G.I. Jack

This is Jack. He was born in 1972. Jack's mother was a villager from central Vietnam and his father was an American G.I. serving in the Vietnam War. His father was of Puerto Rican and Hawaiian descent. Shortly after meeting Jack for the first and only time, Jack's dad returned to his army outfit and Jack never saw him again. His father may have been killed in the War or he may have finished his tour of duty and simply returned to his life in the States. Jack doesn't know. Jack is one of 30,000 Amer-asian kids fathered by American G.I.s during the Vietnam War.

My brother Nate and I met Jack while riding a local city bus just outside of Saigon. I turned around and spoke to him wanting to confirm that we were on the right bus. I was a little suprised when this guy answered in perfect English with a slight Texan drawl. Thus began our thirty-minute bus conversation.

Growing up in his Vietnamese village, Jack was the youngest of nine kids. His half-siblings along with the rest of the village, treated him poorly which really isn't suprising considering the Vietnamese had just finished a decade-long war with The States. Jack was routinely given the worst jobs to do around the house and in the village.

His mother died when Jack was still an adolescent. Shortly thereafter, he became aware of a U.S. govenment program that was bringing Ameri-asian kids to The States, applied, and was accepted. So at the age of fourteen, he moved to Texas where he attended a trade school, and eventually earned his highschool G.E.D. In his mid-twenties, he enlisted in the U.S. Navy and served four years.

Near the end of the bus ride, we asked Jack if wanted to join us for dinner. He said that he would love to bring us to one of his favorite local dinner spots. The staff all seemed to know Jack and shortly after we were seated, Jack started ordering for us.

I asked Jack if he found that living in Vietnam brought out a certain Vietnamese side of him, while being in The States brought out a Western side of him? He thought about this for a moment and then said "Nope." I believed him. Over the last two hours, I got the distinct impression that with Jack, what you saw, was what you got.

Jack had nothing but good things to say about The U.S. Undoubtably, his military service helped to form his outlook, but he feels that America is continuing to play a crucial and beneficiary role on the world stage.

Out of the Navy and back in Texas, Jack bought one house and then another and then another until he owned fourteen rental properties. Two years ago, he decided to move back to Vietnam to see what business opportunities might exist in a newly emerging Vietnam. Even though he speaks perfect Vietnamese, it has been slow going. Although Vietnam is opening up, the road to success is fraught with communist-era bureaucracy. And sadly, while Jack was back in Vietnam, the housing market in Texas bottomed out and Jack lost seven of his fourteen houses. He's optimistic though. His ultimate goal is own a shipping vessel or two.

I have no doubt that he will succeed.