C.L. Hoang's Blog, page 4

A Must Write

What in the world is a "must write," you ask. I can best explain what it is by mentioning its counterpart, which you're probably familiar with since it's often found in readers' reviews of their favorite books---a "must read."

Let me elaborate. A must write is something that I as a writer feel the absolute need to get out of my head and onto paper, be it a story, an essay, or a mere thought or idea. But isn't that the case with just about anything that I write, some of you may say. Don't I write because I feel compelled to in the first place? True, and true. But another truth is I often have more subjects I'd like to scribble about than I actually have time or energy for. And when a certain idea happens along that proves so consuming it demands my immediate attention to the detriment of everything else, it is a must write.

Previously, I've shared with my friends and supporters that I was working on a collection of short stories as my follow-up project to Once upon a Mulberry Field. Well . . . that has been temporarily put on hold. What can I tell you? A new "must write" has come along.

Let me start from the beginning. Late last year I had an opportunity to join a group tour to Southeast Asia, and on the spur of the moment I decided to grab it. I was lured by the fact that a major portion of the tour would take place in Việt-Nam: Five cities in just under two weeks, which was about all I could afford in terms of time off and expenses. Another important factor to me was the sense of security in traveling with a group---strength in numbers, as they say---not to mention the companionship and camaraderie.

So off I went, on my first journey home in over forty years. A lot had happened in the meantime: A war had ended, and millions of people were uprooted or risked their lives in search of freedom---a sweeping sea change for all of us of Vietnamese descent. It was no surprise then that the trip turned out every bit as emotional and impactful as I expected it to be, a real whirlwind in every sense of the word. Not only did I get to revisit my former hometown of Sài-Gòn, but I also had a chance to visit other parts of the country for the first time ever: the medieval port of Hội-An, just south of Đà-Nẵng where I was born; the imperial city of Huế, with so much history and tragedy; the beautiful Hạ-Long Bay, a World Heritage site; and Hà-Nội, my parents' original hometown.

At the end of the tour, on my return flight across fifteen time zones and eight thousand miles of ocean, a simple thought occurred to me: I have got to set everything aside so I can concentrate on writing about this once-in-a-lifetime trip. No question about it. No excuse.

The decision was easy. But now came the hard part: the execution. I've been working diligently since the holidays on this new project, a travelogue of the aforementioned tour, but being the slow writer that I am, I still have ways to go. Besides it being a new genre for me to tackle, I also need to pick up some new skill sets along the way, especially as concerns the back-end setup: How to include color pictures (yes, what's a travelogue without photos, eh?); which publisher is most cost-efficient for this type of printing; how does eBook formatting handle photos etc. So far I've learned that color printing is extremely expensive so it's most likely I'll have to switch publishers, which is a real pain. Also, it's necessary that I keep my book length to a minimum in order to reign in the higher cost so the book can be reasonably priced in the end.

It's not my intention to bemoan the new challenges---they come with the territory---only to give you an update on my writing status. Last year's trip, and by extension, the travelogue I'm working on, mean a great deal to me. It's something I dearly wish to share with all of you some time soon. The project requiring all my attention these days, I may keep a low profile for a while as I try to work through the technical issues, one at a time, and finish the book. I shall keep you all posted on any status change and look forward to the day, soon I hope, when I can finally announce from the rooftop the launch of my new travelogue!

Meanwhile, y'all get on out there and enjoy a wonderful summer, if only for me.


C.L. Hoang
Amazon Page: http://amzn.to/2oJrmLO

And the Beat Goes On

As a writer, nothing brings me greater pleasure or amazement than to know that somewhere out there some readers may find my book intriguing enough to invest their money and time in it. It's no surprise then that I've often wondered, with a certain sense of awe, where all the book has traveled---to what unknown destinations, and into what strangers' hands.

So once in a while I would succumb to curiosity and run a quick Google search on the title of my book, Once upon a Mulberry Field. In this day and age, that seems to be the easiest way to gather information on just about anything, and you usually end up with a boatload more data than you ever have time or care to browse, since the bulk of it is generally of little relevance.

