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Home : Quarterly Archives : Volume 19 |
Tredyffrin Easttown Historical Society |
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Source: July 1981 Volume 19 Number 3, Pages 77–84 TU DO ("Freedom") The Story of the Vietnamese Resettlement Project In 1975 the Trinity Presbyterian Church was involved in an emergency situation unique in its history. In April, a continuing effort began to assist one of the first refugee groups from Vietnam to establish new lives in America and to become free and productive members of our society. Its success is a credit to many members of the congregation who expended countless hours to achieve it. But the driving force behind the entire operation was Dr. Robert W. Bohl, Minister of the Church. This narrative of that effort is entitled "TU DO", the Vietnamese word for "freedom". For that is what this project came to mean to some 100 men, women and children who left all behind them in their hurried flight to our country. While most Americans heard the reports of the final collapse of South Vietnam on April 30, 1975 and were told of the large numbers of people fleeing that country, only the farsighted could predict the enormity of the resettlement effort that took place since that time. At least one man and the members of his small church did not have time to watch these developments and wonder what was coming. For starting two days prior to the fall of Saigon, Dr. Bohl had been coordinating the reception and care of 83 Vietnamese refugees, many of them orphans. The church building provided two weeks of shelter for the group while Dr. Bohl worked to match community resources and human needs. The problems to be faced ranged from the immediate health care of the group and the placement of the orphans with new parents to the settlement of the adults in permanent housing and employment. The account of this remarkable and continued success has to focus on the dedication of Dr. Bohl, whose organizing skills, sensitivity to people, and energy proved more than equal to the task. Although the fall of South Vietnam to the communists is history, political conflict is still a major cause of immigration, as demonstrated by recent refugees from southeast Asia, These refugees see, on the distant shore of America, something that most Americans take for granted, or even forget they possess — freedom. (To the Vietnamese, it is "Tu Do".) And to 83 refugees who fled Vietnam only days before, under the threat of death due to their association with an American organization, their symbol of freedom was Dr. Bohl. Dr. Bohl, who was also Chairman of the Pearl S. Buck Foundation's Adoption Committee, had announced to his congregation on the first Sunday in April that possibly a few orphans would be arriving, and that temporary homes would be needed before final adoption transactions could be completed. At 2:00 a.m. on April 28th, he received a telephone call from the State Department, notifying him that six refugees were coming in. At 6:30 in the morning he received another call; the number had now increased to 16. By 11:00 a.m. two more calls brought the total to 56. As a member of the Pearl Buck Foundation's Board of Directors, he knew about these 56 refugees — they were staff members at the Foundation's Saigon office. Rather than accept the more traditional role of minister, Dr. Bohl quickly moved into action. He could have turned to other agencies for help that morning but, realizing any such involvement would result in delay, he took on the responsibility himself. Although he was a member of the Foundation's Board, he did not have the authority to, nor did he choose to, commit the Foundation financially. With the Foundation's budget of only $30,000, and the estimated expense of processing and relocating the group expected to be $500,000 to $700,000, he knew quick action would have to be taken and he turned in another direction — to the community. There were no guidelines at that time. These were among the first refugees to arrive in the United States. The refugee reception centers had not finalized their operating procedures. The Indo-China Migration and Refugee Assistance Act of 1975 (P.L. 94-23) was yet to be enacted, which also precluded covering any of the expense by the subsequent Appropriation Bill (P.L. 94-24), as Dr. Bohl. was to learn later. With approval from the ruling Elders, Dr, Bohl's appeal to church members brought immediate action toward the formation of committees for preparing meals, securing clothing, sleeping bags, cots, doctors, nurses, toilet articles, and diapers and bottles for the infants. Church rooms were converted into sleeping quarters, and by early afternoon everything was set for the arrival. Dr. Bohl made arrangements with the Upper Main Line YMCA for the use of their busses to help transport the refugees from the airport. This was Monday, April 28th. The group had been evacuated from Saigon by Army planes the Thursday before and flown to Guam. From there the group had been flown to Hawaii for all necessary clearances into the United States. Next came San Francisco, and finally Philadelphia, four days later. They arrived with only a few handbags. Their departure had been rapid. Although a private agency, the Pearl Buck Foundation's identity with the U.S. interests in Vietnam made both the agency personnel and Amer-Asian orphans especially vulnerable to the Vietcong threat. They closed their offices, destroying all evidence of any names connected with the Foundation to ensure protection of family members, and with tearful farewells to their families who did not qualify for evacuation they were put aboard a military transport within an hour, leaving all their cherished possessions and a culture behind. Before Dr. Bohl met the plane load of exhausted refugees at the airport that afternoon, he made sure everything was in order at the church for their reception. Food and many comforts were available, but most of them favored simply an uninterrupted period of sleep. Their arrival evokes a picture of those huddled masses and wretched refuse once hymned by Emma Lazarus, but this was far from the case. The week previous to their departure from Saigon, the adults in the group were actively engaged in professional roles of medicine, engineering, school administration, and social work. They were among the upper stratum of South Vietnam society, and were strongly opposed to the communists. Having met another group of 27 orphans at the airport at 1:30 a.m., bringing the total to 83, Dr. Bohl found himself the next day coordinating the massive program. With less than three hours sleep, he continued to direct every phase of the operation. For the Vietnamese, the realization that they had arrived — that their five days of being shuttled was ended — began to sink in. As it did, their thoughts turned both back to those left behind and forward to an uncertain future. Dr. Bohlfs compassion for each individual's anxious inquiry was their prime source of solace during the next two weeks. He arranged for their names to be fed into a computer in Washington, D.C, in order to expedite the location of missing family members and relatives. A well organized system was devised to make it possible for the Vietnamese to take over the housekeeping chores and care for the orphans.
