Experiences of a Vietnamese refugee

As a child, growing up in Vietnam was a pleasant experience for Kim Robinson. Kim’s father was a colonel in the military and their family of 11 lived a good life in Saigon. She had dreams of becoming an architect.

Then, when Kim was 12, Saigon fell to the North Vietnamese communists.

“Life changed dramatically,” she said, “we were constantly living in fear.” Two weeks after the fall of Saigon, her dad was taken to a “re-education” camp. That facility was actually a “punishment” camp, and her father spent the next 13 years there. The family was able to visit every three months and bring him food and medicine that was rarely provided at the facility.

Many officers did not make it.

The family was threatened to relocate because the government determined their house would be good for the communist officers. So they bought a house in the country and mom buried most of their gold in the backyard. One year later, she was unable to find the location of where she buried it. Dreams of college evaporated as the family was blacklisted.

Kim’s oldest sister and brother tried to escape the country but didn’t make it and were put in a labor camp.

The next two oldest brothers then tried to escape by boat but were killed by pirates who took their gold. Next, Kim, 17, and her sister, 20, tried to escape. They paid for a boat to take them but were told there was not enough room in the boat and were forced to swim to an island.

They then paid a fisherman to take them to shore but they were arrested and put in jail which contained 52 females who slept on a concrete floor. After a few months, they were sent to a labor camp for 14 months where they farmed green beans, rice and sweet potatoes. Kim attempted to escape four times with the last time resulting in a successful trip to a refugee camp in Indonesia at age 20. This trip took five rough days in the hull of a boat with strong engine fumes and no restroom.

After a year at the refugee camp, she was able to join a sister and brother in the United States. She attended English classes at night and worked as a seamstress during the day.

Eventually, she was able to attend Long Beach State and at 30 obtained a degree in civil engineering. She married an American and worked for the California Department of Transportation for many years. She and her husband moved to Minden upon retirement in 2020 and are enjoying the friendly people.

“America is my country now - it has opened its door to many but should follow a screening process to get rid of the riff-raff”, says Kim. She specifically wanted to thank veterans - especially the Vietnam veterans.

Minden Rotary meets 11:30 a.m. Thursdays at the COD Casino Garage in downtown Minden.