good evening, everyone as brooke

mentioned, i'm mirelle luecke you the supervisory curator here at the museum. and i am truly delighted to introduce tonight speaker france hoang. he has a truly impressive if i read it all that would be the entire program tonight reflecting a life filled with service achievement. so just a brief overview. he graduated from west point in the top 1% of his class and he also degrees from washburn university and georgetown university law school. he has served in every branch of the u.s. government, including roles associate white house counsel and, special assistant

to president george w bush. his military includes combat deployment with u.s. army special forces in southeast afghanistan and earlier service the former yugoslavia. he's a distinguished visiting lecturer at west point and a senior fellow at the national security institute at george mason university. and he serves on the boards of the vietnam veterans memorial fund. and no one left behind. as if that wasn't enough today, he is also an accomplished entrepreneur and currently serves as co-founder and ceo of boodle i developing ai technology platforms. but before all, he fled vietnam as a young child with his parents. his family was among the wave of evacuees. saigon in april 1975, as part of operation new life. tonight, france will reflect, on his remarkable experiences and talk about how america's promise of opportunity can transform

lives across generations. please join me in welcoming francois young the stage. good evening, everyone. it's an absolute pleasure, a distinct honor to be here tonight. yesterday, the 50th anniversary to the day of d-day that my family and i were evacuated from war torn saigon to the shores of the us. and i am so delighted and happy 50 years later to be here with you and have a chance to share that story. but before i do, i have a question to ask if you served during the vietnam war in the military, could you please stand up? i think there's a few here for a. thank you so much for your

service. i am here because of you all. and for those of you who supported or married to had a relative or served in vietnam is the service and sacrifice of your loved ones? and of the people who just stood up that made my life possible. so this is really your story as much as it is my story and together it's our story. i was born in saigon in september of 1973. my family is originally from the north of saigon were catholics as catholics. in 1954, they left north and went south. this is a photo of me. my grandma, and this is a photo of my parents and myself. my father was a south vietnamese officer. my mother worked here at the defense attachés office just outside of saigon international airport. this is a photo of her receiving a reward from the attache.

and as i mentioned, 50 years ago to the day, us officials, her supervisor, henry, came to her and said today is a good for your family to leave saigon. and so my mother, father, my younger sister myself and my father's mother on that day boarded an air force c-141 aircraft and departed vietnam, departed war torn saigon, headed for the shores of the u.s. but let's back up and let's about how we got there, because obviously here at the president ford museum and i was at the library yesterday and my story is really a result of his choices and his administration choices. if we back up all the way to january 1973, we have the paris peace that marks the end, the u.s. involvement official and of involvement in the vietnam war. those accords did not last in

peace for long. both sides ended up violating the terms of that agreement. fast forward. president becomes you enters office. there is a press conference where. he's asked, hey, is there any chance that the united might participate in vietnam war again? and president ford famously says, i cannot foresee any at the moment. despite that, he ends up meeting with congressional asks for hundreds of millions of dollars in funding for additional american support and gets flatly denied by congress. so fast forward, it is early 1975. communist forces are streaming south vietnam at this point. surprising americans, definitely surprising the south vietnamese army. and at this point, only a few thousand americans left in vietnam, mostly part of the defense attachés office.

fast forward to march of 1975 and danang, the second largest city in, vietnam, is captured by by north forces and there's a chaotic withdrawal of. over 300,000 vietnamese by land and and air, including by private charter aircraft and even as the americans departed, some vietnamese allies were tragically behind. this does not go unnoticed. henry kissinger is chairing the washington special action, and it was his belief that saigon would be falling within weeks. and he was determined to avoid a repeat of danang. and there was efforts underway at that point to start thinking about the evacuation of our vietnamese allies and. in fact, he writes it's our duty to get our u.s. allies out. and so preparations began in

