Ring of Freedom: The saga of a Vietnamese family to escape the communists with only the clothes on their back, Thai pirates, stuck in refugee camps to legally immigrate to America

by Donald C Kesterson, Jay Johnson (Illustrations)

This memoir taken from the journal of Dr. Vương Tú Toàn, it chronicle four unsuccessful escape attempts and the fifth and final escape attempt from Communist Vietnam, after the fall of South Vietnam. The details of Dr. Vuong’s 1980 escape from Vietnam came from the journal he kept as events were unfolding and from interviews with the other Vuong family members. Dr. Vuong, or Toan as he is referred to throughout, was a well-respected doctor living with his family in South Vietnam, one of those blessed individuals who loved helping people, treating the sick and making them better. Before the fall of South Vietnam, he and his family had a wonderful life in a little town near Saigon, mostly untouched by the war. He had married Nha-Y, the daughter of a judge for the South Vietnamese Army. At the time they began their multiple escape attempts, they had five children, the oldest of whom was thirteen years old, while the youngest had just turned two.In America, there is the saying "Freedom isn't Free". Toan was willing to sacrifice everything, his wealth and security, for his family. On the night before they left, as the family sat around him, Toan stood before them. "We are about to embark on this escape attempt, you must understand we might not make it. None of us can swim, none of us know what's on the other side. So that odds are greatly stacked against us...one in a hundred change of making it. But we are going to do this as a family and if we make it you all have to make something of your lives. You have to make this effort worthwhile."

380 pages, Paperback

Published October 15, 2019

Reviews

[Rhonda · Rating 4 out of 5]

What an amazing story. Never underestimate the power of love and the lengths one will go through to make things better for their loved ones. Definitely a must read.

[Kelly Broadstreet · Rating 4 out of 5]

SPOILERS

I will be the first to admit, going into this book I did not know a lot about the Vietnam war and life after the war from the Vietnamese perspective. I learned a lot from this book and what the people were going through.

One of the children of the family, Dao Vuong, is my OB/GYN. To read what she and her family faced to escape Vietnam and make it to the United States was not only fascinating, but also terrifying. The determination to make it here and for every child to go on and be successful, is the true American dream. And to think, she escaped Vietnam, was nearly attacked by pirates, lived through refugee camps, made it to the US, lived through poverty, and went on to be a highly regarded physician who will deliver my baby in less than two weeks. What a phenomenal life story.

[Larry Dew · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good non-fiction read about escape from the Socialist take-over of Vietnam and the economic disaster of Communism.