On occasion, though, from such data dumps I was able to glean a few heartwarming nuggets: Meetup announcements from unrelated book clubs in Oregon, California, Arizona and Texas that my book had been chosen for their upcoming discussions; A buried item in a newsletter from a Federated Church in Vermont that listed Mulberry Field as its book club's next month's selection; Kind and thoughtful comments posted on the Facebook page of a Rotary Club regarding a talk I had just given at its meeting a week prior.

Another surprise that really made my day was when Mulberry Field popped up on the Recommended Reading list of the Poway Unified School District, under "Great Books / Authors --- Grown-up Age." I also recently found out the book is listed in the catalog of the University of Montana Library. And just last week I was bowled over when I received a message through the Contact page on my website, from a couple of students at Oxford University in the UK who are proposing to use my book for their research on post-colonial Vietnam and the Vietnam War.

A quick browse on the various Amazon websites overseas also revealed that Mulberry Field had achieved a (very modest) sales ranking---which means that it had sold---in Canada, the UK, France, and Germany. Readers in Canada and the UK were also kind enough to leave reviews, for which I'm most appreciative.

All these things, even when added together, probably didn't amount to any significant sales. But for me, they constitute a priceless reward as they help me realize that beyond my own efforts to launch and promote it, the book has gained a life of its own---truly precious, however minuscule.

And so, even as sales have tapered off and another book is in the works (Tada!), for Once upon a Mulberry Field the beat still goes on. With all my heart, I thank all of you for your support and help in spreading the good word.


C.L. Hoang
Amazon Page: http://amzn.to/2oJrmLO

When Swallows Return---

---it is said they carry Spring on their wing tips. So irresistible is the imagery, I once wrote a short story about it. In Southern California, this springtime migration has also given birth to another seasonal ritual: the celebration of the birds' return to San Juan Capistrano Mission, which takes place every year on March 19th, St. Joseph's Day.

Big crowds congregate at this "Jewel of the Missions" to witness this natural event unfolding throughout the month of March, and St. Joseph's Day has become something of a tradition itself---a fun festival enjoyed by all. There's the ringing of the famous bells at the Great Stone Church in the old courtyard, a guest lecturer on cliff swallows, music performances, and even a historic fashion show. Like many Southern California residents, I love the symbolism of it all and have occasionally partaken in these spring festivities. As to the swallows, after spending the summer within the sheltered walls of the mission, they head back to warmer climates. On the Day of San Juan, October 23rd, large flocks take to the sky and circle over the mission before disappearing south. And the completed cycle repeats itself year after year.

The San Juan Capistrano swallows are cliff swallows that stay near the water---the coastline---where they can readily build their mud nests. So imagine my surprise when late last May a nest sprang up overnight under the front eave of my house, fifteen miles inland. At first I thought it was a hornet's nest with its oblong shape and very tight entry hole and was debating what to do about it. But then the birds began to make their presence known, flitting in and out of their love nest and taking turns to guard it. Now I'm no avian expert, but after watching them fly and their distinctive silhouettes outlined against the sky, I began to form suspicions that these were swallows under my roof.



Swell, I thought. We were going to have baby swallows in a couple of weeks, and then within a month after that the babies and their parents should be off to some wetlands along the coast, perhaps to return again next spring---just like the famed swallows of San Juan Capistrano.

Long story short, the few weeks extended into months as the nest showed no sign of being vacated and bird poop began to pile up on the window ledge under the eave. Then one day while I happened to be out front, I was shocked to find the facade covered with swallows darting and diving toward the nest or clinging vertically to the stucco surface around it. Dozens of them---in frantic, fluttery motion and seemingly swelling in number by the minute. I had no idea what strange thing was going on, but luckily the frenzy subsided after a while and the swarm just flew away.