earnest to evacuate. president ford, the beginning of april announces, operation babylift, a re appropriation of funds to airlift these children many of them orphans, out of saigon. tragically, the first flight of operation babylift crashes. it's a c-5 killing, all 138 people on board, dozens of children. and that draws a lot of people away. the defense attache, his office as part of that investigation. still, president persists. he flies out to san francisco and in a matter days, over 2600 children are evacuated. and he personally goes and welcomes some of these new arrivals there in san francisco and this is one of many famous pictures of him with the children of operation babylift. a few days later, president ford meets with the army chief of staff and meets with david

kennerly, the former white house photographer who had gone to vietnam and, you know, david brought back photos of what was happening in vietnam, wounded of kids, ships filled with refugees, which ford then asked to have displayed in the white house shortly. thereafter, someone actually takes the pictures down and president ford, somewhat angrily demands that the pictures be put back up. i'm telling saying that he wanted his staff to know what's going over there. at that time. acting secretary, state ingersoll writes, a memo to the attorney general saying urgent action is needed and there's at least a couple of hundred thousand victims, if not more. the obligation exists to the united states to president, then has a meeting with with congressional leaders and with his own staff of note. this was not an easy effort.

he was a republican. the house and the senate. the time were controlled by democrats. he's reaching across the aisle to try to get efforts underway, to get the resources to help victims, allies. henry kissinger, time tells the president that the evacuee may have up to 1.7 million names, a staggering number. this was not done because it was popular. there was a poll done at the time that revealed only 37% of americans were actually in favor of the vietnamese resettlement efforts, 49% opposed and 14% were undecided. so, you know, president ford displayed great moral courage, reaching across the aisle doing an not because it was popular, but because it was right. i'm not, of course, on each of you consider, say, the nearly

6000 americans remain in south vietnam and tens of thousands of the south vietnamese employees of the united states gone. i the nation's auto contractors and businesses for many years we whose lives win their independence are in very great peril. there are tens of thousands of other south vietnamese intellectual professors, teachers and opinion makers who have supported the south, giving them a call and the alliance. the united states, to whom we have a profound now obligation. a profound moral obligation. every i hear those words, i

choke a little bit. he's talking about me. he's about my family. he's talking about tens of thousands of other vietnamese just like myself. that's an american president saying that he was going to stand the allies that stood by america during the vietnam war. and he did his best to make true on that. days later, president ford meets with the entire senate foreign relations committee in the cabinet room. there's a reproduction. that room upstairs. if you want to go it. and there is tremendous pressure in that meeting to evacuate the americans, but to leave behind the vietnamese allies. and, of course, president ford was going to have none of that. in fact, he goes the opposite way. he creates an interagency task force to transport process, to receive resettle vietnamese

allies. and he dubs it operation new life. three glorious words. that meant freedom. a new start, an opportunity for allies like my family. he not alone. obviously, his views were widely by members of his administration. here is us. graham martin, who was criticized at the time for outwardly moving too slow to evacuate from saigon. but as it turns out, it was on purpose. he was purposely slowing down the departure of americans because he wanted to give more opportunities for allies to to depart. and in fact, americans even returned to saigon, even from from these states, and create an underground railroad, evacuate former friends. and there's this wonderful book by thurston clarke, honorable exit, about those efforts. one of many tales that have not properly told about the end of

the vietnam war, because it's viewed as a failure. here's a quote from henry kissinger we would not be able to evacuate any south vietnamese friends unless we prolonged withdrawal of americans for congress surely would cut off all funds with the departure of the last american. and so he gives instructions. ambassador martin, trickle out the remainder of americans so that an airlift could be kept going to rescue the maximum number of vietnamese. this is an effort to slow down the departure of americans to save more victims. the senate up passing legislation requested by the president giving authority to use american troops to americans in south vietnamese. there is approval for 125,000 and vietnamese come out under what's called parole authority. there is approval for funds.

