GOODBYE SAIGON CH. 1: SOUTH ON FIRE

ILLUSTRATED BY ALTHEA BALMES

WEST END PHOENIX 5 — from the Archives

FROM OCTOBER 2017 ISSUE OF WEST END PHOENIX

This is chapter one of four of our Goodbye Saigon series. Chapter 2. Chapter 3. Chapter 4.

Goodbye Saigon Ch. 1: SOUTH ON FIRE

I remember my last day in Saigon very clearly. There was an all-day curfew. No one was allowed in the streets.

But by nightfall there was chaos.

My brother came running in, telling us that people were leaving on the xa lan - a fishing barge. We all knew it was time. "WE HAVE TO GO NOW!"

I was going to be 10 years old that year. I was the youngest of my siblings, but I didn't cry. I knew I had to be strong.

Our neighbour Mrs. Nhiem was a tailor and made us each a cotton drawstring bag to take an extra set of clothes and some instant rice. I took a small journal and a pencil.

It took many trips to the harbour to take my 5 sisters, 2 brothers, parents and grandmother on our small motorbike.

I had never been in a boat before. I was scared, but more scared of the growing fire coming from the buildings in the city. My older sister helped steady me as I squeezed into a small wooden one.

My brother was helping bring our neighbours to the dock, but the shouting and smell of smoke was getting worse, and we had to leave, hoping that he would make it onto another xa lan. I watched as my city went up in smoke, as we drifted into the open…

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paperAmanda NguyenOctober 13, 2021toronto, year-5, goodbye-saigon