Needless to say, I called a wildlife control service the very next day to ask for help. The gentleman came out and confirmed that it was a swallow's nest under my eave, which surprised him because of the relatively long distance to the water. But  since swallows are a protected species, there was nothing he could do until their season was over by the end of August. We waited and eventually removed the empty nest, and he advised me to keep an eye out for the birds' return the next spring. "Not a whole hell of a lot you can do, except maybe try to interrupt them before they get a new nest built," he said. Interrupt them? "You can try to put the hose on the unfinished nest and remove it, but beware those little buggers are tenacious and they can rebuild virtually overnight. And many more will then follow." Really?!

So now that the wet winter is retreating and the day is getting longer, I find myself hanging out in the front yard more each day, checking the blue sky and under the eave. And praying and hoping that the darned swallows won't return.


C.L. Hoang

A Wonderful Cause

As I've shared with you before, it always gives me great pleasure to discuss with live audiences about my book, Once upon a Mulberry Field, and I welcome every opportunity to do so. Some of my favorite venues have been local civic clubs such as P.E.O. (Philanthropic Educational Organization), Rotary and Lions Clubs, etc. whose members are upstanding citizens actively involved in community service, some of whom also happen to be veterans.

On occasion the organizers were kind enough to present me with a memento after my talk, which I really appreciated, all the more since that wasn't at all necessary. They're all great keepsakes, these mementos, but a couple of them touched me in a unique, special way. Below, I'm including a photo of one that I'd like to share with you.



It is a certificate from the Rotary Club of San Marcos, and it reads: "In your honor a donation has been made to the Rotary International Polio Plus Campaign to vaccinate 30 children against the polio virus as part of Rotary's global effort to eradicate the world of polio."

I also received a similar certificate from the Rotary Club of Tahoe-Incline last year on the occasion of my book presentation there. I can't tell you just how much these mementos mean to me, as reminders that some good has taken place in the world and I actually had a tiny, indirect part in it. This whole experience also carries additional meaning for me because growing up I had a young cousin who was struck by this virus, with devastating consequences.

Here in the US we're very fortunate that polio has been declared eradicated since 1979 with the vaccine developed by Dr. Jonas Salk in the very city I now call home, San Diego. But the fight against this dreadful disease is still being fought in many underprivileged parts of the world. I hope you will join me in supporting Rotary International and other organizations in their valiant effort to rid our planet of this scourge. As Dr. Salk would remind us, "Hope lies in dreams, in imagination, and in the courage of those who dare to make dreams into reality."

Thank you very much, and I wish all of you a Wonderful Holiday Season and a Happy New Year!


C.L. Hoang

Down Memory Lane

Okay. You've put in a long, hard day (sometimes without a whole lot to show for) and you're feeling drained. You need a good diversion, something pleasant and relaxing to take your mind off work and deadlines, bills to pay, and emails or voice mails that need answering. You kick back in your chair, beverage in hand, and turn on the TV. And what do you get? 24-hour news, yucky news. Loud and crass commercials. Sex and violence dramas.

It's no surprise then that I've lately found myself yearning for simpler days. Just for a brief respite in the evening, long enough for my mind to quiet down before bedtime. And so I couldn't believe my good luck when by chance I ran across a special friend from childhood that had been part of many wonderful memories I still cherish. Five lost decades just evaporated into thin air as if by magic, and I've been happily revisiting with my old chum every evening since.

You see, the special friend I've carried in my heart all these years is one of the first books I was able to finish on my own soon after I had learned to read. It was a translated copy of a children's book by the beloved nineteenth-century French author Hector Malot, titled Sans Famille ("Without a Family"). It's the story of an eight-year-old orphan boy who was ripped from his foster mother's arms and sold by her heartless husband to a traveling artist with a troupe of performing dogs and monkey. The old artist loved the boy like his own blood and taught him to read and to play music and sing. Rain, snow or shine, the troupe wandered from village to village all around the country (France) and beyond (England, Switzerland), encountering all kinds of people along the way and weathering one adventure after another until---well, I won't spoil the ending for you in case you may want to check it out some day. Suffice it to say it's got all the ingredients for a fantastic story: love, friendship, loyalty, travel, mystery and intrigue, and adorable animals. I can't recall how many times I reread that book from cover to cover through my years in elementary school.