and this is the authority that president ford needs to conduct an airlift. and so in a matter of less than week, 375 sorties of c-141 and c-130 aircraft lifts above the skies of saigon, carrying tens of thousands of enemies from saigon. international airport. my family included, of course, the communist at that time were encircling saigon. and unfortunately days later, the evacuation to a halt as a c-130 in the ramp by enemy fire. that is the end of this airlift operation. records that had the airlift continued there is a evacuation plan of more than 100,000 per day and up to more than a million evacuees were planned for saigon. then becomes a scene of great

chaos as many vietnamese allies were unable to come out, sought refuge and escape through the embassy. then, towards the end of april, a white christmas plays across saigon as the signal for operation frequent win. the last remaining airlift from rooftops and other of remaining u.s. personnel and some vietnamese allies leading to this iconic image. at the end of the vietnam war. at the same time, there was an operation underway. the navy had to set up a resettlement facility. the vietnamese, like myself had to go somewhere. and the place we went to guam and the person. given that task was rear admiral morrison. and for those of you who are from the sixties seventies, that name sounds familiar because that is jim morrison's father. so the doors actually played a part in my evacuation out of vietnam by april 27th, 20,000

vietnamese were being housed, family included. by may 13, 50,000 were housed. and by the end of december, some almost 130,000 and refugees had been successfully resettled in the united states. so there are as there's at least one person here who was there part of that operation, which is fantastic. here's some images of operation in full swing. and to this day guam represents for many of us. the first piece of soil that represented our flight to freedom. the us then established for relocation camps operations new arrival in the united states. camp pendleton. fort chaffee, arkansas. eglin air force base, florida. and fort indiantown indiantown gap, pennsylvania these are the four of the relocation camps that vietnamese would go to. upon arrival in the united

states and here is a photo of camp pendleton on in april of 1975. and where my family ended up. so here is a photo of myself and my family. you can see my sister taking a little nap there in my mom's and me clinging on to a pair, which i'm apparently favorite of in this photo. so, yes. so the first place i lived, the united states was in a marine corps tent at camp pendleton in the summer of 1975. at that time, as i mentioned, there was mixed feelings about. the resettlement of vietnamese in the united states probably tied into the unpopularity of war. governor brown, of said then that he did not want any of the vietnamese refugees staying in california. this is a photo of governor dan evans on the right of washington state. he hears this statement and and asks quite out loud, like, what

is all of this hubbub about? so he ends up sending the man on the left, ralph monroe, down to camp pendleton and ralph takes photos and he takes videos, reports back to the governor and says, look, i, i see all these refugees. i see children playing, i see women in vietnamese dress, see, you know, former soldiers and, allies of the u.s. and they're here to start a new life. and i think we should help these people. and so, governor evans, ralph monroe, deliver a message, washington state wants you. washington state welcomes you and my family was one of many families that heard that and came. and to this day, washington state still has a disproportionately high number of vietnamese refugees because of governor evans generosity. and so from there, we fly to camp murray, washington and washington, national guard armory facility. so at this point, it has involved the air force, marines, the navy and the army to get my

family out of vietnam. so a true joint operation from there, an american family arranges to be our sponsors. there was 14 different charitable relief organizations involved in the resettlement of vietnamese refugees ranging from the lutheran church to catholic charities and many others. we were catholic, so we were sponsored by catholic charities. but the petersons were our sponsor family. and they took us in in olympia, washington, took us in for a week. and frankly and quickly told us, you need to find a job, you need to find a house. you need to get acclimated and get on your own two feet. and one of the best things they did for us, so my family ended up settling in a small town in washington state, washington, where i had luxury of growing up as a child, the eighties, and not knowing anything different about my childhood growing up on a cul de sac. riding bikes in the summertime, the street lights came on, which was my signal to come home to my family. and growing up an idyllic in

many ways childhood along the way. unbeknownst to me, congress passed an act. it passed an act, adjusted our status. so i went from being a parolee refugee to being a lawful permanent resident green card holder. two eventually being sworn in, naturalized as a citizen in. july of 1982. and yes, that is with a bowl haircut, as you can tell, i'm very happy being a citizen. despite the haircut so fast. it is eighth grade. i have the great fortune of taking a school trip to washington, d.c., my first trip to the nation's capital. and on that trip, i ended up visiting for the first time the vietnam veteran memorial. and i still this day remember standing in front of wall and seeing the tens of thousands of

