Gov Jerry Brown & Vietnamese Refugees.

[Carl Robinson]

This story's been out for a while now -- and in fact ran as an anniversary piece for the Fall of Saigon at the end of April.    But it's starting to get a bit of a run as from second link below into the Blogosphere. 

Did then-Governor Jerry Brown try to stop Vietnamese refugees from arriving in California after the Fall of Saigon back in 1975. 

Perhaps Old Hack David Hume Kennerly -- who is quoted here -- can expand?

http://www.mercurynews.com/bruce-newman/ci_14977918?source=email&nclick_check=1

"By Christmas of 1975, an estimated 130,000 Vietnamese refugees had been sponsored by churches and families who provided them with new homes in the United States. According to an article in Vietnam magazine, an American publication, the only state that initially resisted the influx of boat people was California, where Jerry Brown was then in his first term as governor. Brown's administration reportedly attempted to prevent planes loaded with refugees from landing at Travis Air Force Base.

"Brown received a stinging rebuke from White House photographer David Hume Kennerly, who had photographed the evacuation. According to the article, Kennerly said Brown had "no compassion for your fellow human beings."

"Four years later, while positioning himself for a presidential bid, Brown created a task force to help boat people find homes in the state. A spokesman for his current campaign for governor, Sterling Clifford, declined to comment on Brown's previous positions."

For some reaction, see:

http://cinnamonstillwell.blogspot.com/2010/06/when-jerry-brown-rejected-vietnamese.html


Down here in Australia, then-Labor Prime Minister Gough Whitlam didn't want Vietnamese refugees either and made it extremely difficult for them to arrive, even with an Australian connection.   He feared the Balkanisation of Australia as had happened with refugees from Yugoslavia.    The hard-line policy continued after he was sacked and a conservative government elected.  Australia only relaxed its policies after numerous boats started showing up off its northern coast from late 1977 onwards.  

But in regards to this particular story, I do recall that Vietnamese were also shipped to upstate New York and Arkansas.   But after a couple years, they all started heading to California for the pho shops !

Best,

Carl

 

[Peter Hickman]

Carl:
 
Thanks very much for the copy of The Cambodia Daily Weekend, which arrived yesterday (June 10).  Interesting story about Old Hacks.
 
Peter

 

---

Date: Fri, 11 Jun 2010 16:34:02 +1000
Subject: Gov Jerry Brown & Vietnamese Refugees.
From: robinso...@gmail.com
To: vietnam-...@googlegroups.com
CC: kenn...@aol.com

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[Carl Robinson]

Here are a couple more links on the Governor Brown Story.


http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/politicalmuscle/2007/01/jerry_brown_his.html


http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6855407

Best,

Carl





 

[tmarks]

Carl/Old Hacks:  keep up the good work on unearthing long forgotten documents/articles about Indochina; you are finding some great material, and it is important that this information not be forgotten.  Kudos (encore)!

Ted Marks
Tel: 207-389-2620
Cell 860-307-0005

[Steve Northup]

Greetings, Hacks,
The other place that the Vietnamese were relocated is along the Texas gulf, near Galloway's stomping grounds. They were provided with fishing boats, etc., which didn't go down well with the locals. They also came equiped with a work ethic that hadn't been seen there for some time. Now, with the passage of time, the scene is serene and friendly, and the integration has been completed. One of the lads, a Nguyen, I think went on to play football for the Cowboys. Now, there's integration.
Ending on an organ concerto, I had my right hip replaced when we got back from Han Oi and the IMMF workshop. I've been home a week now, and am starting to get along with a cane, and trying to get rid of my training wheels.
All best to all, Steve Northup

[Wayne Corey]

When he was the Governor, Jerry Brown and California state Democrats feared that a big influx of Vietnamese "refugees" would put excessive demands on the state's economy.  Supporters of California's growing Hispanic minority were not exactly thrilled at the prospect of a lot of Vietnamese coming here.

 

But, my Vietnamese wife's family was flown directly to California via Guam after they were evacuated from Saigon a few days before S. Vietnam surrendered.

 

They were taken to the huge marine base at Camp Pendleton which was well prepared to accommodate them until they could be resettled elsewhere.

 

At the time, the idea was to spread the Vietnamese out across the U.S. so they'd assimilate more easily and spread the anticipated economic burden they'd pose for a while.

 

Many Vietnamese fisherman were settled in areas of the Gulf coast now affected by the unprecedented oil spill.

 

Brown relented to pressure to let a lot of Vietnamese stay in California if they were sponsored by state residents, churches or institutions.  My in-laws were sponsored by a generous family in Sacramento.

 

They lived in Sacramento for a few years and then moved down to the L.A. area to attend colleges and engineering schools  They're still in the L.A. area with their good jobs, wives and children.

 

The  Vietnamese are now more interested in local, county and state politics.  It will be interesting to see who they support in the November general election -Ex-Governor Brown, a liberal Democrat, or his moderate Republican challenger, former Ebay CEO Meg Whitman.

 

Wayne Corey

VOA

Bangkok/Indochina

1973-1978

 

 

 

 

----- Original Message -----

From: Carl Robinson

To: Vietnam Old Hacks

Cc: kenn...@aol.com

Sent: Thursday, June 10, 2010 11:34 PM

Subject: Gov Jerry Brown & Vietnamese Refugees.

[dickiedo]

when germaine's family and i arrived in orange county and at camp
pendleton two days after the fall of saigon, we were greeted by a
pompous base commander who informed everybody that they could expect
to be quarantined for at least 60 days while the "indoctrination"
process took place...i raised such a public stink in front of the
commander and the assembled press that he kicked us off the base...as
we left the gate, a marine major who spoke fluent VN, wished my family
a happy, and prosperous long life in their adopted (and i might add
adoptive) country...CBS and skip brown provided transportation to the
LA airport...where we watched cronkite on the evening news reporting
about the fall of saigon...

dick swanson
life and time magazines
1966-1975

[Jim Caccavo]

Steve:

We're  all falling apart here.  I'm certain you will come up with a Jack Rabbit of a hip replacement or at least the training wheels.  Did you have a fall that caused injury or did your hip gaskets just wear out?

Hope you are mending well.  I'm sure Martha has got everything under control.

jim

[Robin Moyer]

Start to finish, fondly remembered.

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Robin Moyer
email: robin...@mac.com
http://www.robinmoyer.com

[Robin Moyer]

Hacks,
On our latest trip to USA to visit our daughter in San Francisco, we had a great burger in Berkley at a place called "Ricks." The guy on duty was an late-middle age vietnamese gentleman surnamed Tran. After a bit of conversation, we concluded that we had been at the Morong Refugee Camp on the Bataan Peninsula in the Philippines at the same time, circa 1987. He had been there for some time, having arrived by small boat. The time connect was a sad self-immolation that day by a boat person who had just given up hope.

On another matter, I think it is high time that Hacks pay tribute to great photographer Willy Vicoy, who died in an NPA ambush in Pangasinan in 1986. I think Willie was the only photog to have the same pix on the cover of Time and Newsweek in the same week. Our book, Bayan Ko!: Images of the Philippine Revolt (Mike Morrow Publisher) was dedicated to Willie. A gentleman of the old school, and in the great tradition of Filipino photojournalism. There must be many stories out there.

Albest,
Robin Moyer