It so happened I was browsing a Kindle book list one recent evening when I stumbled across a 1916 American translation of Sans Famille, called Nobody's Boy. Out of curiosity, I downloaded it, not suspecting for a minute I would soon be swept up in the adventures of Rémi, the orphan boy, and his animal friends, all over again. It's mind-boggling how much of it I still remembered all these years later. And not only the story, but also the feelings and emotions that it arose in me as a young child. It might have been my imagination afterwards but I'd swear I slept better---more happily and restfully---on those few nights after reading my childhood book again. The colorful illustration above is from a Japanese reprint, and even though it's not the same as the cover of my early copy, it captures well the joyful spirit of the book.

And now, dear reader, would you care to share some of your special friends from your early years?


C.L. Hoang

Why I (Continue to) Write

It's said that we've all got a book in us. I was fortunate enough, living in the age of self-publishing, to find that out for myself. In my case, it took me six years of hard labor---labor of love, as it's called---to research, write, and publish my first book, Once upon a Mulberry Field, a historical novel/love story set during the Vietnam War. It was the one book I had wanted to write all my adult life, to tell the stories I believed needed to be told. But writing and publishing the book is one thing, trying to get it out there into the hands of its intended audience is a whole other matter. Suffice it to say that the latter has proved an even more challenging and sobering experience.

I must admit there have been moments of self-doubt and second-guessing when I actually wondered if I hadn't bitten off more than I could chew. With the extraordinary amount of print and electronic material available to readers nowadays, it is quite a tall order to compete for any kind of attention, to cause even a tiny ripple in that huge pond of books. But such discouraging thoughts, in my case, are quickly dispelled whenever I get to share my book with a live audience at a book club, library, or any of various other organizations (as listed on the "About the Author" page of my website).

At many of those small, intimate venues, I've had the honor and the pleasure of meeting veterans, most of them Vietnam War veterans, and listening to them share their inspiring personal stories. Their warm reception of Once upon a Mulberry Field and their kind words of appreciation and encouragement have touched me deeply and are the greatest reward I could ever expect. They have made those years of hard work more than worthwhile and have reaffirmed my own belief in what I'm doing.

So it is with joy and great appreciation that I'd like to share some of the comments left by those veterans and their families on my blog page, email, and Amazon book page:

. . . What C.L. Hoang has accomplished in this memorable novel is to reawaken a part of history that so desperately needs to be re-examined. . . . For those of us who served in Vietnam in 1968 - 1970 those memories we thought best submerged need to come forth, allowing us to examine them and never repeat them. What Hoang has provided is a table to which he invites us to see that war from both sides and in doing so understand the trauma inflicted on all involved, lasting into the present for many. . . . But this brief summary doesn't begin to convey the depth of reliving the multifaceted ways he explores in his novel. The story is rich and beautifully told, but the impact is like the afterburn: it is more deeply felt with the passage of time.

"Once upon a Mulberry Field" connected me to my father again. He served two tours in Vietnam and my mother and sister and brother and I waited at home for him. This tender story set in in that dreadful war is a comforting companion all these years later. Stunning description, genuine dialog, and merciless action scenes bring the whole war experience into a modern light.

What a thrill to read this novel from a number of angles. First, the writing was brilliant, and I marveled at his command of the English language. Second, as a Vietnam Vet, I saw another perspective about the war, the personal side between two cultures. Third, the descriptions of the war milieu brought back memories of 45 years. I was amazed at the knowledge that Mr. Hoang possessed about the American military. Once past the character development phase, I was rewarded with a personal and emotional story with twists and turns that affected the American hero and the Vietnamese protagonists. I couldn’t put the book down. At the end, I had leaky eyes which showed the author’s writing skills of story development and of description. As I read, I felt I was placed in the scene itself. Vietnam veterans and others will benefit from this engaging adventure. Well done.

For anyone who experienced the Vietnam war or any war, first hand or through a loved one, C.L. Hoang's beautifully crafted novel is a must-read. From captivating descriptions of the lush landscape of Vietnam and its charming people to quiet interludes between battles and tragic losses, I was moved to tears. I bought multiple copies for friends and family. My husband was stationed at Bien Hoa Airbase in 1967, but not until reading this novel, did I begin to understand what it was really like.