names and seeing my own image reflected in those names and being profoundly moved and realizing for the first time in my life that all the people listed that wall had died for me and for those like and that 100,000 or more had served and sacrificed in ways that i could never fully appreciate in the country of my birth. and i made a decision at point and that was it really wasn't a decision to find a way to repay their sacrifice that i myself then even though i didn't have the words to describe it felt what president ford felt a profound moral obligation. and so that was the moment that i decided to devote my life to service and to giving back. and i felt that was no better way to do that than to serve in the very military that had served me to to to make myself

willing to take on same burdens and to be willing to make the sacrifice as the soldier sailors, airmen and marines who had served in my native land, i had the great fortune at the end of my high school time to meet lieutenant general howard francis stone, west point of 1955, who took a great interest in me. i didn't appreciate. the reason why at the time he himself was a vietnam veteran. he had, interestingly, had served in the infantry, had been a pilot, and had been special forces in three different tours. i realize now that for men like him i may be represented something that good that came out of vietnam. and so after i graduated from high school, i ended up going to west point. this is a of me, by the way, on my first day of west point. not the happiest person, but no one is on their first day. so forward. i become a cadet. i survive west point. maybe even thrive.

there dare i say graduate? did. and along the way, find time to return to vietnam memorial to give thanks and feeling that i had done the first part of making a down on the debt i owed to the soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines whose names were on that wall after i attended ranger school 63 days i will never forget. i graduated and then served as an army officer including time as a peacekeeper in and the work working various jobs things you do as a junior officer and then decided after five years that i wanted to pursue service in other forms. so left the military entered georgetown school and then had a great eventually to be asked to serve in white house and so starting in 2007 and for a couple of years i as an associate white house counsel

and special assistant to president george w bush. and one of the great things that happens you work in the white house is towards end of your time, you get a few minutes in the oval office with the president. so my family made the trek from washington state, along with my my dear grandmother there. and we got a few minutes with president bush in the oval office, which is remarkable in many ways, but for me, i think about the photo the left, my family living in a tent in camp pendleton and that little boy holding a pair. and three later, years later, standing in the oval office working as a special assistant to senior adviser to the president and is the story of america. and i think it it says less about me and it says i think a lot more about our country, about the opportunities it provides and what it means to me an american, which means in my mind, right, the ability have freedom. freedom to choose your path

free, to make yourself what can if you're willing to. in the white house. i end meeting this man, mike wallace, who was at the time vice president cheney's advisor in afghanistan, pakistan, towards the end of our white house time together, mike comes to me. he says, friends, i don't know what you're doing after. we leave the white house, but i'm in i'm in the national guard. i command a special forces, and i'm deploying to afghanistan in a few months. and i don't an executive officer. what do you think about coming along. and i look at mike and i say mike i, i haven't put on a uniform in nine years. i don't a commission anymore. and i'm not special forces. and mike looks at me and he waves hand. he goes, i will figure it out. so we did. and so after the white house, i recommissioned as an army captain. i went from picking ties in the west wing on on the left hand photos to hand grenades on patrol in afghanistan and deployed afghanistan as the

executive of an army special forces company stationed here where the red star is host province in southeast afghanistan. 2009 2010, perhaps one of the busiest and deadliest times be in afghanistan. here's where i was. my company was headquarters. my advance operating base, aob, fob salerno. this is a pleasant day. can tell because there's no rockets falling on us at the moment. and this is me. so some people have joked, this is my genghis hong look. so special operations for those, you know, the primary role is to is to partner and to operate by and through allies. so special works very closely with host nation partner forces. so in our case, we had hundreds of afghans that we closely with from everything combat to combat

