyen Makes History

2005-09-14T08:06:00.000-07:00

The 30-year-old Franklin-McKinley school board member far outdistanced her opponent, Linda Nguyen, for the San Jose City Council. It is history. The Vietnamese community in New Saigon -- San Jose, California has come of age.(Photo: San Jose Mercury News)

Letter from the Gulf Coast; San Jose Vietnamese lend a helping hand

2005-09-09T18:39:00.000-07:00

Here is an e-mail letter from making the rounds in New Saigon -- San Jose, California. It is a report of a Vietnamese group who traveled to the Gulf Coast to aid Vietnamese who had settled there and were victims of Hurricane Katrina.Dear Friends,As I sit here on the plane with my two other Viet-ACF members departing from Dallas back to San Jose to attend a family’s funeral, my heart aches for

2005-09-04T15:58:00.000-07:00

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Gloves off in historic District Seven San Jose City Council run-off race

2005-08-25T19:28:00.000-07:00

That's what the San Jose Mercury News says about the historic race between two Vietnamese-Americans, Linda Nguyen (left in photo) and Madison Nguyen, seeking the District 7 seat on the City Council. They are playing hardball politics in a kind rarely seen at the municipal level. But then it shows very clearly that San Jose's Vietnamese community, the largest of any city outside Vietnam, is not

Blast from the past: 1987, Silicon Valley's Vietnamese generals

2005-07-03T17:21:00.000-07:00

By Dennis RockstrohSan Jose Mercury NewsApril 7, 1987 -- San Jose -- They no longer call the shots, but they still wish they could, those former generals and admirals of the defeated Republic of Vietnam. They meet regularly in the San Jose area to secretly map the political future of the Vietnamese, both here and in the homeland. Their meetings are private, and they prefer that they stay that way

It's a Win-Win Situation

2005-06-10T07:24:00.000-07:00

The results of San Jose's District 7 election is a win-win situation. A Vietnamese American will be on the city council after Madison Nguyen polled 44 percent of the vote and Linda Nguyen got 27 percent. They will face each other in a September run-off. Thirty years after the Fall of Saigon, Vietnamese Americans in San Jose are steadily moving into positions of political power. It is a

Dance With the California Sun

2005-04-23T10:16:00.000-07:00

San Jose-based artist Le thi Que-Huong's "Dance With the California Sun" is on display in the Senate building at the state capitol, Sacramento, California

Kim Nguyen remembers April 30, 1975 and the 30 Years Since

2005-04-20T12:09:00.000-07:00

By Kim NguyenAnd thirty years later…I still remember clearly that fateful morning, April 29, 1975. We were listening to the radio announcer on the air. The government is telling us to stay inside the house, not to travel out on the street. There were curfews in place and we were not to leave the house after a certain hour after sunset.My uncle and his family were visiting my family thinking that

2005-04-02T12:22:00.000-08:00

Food was sometimes flying insects...

Hidden Horrors of Vietnam's Re-Education Camps

2005-04-02T12:00:00.000-08:00

By Dennis RockstrohSo whatever happened to the losing side in the Vietnam War?Whatever happened to those who were left behind?In the years following the fall of Saigon, the communist victors exacted a cruel revenge on hundreds of thousands of its citizens in an extensive network of re-education camps.Executions, torture and constant, numbing brutality were cloaked in a veil of secrecy

2005-04-02T11:55:00.000-08:00

Not all work was in the classroom...

2005-04-02T11:27:00.000-08:00

Bad student?

After April 30: the nightmare begins

2005-04-02T11:22:00.000-08:00

By Dennis RockstrohJust days after the fall of South Vietnamese capital of Saigon to the North Vietnamese on April 30, 1975, radio announcements across the country ordered the 2.5 million Vietnamese who had worked for the South Vietnamese government or the U.S. forces to report to local high schools for "re-education."The "students" -- from generals and ministers to soldiers and clerks -- were to

2005-04-02T10:40:00.000-08:00

NVA tank on palace grounds

2005-04-02T10:34:00.000-08:00

Communist soldiers enter the presidential palace

April 30, 1975

2005-04-02T09:48:00.000-08:00

By Denns RockstrohNorth Vietnamese tanks led the final assault on the South Vietnamese capital city of Saigon 30 years ago.As the tanks rumbled through the city, one tank commander hailed a man on the street and asked for directions to the presidential palace.The city was encircled by about 250,000 North Vietnamese and Viet Cong soldiers, who periodically shelled the city and Tan Son Nhut airport

2005-03-12T07:41:00.000-08:00

South Vietnamese units block the North's blitzkrieg at Xuan Loc...