Taking over some of the kitchen chores This created a more secure environment for the orphans, as well as offering the adults a sense of pride. Arrangements were made for members of the church to take them for showers, laundry, and other personal needs. For four days and nights Dr. Bohl did not sleep, coping with problems like where the food for 83 people would come from; how the church's small septic tank would handle the increased sewage; what to do if the refugees developed medical problems; where they would find enough clothing for those who needed it. The ultimate question was how long they would be housed at the church, but during those first few days Dr. Bohl had little time to think about that. His concern about medical problems proved well founded, and the Paoli Memorial Hospital provided free medical service to the Vietnamese, with local drug stores contributing free drugs. Clothing and shoes arrived at the church dcor in abundance, donated by local merchants and individuals. Food was also donated by restaurants and baking and food processing companies. The church's sewage disposal company also wanted to help, and solved the sanitation problem by pumping out the septic tank every three days, free of charge. Monetary gifts were also received, but bills were beginning to accumulate at a rate of $3,000 a day. The air transportation bill from California amounted to $10,000. Some of the refugees had become separated from members of their families en route, and in trying to locate them the calls to Guam cost $12.00 for the first three minutes, for a total telephone bill of over $2,000.
An infant refugee being comforted by the author While the adults stayed occupied with chores and attempts to bridge the language barrier with the Americans offering assistance, Dr. Bohl never lost sight of his principal purpose — the welfare of the Amer-Asian orphan — and his keen concern was apparent from the moment he stepped off the plane with a sobbing youngster in his arms until the last one was adopted. Since the Pearl Buck Foundation had been a licensed adoption agency for two years in Vietnam and Taiwan, a few of the adoptions had already been in process. With assistance from the Foundation' s. experienced adoption officials, he supervised the final adoption technicalities, and within ten days all of the orphans had been placed with loving new parents. Throughout the period, Dr. Bohl interviewed the adults, prepared resumes, and met with business and church leaders in an attempt to obtain support in locating sponsors and jobs for them. He conferred with immigration officials on the details of processing the refugees' status in the United States. He met and corresponded with legal advisors in an effort to resolve specific phases of the operation. The effort to locate sponsors and jobs was also given support by the local press. The following week, The Suburban and Wayne Times commented editorially, "We welcome, with deep warmth and sincere compassion, our refugees from Vietnam. For now they are 'ours' — perhaps some day to be American citizens — but 'ours' to assist in making the jolting transition from life in Vietnam to that of America. ... If one small church can handle ALL of these victims of war during the past week with little preparation, then certainly other community organizations can take them on, as families or small groups, for the duration — until they are self supporting." Television crews were on the scene daily, as well as newspaper reporters and journalists awaiting interviews. An attempted kidnapping and the thousands of curiosity seekers made strict security measures a necessity. Dr. Bohl was still averaging less than three hours of sleep a day. It seemed as if inquiring telephone calls never ceased, and it was he to whom the caller wished to speak. He appeared to take nothing for granted and would express his personal gratitude to anyone offering assistance. Needless to say, a project of this nature also brought about some negative reaction. At one point Dr. Bohl found himself defending why, out of 24,000 children said to be of mixed blood in Vietnam, these particular children were chosen to be flown out. His response to such reaction was, "Although some may think Vietnam may be better off under its present government, there can be no question as to the danger the Amer-Asian children were in. In any case, such opinions are after the fact; the refugees have come here, and we cannot do less than give them assistance." In further defense of this particular effort, Dr. Bohl also stated, "According to Vietnamese practice, a child born of an American father cannot become a citizen of Vietnam. He enters life as half American, with the only possibility of citizenship open to him being in this country. In addition, many of the orphans are black Amer-Asians. [For them} to stay in Vietnam would mean suffering racial injustice far worse than they may experience here." Dr. Bohl!s only concern was trying to do as much as possible for a group of anxious people who had been suddenly thrust into a culture completely unfamiliar to them. Frustrations mounted over hours spent on the telephone trying to get accurate information from Washington on the appropriate procedures to secure some financial assistance — without