advising to trying to rebuild infrastructure. and we took a particular interest in schools. you know i, me and then major waltz and others took a concerted effort to try to find help rebuild educational institutions. and in fact, we tried to rebuild and help rebuild a boys school and, a girls school. and so here's a picture us in one of these one of these missions where we're handing out supplies and and rebuilding. you know, in trying to create for these children and, i will tell you, every time i encountered these children and look and i saw, you know, a young afghan boy, i couldn't help but wonder if 40 some odd years earlier there wasn't an american soldier who was looking at me as young boy in vietnam. the same i was looking at this young afghan boy. and it gave me great comfort to think that, you know, i was.

i was in the same role years later, serving in the same way and fulfilling my promise that i had made. we couldn't do what we do in afghanistan. if it wasn't for our afghan allies. here's a picture of jabar keil. he an afghan who fought alongside us and he, of course, reminded me of my own father. right. and the thousands of tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of victims who and stood alongside americans and putting not themselves, but their families at risk. after i came back from afghanistan, i became an entrepreneur. started company called mag aerospace. many of my founders and was doing and the american dream until august of 2021 when in an eerily reminiscent moment i watched as kabul all began to

look like it was going to fall. and of course, this brought back not memories, but a realization that this eerily similar to the fall of saigon and in fact, as images unfolded on the screen, there are many, many such similarities. right. we had hundreds of sorties of military aircraft late in this time with afghan allies instead of enemies, allies. we had scenes of of afghan allies desperate to escape to freedom and not finding a way to do. we had scenes of once again, you know, americans being airlifted off rooftops as enemy forces to, control of a city that we once held. and of course, we had an airlift underway. this time there was no there no admiral morrison involved, no involvement. but we still started many, many such operations, including at al

udeid airbase in doha, qatar, which is the day equivalent of guam. this is where if you're an afghan, you would be airlifted. and it was your first stop on your path to freedom. and we reestablish resettlement camps, then us, including fort indiantown flynn, was reactivated. number of other facilities were as well for the resettlement of our afghan refugees. and once again, americans who were concerned about their allies stepped into the breach. but this time they didn't have to fly halfway the world. in modern age, people were able to help from. from their bedrooms, from their living rooms, from their dining rooms. so thousands, tens of thousands of veterans and intel former intelligence officials and former got online on whatsapp and signal and did everything they could to help their afghan who are left behind try find a

path to freedom trying to find a way onto a flight to find a way to get to safety and people quit jobs, empty bank accounts. made tremendous sacrifices to try to help their afghan allies. and i was one of those and i worked with one of those groups. there's dozens, perhaps hundreds of groups stepped into that breach. allied airlift 21 was one of them. and in the closing weeks of august 2021, we helped hundreds afghans find their way to freedom. obviously a deeply meaningful moment for as i saw my life come full circle circle through a series of events that were unusual and a tale for another time but on the night that kabul airport ended up closing to

allies afghan allies coming out i'm i and a few other volunteers found ourselves responsible for several hundred afghan allies that were highly risk who were on busses circling the airport unable to find a way in and realizing that they would never get into the airport and. so we had a decision to make and we did. we started not to make it for the afghans, but with the we told them you could either go back into hiding, you could go home or we we might be able to get you out on another flight in this town of mazar e sharif. but it's a dangerous it's 200 miles. the taliban control the roads. but if you choose to go there, we will try to help you find a way out. so i ended up with these other volunteers organizing exodus of several hundred afghans, you know, children women at allies through through the night and into the next day to mazar e

sharif, by the way. along the way. one of the busses had to stop because one of the women on that trip actually gave birth. and that is a photo of a child that was given birth that that was born on that exodus journey. and then we had another problem. now, we were responsible for several hundred lives in half of the halfway around world. and we had to find a way for them to get out. obviously, the incredible stressful, deeply taxing the weight of lives upon shoulders and. even worse, we had very hard choices to make. there's a word that many of you may not be familiar with, but deep meaning for those of us who were involved in, these type of operations. and word is manifest. so a manifest is a list of people, normally a pretty innocent word. you're talking about a list of who gets out, who doesn't, who gets on a bus to freedom versus