2005-03-12T07:34:00.000-08:00

...while hundreds of thousands flee the North's advance

North Vietnam's blitzkrieg is stopped -- for two weeks -- at Xuan Loc

2005-03-12T07:23:00.000-08:00

By Dennis RockstrohNorth Vietnam’s blitzkrieg down South Vietnam’s Highway One in March and April 1975 was reminiscent of America general George Patton’s Third Army race across Europe in World War II.The North Vietnamese seemed unstoppable.Until they met the 18th ARVN (Army of the Republic of Viet Nam) Division at Xuan Loc, 40 miles east of Saigon.The South Vietnamese division, fighting with a

2005-03-05T09:19:00.000-08:00

Victor Charlie

2005-03-05T09:05:00.000-08:00

More from the screenplay By Dennis Rockstroh: It is March, 1975EXT. ALONG HIGHWAY ONE CENTRAL VIETNAM - DAYCommunist forces race down Vietnam’s Highway One. We see NVA trucks filled with soldiers and supplies moving along the highway.In front of the military advance trudge hundreds and thousands of frightened soldiers and civilians, fearing what the conquering north will do.Further south along

2005-03-05T07:55:00.000-08:00

The first boat peopleCountdown to Black April ContinuesBy Dennis RockstrohMarch, 30 years ago, 1975, was a month of horror for the South Vietnamese.By March, South Vietnamese President Nguyen Van Thieu knew that the fill-in American president, Gerald Ford, was not going to keep his predecessor’s pledge to strictly hold Hanoi to its promises. Richard Nixon had written Thieu that if the North

2005-02-28T14:38:00.000-08:00

From the exhibit...

The Call of the Mountain

2005-02-28T14:14:00.000-08:00

Here is an announcement I received:GreenRice Galleryproudly presents The Call of the MountainOpening Reception: March 4th, 2005 – 5pm – 10pm(food and wine will be served)Exhibition: March 4th through April 30thGreenRice Gallery, a new home for contemporary Vietnamese art located in the heart of the Silicon Valley, celebrates its grand opening with an exhibition titled "The Call of the Mountain. "

Nguyen Van Thieu

2005-02-27T10:48:00.000-08:00

Phantom winner?

Another Blast From the Past: Thieu's Victory?

2005-02-27T10:20:00.000-08:00

Far Eastern Economic ReviewReference: Vol. 74, No. 42, 16 Oct 1971SOUTH VIETNAM: Phantoms' VictoryBY DENNIS ROCKSTROH Saigon -- There are probably more cynics per square mile in South Vietnam than in any other country, and they are thicker than ever since the recent presidential elections. It was expected that a decent proportion of the people would vote, and of course it was expected that

2005-02-27T09:22:00.000-08:00

In San Jose's Future?

San Jose's Vietnamese History

2005-02-27T08:15:00.000-08:00

From the Mercury NewsA major fundraising event for the planned Vietnamese garden and cultural center at San Jose’s Kelley Park is scheduled from 6:30 to 10:30 p.m. Monday at the San Jose Museum of Art.The Viet Heritage Society hopes to raise $1 million and draw $1 million in matching funds from the city to pay for the first stage of the center.Tickets are $125 at the door; call (408) 394-0864 to

Nixon's Fall Led to Saigon's Fall

2005-02-26T10:12:00.000-08:00

By Dennis RockstrohNorth Vietnam’s Easter Offensive in 1972 was a major blunder in the war. As a result, the legendary General Vo Nguyen Giap was relieved of command. That bold, conventional three-pronged attack on South Vietnam’s northern province, the highlands and the border with Cambodia cost North Vietnam 100,000 casualties, half of its tanks and heavy artillery and Giap his job. North

2005-02-25T14:38:00.000-08:00

Fleeing for their lives...

2005-02-25T14:35:00.000-08:00

To the rescue...