. . . Praise GOD you have written this book! So many will have a great healing and loving response to what you have written. . . .

. . . "Once Upon A Mulberry Field" may be the finest expression ever written of that tremulous time in Saigon and the lives of Vietnamese and Americans alike so intertwined and dramatically affected. I was there as a young U.S. Naval officer in 1964 - 1965 and privileged to be there again as I read this marvelous novel that is as true as life in its account of lives and loves transcending the upheaval of the Mulberry Fields.

. . . The book touched me on so many levels, as a veteran myself I could think back and remember saying goodbye to a girlfriend, anxiously awaiting that care package, but I cannot imagine the pain of being 18 years old and being drafted and sent to fight a war you probably didn't even understand. The story was love, being changed, friendships made and lost, acquaintances discovered and lost for decades. It was about engagements and broken dreams - rediscovered hope, and lost opportunities. I believe this book should be a movie and would be a tremendous read for any High School literature class, because the possibilities for open discussion are endless.

I was in country with the 5th Group up in Pleiku from Nov. 1967 thru October 1968. I never got down to Saigon. The way that you wrote your book, I feel like I’m familiar with the area. . . . I've told every Nam vet that I come across, to read your book.  All of my team members from the other lifetime have read it.  What a fantastic piece of literature!! . . .

Thank you all so much, veterans and families, for your service and sacrifices and your encouragement. Words can't even begin to express my heartfelt appreciation and the joy of knowing that my book has brought you some measure of comfort all these years later. So let me just say this: This is exactly why I wrote---and will continue to do so for as long as I can. Thank you again, and Godspeed.


C.L. Hoang

So Many Stories . . .

In 2008 when I started writing my book Once upon a Mulberry Field, a big concern I had was the size of it---how much material to include in it. From what I was able to gather at the time, the ideal length of a book should be anywhere between 60,000 and 90,000 words, which roughly translates into 200 to 300 pages. Gone are the days of the epic novels a la Clancy or Michener due to the proliferation of other media, old and new, which are partially to blame for the modern consumer's short span of attention.

Mulberry Field is close to my heart since it uses Vietnam during the war as background and also because it might be the only book I'd ever attempt to write. So I struggled between trying to make it as comprehensive as I possibly could and at the same time conforming to the recommended length of two to three hundred pages. The result was a difficult and at times painful selection and elimination process---to decide what material to include and what to set aside, chosen from a lifetime of personal memories and from an incredible wealth of research material.

In the end, it took a lot of hand wringing and six long years to distill it all down to 125,000 words across 392 pages. Even at that, I felt I wasn't doing justice either to the story or to the characters in it. There was just so much more to tell. The book length, along with the desire to have a say in all artistic decisions concerning my "baby," contributed to my decision to self-publish.

To my surprise and relief, Once upon a Mulberry Field has had a pretty decent reception. The book has garnered a few awards and positive readers' reviews, and for that I'm very thankful. But the most gratifying and humbling experience for me has come at the various presentations and book talks where I got to meet face to face with my readers, many of them Vietnam veterans, who told me how much they enjoyed the book, how much it has touched them. This is the greatest reward that makes all the hard work worthwhile.

It was also at those book talks that I was asked the dreaded questions: Will there be a sequel? If not a sequel, then what would the next book be about? Have I started on it? When will it be out? To all of which I just answered: I have been really busy with the book promotion---a full-time job---and have had little time to devote to my writing. But, I said with conviction, as much to myself as to my readers, there would be another book. There has got to be. There are simply too many stories, still, that are crying out to be told.

And so, little by little, in between the promotional activities, I have gotten back to writing. This second time around, I feel I don't need to lay out the complex historical and cultural background all over again, at least not to the same extent I did with Mulberry Field. And I will concentrate on one character at a time, one special situation at a time; take a close-up, intimate snapshot in time instead of a panoramic view of an entire historical period. This time, I will write short stories. It will be easier. Faster.