who doesn't get a seat on the bus, who is prioritized for flight out of afghanistan versus those who don't have to who don't get a seat. and myself and there are many others ended up having to make those of choices. it is a terrible thing to have to do, particularly if when you look at a photo a family and you're trying to decide who should have higher priority to get out than you do. you can't help but see yourself, your parents, your sister or in the photos of these families. some the darkest times i've had, but also some of the most wonderful times. wonderful that we are in a position help. dark. because we couldn't help. all that we wanted to. but i'm happy to report that on september 17th, 2021, a plane lifted into the above afghanistan. it was the very first private charter flight out of

afghanistan after the u.s. ended its military diplomatic presence. it was a flight organized by by group of volunteers, including myself. you can see the plane being loaded on the right. you can see this is a radar image of the plane. it is literally the only plane above on that day. and that plane were 380 afghan allies, 94 families and 152 children. all of whom are now in the united states, all of whom have started new lives, including jabbar the afghan soldier, the afghan ally showed you their picture. him and his wife and their eight children were on that. this is a photo of them on the actual flight itself. i had a chance to visit jabbar recently in lincoln nebraska where he is. family have settled and. i talked to his daughter here and she has big plans. she wants to be a lawyer, a humanitarian lawyer and. that is america.

later on, i was asked to testify about withdrawal from afghanistan before congress and the house foreign affairs committee and not long after the evacuation, i had the wondrous experience of being able to meet some of the afghans who are on that flight. this is. he lives in chicago. he is an engineer. and that's his son. his son who at the time of the evacuation was 18 months old. and the exact same age i was when i was evacuated out of saigon. and to look at that son and to think about his journey and hope that he has the same opportunities that i have, which i know he will and and will grow up the same gratitude that i have, which i know he will was again, deeply, deeply satisfying. there are many things. i am grateful this this title,

this talk courses from saigon to service one to refugees tell of gratitude and in giving back. the first thing i'm grateful for is just the sheer that my life has been and will over forever be changed. that was it not for coming here for the service of. the soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines in vietnam for the evacuation. my life would have taken a completely different turn. there's an alternate universe where we didn't leave. my family is probably my parents are probably in reeducation camps may prob i may have grown up an orphan, but instead i had this life where i came to the united states. i got to go to have a wonderful childhood graduate and, then serve our country. and so that sure knowledge that my life is a gift that every day is an opportunity, is a wonderful blessing. i always have to be grateful for

every single day of my life i'm second, i am tremendously grateful for the service and sacrifice of the of the veterans who fought in vietnam. now i am well aware that many of them not have a choice. to me that, doesn't matter. they serve. they sacrifice. whatever their reason was for being there, they were there. and that's all that matters. in my book and having worn a uniform and served myself not just once, but twice, there is beauty in doing your duty. and for all the veterans who question whether or not service was worth it, whether anything came out of their time, i would ask them to look at the 130,000 vietnamese that came out during that evacuation and the million more that in the years because we are your testament. we are the that came out of your service we thank you. i am grateful to the who who

directly impacted my journey from president ford and, his courageous moral to henry hicks planned the evacuation of so many vietnamese allies and took a personal interest in my family. to all of the people who are involved in operation new and new arrivals and frequent wind went above and beyond to help the vietnamese allies to men like. governor dan evans, who showed just moral courage but generous courage to families like the petersons who opened up their homeand their hearts to the newest generation of americans and men. lieutenant general stone, who inspired continued service in so many of us. and lastly, i am grateful for the opportunity to serve. we're here in the ford museum. i was yesterday at the ford