Vietnam Exodus

2005-02-25T14:08:00.000-08:00

A scene from a screenplay By Dennis Rockstroh:EXT. (Exterior) ALONG THE VIETNAMESE COAST - DAYFrom the air we travel along the tropical coast.Montage:A) COASTLINEWe see hundreds of people in all manner of boats pushing away from the coast.B) BEACHESWe see people looking for boats.C) HIGHWAYSClose-up, we see the terrified faces of people as they stand on the beach and on the adjacent roads.D)

This is the end.

2005-02-25T07:36:00.000-08:00

South Vietnam, early 1975

Countdown to Black April 1975

2005-02-25T06:58:00.000-08:00

By Dennis RockstrohWith the lunar new year behind us, Black April, the fall of Saigon, looms as the next major commemoration on the overseas Vietnamese calendar. Thirty years ago, conventional North Vietnamese forces crashed across the border into South Vietnam leading to the final push in the war -- the Ho Chi Minh Campaign. Saigon fell on April 30, 1975. Vietnam and San Jose were about to

2005-02-24T07:42:00.000-08:00

Spring has begun and will drag on until summer.

The Two Springs of San Jose, California

2005-02-24T07:11:00.000-08:00

Every year, about this time, I feel trapped in the movie, Groundhog Day, in which a weatherman wakes up to the same day over and over. That's because the Western and Eastern cultures of San Jose see spring in different ways. To the Westerner, the blossoming of trees now is the sign of an early spring. This "early spring" comes to San Jose every year right about this time. And so an "early spring"

2005-02-21T15:28:00.000-08:00

Old Foes Meet in Qui NhonSan Jose attorney Bruce Burns (in the middle on the right with glasses) discusses Amerasians and other issues with Communist officials in Qui Nhon. (Long story on his trip follows.)

Amerasians: Return to Vietnam for America's Legacy

2005-02-21T14:41:00.000-08:00

By Dennis RockstrohHanoi, Vietnam, June 1989 -- The night air in Hanoi was hot and muggy when the electricity at 202 Restaurant, the diplomatic community's favorite eatery, snapped off.As the neighborhood plunged into darkness, no one stirred, knowing that restaurant owner Vu Van Khai, onetime chief cook at the French embassy, was prepared for such common, temporary unpleasantness as stilled fans

1990 Stanford Conference

2005-02-21T09:06:00.000-08:00

ADJUSTING TO THE DEMOCRATIC SYSTEM: AN OUTSIDER'S VIEW OF THE VIETNAMESE-AMERICAN COMMUNITYIntro:DENNIS ROCKSTROH is a columnist for the San Jose Mercury News. His column appears five days a week in Alameda County. He has been with the Mercury News for 17 years covering a wide variety of subjects including the Vietnamese community in San Jose. He has written about their businesses, their

Dancing in the New Saigon -- San Jose, California

2005-02-19T09:36:00.000-08:00

Vietnamese dance at Plaza de Cesar Chavez at the Children Moon Festival in downtown San Jose, California var sc_project=953567; var sc_invisible=0; var sc_partition=7; var sc_security="e2dea759";

How San Jose, California became the New SaiGon

2005-02-19T08:23:00.000-08:00

By Dennis RockstrohSan Jose, August 29, 2003 -- Thank you for inviting me to the San Jose Museum of Art for this "Flights of Dreams" exhibition of Viet-American contemporary art. It reminds me of the old days.I want to tell you how San Jose became the New SaiGon.I left Old SaiGon in October 1971 after spending a total of five years in South Vietnam, first as a soldier, then a teacher and later, a

2005-02-08T16:59:00.000-08:00

Qui Nhon where a US military base once stood

A Blast From the Past

2005-02-08T16:49:00.000-08:00

Far Eastern Economic Review Reference: Vol. 73, No. 33, 14 Aug 1971, 20 The Faces of Peace Dennis Rockstroh Qui Nhon BINH Dinh province is the keystone of South Vietnam's central provinces -- which remain the political and economic hub of the country. It is the richest, the most populated and the most sought after. Its name -- which means pacified in Vietnamese -- is misleading: it has

Vietnam and Iraq

2005-02-08T13:57:00.000-08:00

There are big differences to be sure. But note the similarities:In 1995, former Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara, the architect of the American war in Vietnam, looked back and listed the major reasons for the failure of U.S. foreign policy there. Here are some of them:--We misjudged the intention of our adversaries and we exaggerated the danger to the United States.--We viewed the people and