Or so I thought.

As I'm quickly finding out, short stories are a different kind of writing altogether. Much faster pace, much tougher to establish a contextual background or a character's portrait, and where every word counts. It's like crafting an intricate piece of jewelry instead of painting a landscape scenery, I guess. Anyway, it feels like I'm starting all over at the bottom of my learning curve, albeit a new one. I'm a slow learner, an even slower writer, but God willing, I'm going to do this. I'm going to work my tail off and I'm going to tell those stories that I was forced to leave out before, even if it takes me another---six years? The question, then, is: Will you, my readers, have the patience to wait for me? I can only pray that you do.

As they rightly say: So many stories, so little time (in a day).




C.L. Hoang

Home, Sweet Home

Maya Angelou once said: "You can never go home again, but the truth is you can never leave home, so it's all right."

Most people, no matter where we came from or where life has taken us, remain attached to memories of our early years -- the times, places, people, events, as well as the loves and affections and the turmoils of our young hearts.

For me, that special place of my childhood -- my ancestral homeland -- is Vietnam, which I had to leave many years ago. I grew up there during the war, so naturally a lot of my memories from that time are not happy ones. And I've always regretted that due to safety and security reasons I didn't get many opportunities to travel outside of Saigon and see much of the country.

Thus it was quite a pleasant surprise when a friend sent me a link to this wonderful video shot by a young filmmaker of Vietnamese descent, Arnaud Ly Van Manh. This short film (6 minutes), titled This Land, "takes viewers across Vietnam and focuses on the beautiful landscapes, people, and tranquil moments one finds in the country’s mountains, streams and pagodas. Manh’s trip took him to Halong Bay, Hanoi, Hue, Hoi An, Saigon, the Mekong Delta and Phan Thiet last Christmas, and he relished every moment spent in the land that his father left at the age of 18. 'That’s why I filmed This Land, trying to share the emotion I felt discovering these cities and villages, this country, this land which is mine in some ways,' Manh wrote in the video description."*
* Saigoneer, Published on Wednesday, 10 December 2014

A far cry from the war documentaries of years ago, this beautiful clip captures the simple poetry of my childhood homeland and its people, and it fills my heart with tenderness and peaceful longing. I hope you'll enjoy it as much as I did. Click on the following link to see it:

https://youtu.be/1G-KQ_0cQtk



C.L. Hoang

A Writer's Journey

James Michener, with his meticulously researched, epic tales of exotic locales, has always been one of my favorite writers. Recently I ran across a book by him that I had read before, titled The Novel (Random House 1991). It is fiction but undoubtedly drawn from his own experience as a successful author, and it presents a road map of the birth of a book, from manuscript to finished product. The Novel grabs my interest all over again as many of the details the author shared about his publishing experience are still as relevant today as they were in the late 1980's.

Michener's alter ego, a writer of historical novels by the name of Lukas Yoder, has much to teach aspiring authors through his own travails on the long road to success:

* It took him 13 years of "heartbreaking labor" and 4 published books (which sold around 1,000 copies each) before scoring a bestseller (900,000 copies). His championing editor had warned him that their publisher was going to drop him--and her--if book no. 5 did not turn the corner, which it fortunately did. As Yoder himself stated, "It was hell before death to watch the book appear, flutter like a wounded bird and die. And to experience the same disaster four times!" An overnight breakthrough, his was not.

* Through this ordeal, and even after he had become successful and famous, Yoder was guided, cajoled, and ordered by his editor to stop "chasing after abstractions and instead focus on your characters. First, cut. Cut a good deal of the long middle section. That'll provide space for the subplot in which the reader could get involved." She never missed an opportunity to pound it into him that his book "isn't worth a damn unless somebody is bullied into realizing its merit and not only buys it but also says at the end: 'I'd like to see what this guy does next time out.' That's writing. That's publishing." To which our writer responded (as many writers probably would): "I write books and allow them to find their own levels of success."