library. president ford exemplifies a lifetime of service to the nation being an eagle scout serving in the navy to member of congress, to the vice presidency, to an unlikely president and beyond his time in office. he is an example of a life, well lived, and he has this wonderful quote. the more freedom we enjoy, the greater responsibility we bear towards others as well as ourselves. i have come the conclusion that the reward for a lifetime service is a lifetime of service. and it is a wonderful thing to have purpose. i believe that success follows living a life of significance. the profound moral obligation felt that. i felt like a burden when i was young has turned into a blessing because it has given me the purpose and motivation to try to live like gerald ford, a life

well-lived. thank you. and i am happy to take some questions. i have a question. yes. i'm just wondering, how often do you make presentations like this? because that be perfectly honest with you, is needed is needed. thank you. no mm hmm. hmm hmm hmm. hmm hmm. thank you for that that. mm hmm. have you been to vietnam.

lately? let's say? yeah. i held a top secret security clearance since i was 21, and up until recently, that was problematic for visiting my native land. but it's not public animatic anymore. i have young kids ten, seven and five. i like to joke they're my favorite startups. once the startups are a little bit more mature. i plan to take the whole family back and we'll make a visit. this is a bit of an odd question france right over here. yes, i noticed in truffaut photos that you had when you were in afghanistan. and again, an odd question. was that a samurai sword in the of your uniform. yeah. that may have been. so. two things. one, between my time in the military and law school may or may not have lived in japan and studied at school of japanese

swordsmanship and special are also known as unconventional. you get your choice of of what you take on patrol with you. and so i may or may not have carried a short japanese sword. now, to be clear, i never used it. okay. a lot of things gone wrong in the modern battlefield. if swinging a sword around. so. mm hmm. yeah. good. i. this may show my ignorance. but can you give us a 32nd overview of the today? what what it is? i mean, for us vietnam, that word alone means something. but you hear people back for vacations and, etc. what is it today? yeah, i'm probably not qualified to answer that question.

i will tell you my perception. okay. in vietnam, the american war, as it calls it. right. as they call it, is history. right. it is the average the the average person in vietnam, you know, barely any memories of or maybe wasn't born when the war ended. 50 years ago. you know, they are they are barreling ahead, an economy that is growing and thriving. there is trade communication back between the united states and between. and, you know, there is a normalization has been since 1995 with clinton and vietnam. you know, for those of us that left in 1975, we will always south vietnam, we will always remember saigon. but i'm also well aware that that's 50 years ago. right. and my sister has actually gone

back, lived there. i have friends who regularly business there. it's a rapidly country at this point. thank you. yes, sir. given the way you given vietnam's relations a rather tepid one with france, i your first name rather? exactly. can you share how your parents ended up giving that name? it's it seems odd? yes. so my vietnamese name is guangdong-hong. and when i came to the states and you saw the picture getting naturalized, my parents decided then, well, if he's going to become an american citizen, he needs an american name. and i mentioned my family is so my patron saint is saint francis of assisi. and so my name became francis huang. so fortunately, my purchasing

wasn't joan. because then you see joan right? right. and then francis became short for became tour de france. so that's how i got my american name. thank you for your presentation. i just wanted to say that my granddaughter was in vietnam last and she said it is very beautiful, bustling city in saigon. there is museum there that's dedicated to the war for the american soldiers. and. one more question. given the climate in our country today, do you feel there's the opportunity for, immigrants and refugees that you were you were had were able to take advantage of? you think it's here today? yes, i do.

you know, one of the great one, the great satisfying things i get to do now is help. another generation of new america. and so i served on board of no one left behind. it's an organization dedicated to helping our afghan allies come to the united states and resettle. and see it, i see these afghan allies showing up, joining the military, going school, starting new lives in, you know, embracing america like america, embraced me, when i was young. you know, there is this great quote and i've said it multiple times today, and i'll say again, you know, reagan famously quoted that you can live in france however long and you'll never be a french. you can live in japan however long, and you'll never be japanese. but anybody can be an american. and that is, as true today as it was 50 years ago.

and think it will be true 50 years from now, because that is the strength of america. thank you.