much success. While some of the officials in Washington were helpful, most of the correspondence in reply to his inquiries resulted in referring him from one agency to another. By the end of the second week, each family unit had been placed with a sponsor. Dr. Bohl was successful in securing sponsorship by area churches for almost all of them, while others were able to join with relatives located elsewhere. One of the continued efforts to help the refugees adjust came in the form of education. In the fall, a three-month period (three nights a week) of special English classes, taught by instructors from Temple University's Office of International Services, united the resettled refugees again at Trinity Church. For many of the students it was a homecoming. Up until the time he was transferred to another church, Dr. Bohl continued to be most actively involved with the eleven refugees sponsored by the church but living in apartments of their own, though he received a great deal of assistance from members of the congregation and the community. The transition period for the newcomers continued for several years, as they acquainted themselves with a new language, new friends, new homes, different jobs, public transportation, American money, our cold climate and the need for winter clothing, and a host of other changes to situations so familiar to the rest of us that we take them for granted. Although these changes had originally distracted them from the pains of separation from their homes and their families, they later became problems that had to be faced. There were also a number of requests for help in getting other family members into the United States, as well as means of communicating with relatives still in Vietnam. Before he left Berwyn, Dr. Bohi also performed a number of infant baptisms among the children, including, on December 7th, the baptism of Due Gia Pham, the first baby to be born in the United States of a member of the group. He also performed several marriage ceremonies among members of the group. Throughout the entire project he and the congregation helped them become more self-sufficient each day, with a faith that they would be able completely to regain the individual dignity each of them had once possessed. The full story of the plight of the Vietnamese refugees is long and detailed. This summary simply illustrates the conditions under which Dr. Bohl and the members of the community carried out the project. "The Viet Nam refugee activity in which you and your congregation are involved," one member of the community wrote to Dr. Bohl, "is an inspiring example of Christian love and concern. When so much of what is undertaken by organized religion seems to be very misguided, and when our political leadership leaves so much to be desired, it is reassuring to see what our neighbors are capable of when faced with a situation of real human need." "In all the time I have lived in this community," another, who had been involved in community work for decades, wrote, "... this is the single event that has brought the community together." But even more heartwarming were the letters of appreciation, written in their newly learned language, from the refugees themselves, some of whom were finally.located as far away as Texas or California. "I would like to mark down, right here," one of them, Nguyen Van Dung, wrote to Dr, Bohl and all the members of the Trinity Presbyterian Church, "all my sincere thanks for all kind of warmest cares and helps that you, by God's love, reserved to me, to my whole family and to other Vietnamese refugees as well." Similarly, Muoi S. Nguyen, who was later able to join her sister in Houston, Texas, wrote, "I would like to thank you for your enthusiasm help in starting my new life in this country. Would you please send my thanks to all members of the Church for their best help and comfort." "I do not know how to express my thankfulness to you all," another wrote. "Things happened so different in the last few months in our life, from the frightful last days of April, in Saigon, to the days with thousands of hands giving help to us in Berwyn, then Paoli. ... I do not realize once In a while [if] I am in a dream or true. With half the way around the world away from home, leaving everything, then now I almost have everything again. If this is not the arrangement of some Superhuman power, how can it be realized?" Another enclosed "a handkerchief which I drew and I send to you as a souvernir from a Vietnamese refugee", with the comment "I was moved by your kindness and through my life I will never forget what you have done for my people. I promise myself and follow you as a good example" and a request to "say 'Hello' to everyone for me." When praised about his part in the project, Dr. Bohl was quick to say, "The community did it," And with his foresight, direction, and perserverance, a unique emergency project of this magnitude was carried out smoothly by the church and the community. "One of the things that kept coming up," he later noted, "was, 'You did that because you are a minister', but I say, 'Don't forget that I was a man before I was a minister', and my manhood has not changed, nor has my sense of humanity." The project made freedom possible — with acts of humanity and love. |