* In spite of this constant tug o' war between bending to his editor's will (thus giving the readers what they want, supposedly) and following his own tunnel vision for the book, Yoder fully realized that "if I insisted on doing it my way, I've got to do everything possible to make the book as flawless as possible." So he slipped out of bed at 3:00 am and went to work (and rework) on his manuscript. Even with full technical support from the publisher, it still took a whole year of "drudgery" between the time he finished the manuscript and when the book finally came out.

* Yoder also learned that with success came ever loftier expectations and heavier pressure: His most recent book sold more than a million copies, yet that did not keep the bookstore chains from having reservations about his latest offering. Based on advanced copies sent them, the bookstores' editorial readers deemed his new book disappointing. "Too much preaching, not enough story line" was their verdict, which resulted in the initial print order getting cut back by two thirds, from the planned 750,000 to a mere 200,000 (poor Mr. Yoder, I thought!) Still this was a big blow to the publisher, who came down hard on the author with their not-so-subtle demands for significant rewrites.

The Novel is chock full of interesting insights like the ones I mentioned above. But most amazing to me is the fact that many of those observations have remained quite relevant even today, a quarter-century after the book came out. It sure seems like the more things change in the industry, the more they remain the same. But setbacks and heartaches notwithstanding, Lukas Yoder spoke for most of us writers when he said: "With me (publishing) is not a game, it's not a matter of figures, it's one of the world's greatest professions, and I'm elated to be part of it."

Also check out my Amazon book page at:
http://amzn.to/1Sut6mz


C.L. Hoang

Veterans Day 2015

This year, in the weeks leading up to Veterans Day, I've had the privilege and pleasure of being involved in several meaningful and fun events.

In early October I was invited by the Incline Village/Crystal Bay Veterans Club to attend its 2015 Community Ball, which was to pay tribute to Vietnam War veterans. I already wrote in an earlier post about this special trip during which I also gave a talk about my book at the local Rotary Club and library.

Next was a trip to the Palm Springs Air Museum where I took part in its "Our Heroes Return Commemorative Programs," sharing my memories of Việt-Nam and the motivation that drove me to write Once upon a Mulberry Field. Afterwards I had the opportunity to meet and talk with many veterans from the audience, two of whom had served at Biên-Hoà Air Base where a big part of my novel was set. Palm Springs Air Museum was named in 2014 as one of the top 14 aviation museums in the world by CNN Travel. Breaking ground in June of 2016 will be construction for the new General Ken Miles Hangar, which will house the Korea and Vietnam aircraft and supporting exhibits.

A week after the Air Museum, I had the honor of returning to Palm Springs as the guest speaker at the season-opening dinner/meeting of the local chapter of MOAA (Military Officers of America Association). It was Vietnam Night to honor veterans from that war. There was a map of Vietnam which the veterans used to point out where they had been stationed during the war, while they shared with us about their tours of duty in country. I was moved by their stories and became emotional during my own presentation. After dinner I had a chance to visit with many of the veterans and their lovely wives, which was really special for me.

And then last week I was invited to speak about Mulberry Field at the Alpine Branch of the San Diego County Library System, at its Special Veterans' Day Signature Event.


Alpine is a small community just outside of San Diego, and I had no idea what to expect. But the turnout was great and, as I later found out, consisted of quite a few Vietnam War veterans and veterans' families. We had a lively Q/A after the presentation, followed by one-on-one visits when I got to shake hands with the veterans and say Thank You to them in person.

Even 40 years after the Vietnam War had ended, I don't forget the sacrifices by all the soldiers, South Vietnamese and American, who risked their lives to protect and defend the people on a poor strip of land along the Pacific Ocean. The picture at the top of the page is of the famous statue Thương Tiếc ("Mourning") at the entrance to the Military Cemetery outside of Biên-Hoà during the war years. It shows an unknown soldier, backpack and helmet still on and M-1 carbine laid across his lap, in a moment of contemplative mourning of his fallen comrades.

To all the veterans, long since gone or still around: Thank you for your service, and may you have Peace.

Also check out my Amazon book page at:
http://amzn.to/1ydeuP7


C.L. Hoang