The Audio Misadventure of Bryan, Van, Quang, Tam and Tuan

Date & Time: July-August at various time
Location: Various
Interviewee: Bryan Warren, Van Tran, Quang Le, Tam Duong & Tuan Anh Vu

Oral History Team:
Interviewer 1 – Tuan Anh Vu
Interviewer 2 - Bryan Warren
Photographer - Frank Bui

Summary: Five voices, one mic, multiple rerecording sessions due to Tuan's incompetence with the audio equipment, and many tender hours spent on Audacity, Soundslides, and VDict.com.

Van Tran is a classic immigrant success story, a living proof of that American Dream. Immigrated to the U.S. from Vietnam in 1984, trained as an engineer in Louisville, climbed her way up the corporate ladder at Humana, and now continuing her success as a workaholic business woman. She was one of the catalysts for this project and it has been her persistence and passion that have kept many of the project members committed and going.

For Van, this project is an opportunity to give thanks to those who have made her immigrant success story possible; the Americans and Vietnamese who participated in the war who are, in her opinion, continue to be under-recognized and ill-thanked.

This endeavor for Van is also an attempt to convey what it means to be the first generation to their progeny by having them listen, watch, and be present during the hurt of conjuring up old tragic memories. "You guys have it so easy here. I want you to appreciate everything you got and all the sacrifices that made it possible".

Likewise for Quang Le, who came as a Vietnamese immigrant, now a successful American entrepreneur, dedicated Crane House volunteer, and one of the few early believers of the project, he wants this project to be a message from him -- and the Vietnamese generation he represents -- to the parent generation to let them know that the privileges and golden chances that they've been enjoying have not been squandered. And like Van, he feels a certain duty to give due thanks to those who came before, who were past victims of war, but in his mind, may be heros for future generations.

A humble and heavy dose of responsibility to bow head and give thanks was a dominant theme for the Vietnamese participants.

It was no different with Tam Duong. A nurse, University of Louisville graduate, and a grateful daughter. Recounting with trembling gratitude and voice the difficulties that arose during the early stages of her family's resettlement in America, she articulated her frustration and confusion at the time from the sudden reversal of familial roles. " I used to be the ones with questions for mom, but then when we came here, I became the one with all the answers for her...I was her interpreter, her cultural guide in America".

Now a grown pensive adult with self-imposed responsibilities, she too, like Quang and Van, wants to seize the occasion to tell the fathers and mothers who left everything, arriving in America with nothing that "their voices, actions, and sacrifices have not been forgotten".

Alongside wanting to convey her sense of indebtedness to her family, Tam also feels that this is an important chance for the Vietnamese to take control of "our story (the Vietnamese experience during the war and after)". She feels that what is learnt in public schools about the Vietnam War isn't enough.

This is a shared opinion with Tuan Anh Vu, who is interested in the "human stories" of the war more so than other aspects that, in his opinion, have been thoroughly examined and dissected in countless textbooks. It is the human faces, the small anecdotes during the interviews that reveals giant pictures, the still lingering cultural accents of the immigrant subjects and their adaptation that are most intriguing for him.

He hopes that the exhibit will also shed light on the Vietnamese presence in Louisville, "why we're here, what we've done, and are doing..."

Of course, without the support and guidance of the Crane House and its staffs, in particular, Bryan Warren, this project might have never existed at all. Bryan outlined clearly the aspirations for the project from his perspective as the Director of The Crane House.

The aim of this project, according to Bryan, is to preserve and document the voices and evidences of a group of immigrants, Louisvillians, Americans, while it is still possible, of their experience before, during and after the immigrant status. "Imagine what it would have been like to have interviewed the Irish, German, Polish immigrants who came here (back in the days)". These archival information would not only be an immensely valuable resource for historians and other academics, but also to the city of Louisville as it is a piece of its heritage preserved for the next generation.

Bryan also eluded to the fact that it is not only about piercing into the past of one group. For the Crane House, "this has very much the potential to be a national model for other project (with immigrant communities)". It is with this hope that many lessons will be learned and methods honed for use with other immigrant communities in Louisville and nationwide.

It is without a doubt that everyone interviewed was hugely delighted of how far this project has gone and is optimistic about its future. Of course, all felt that there are areas for improvements, but these are minor things that are overlapped by the positive aspects such as the privilege to hear the intimate and moving voices of the interviewees and our bonding experience as we highly untrained partcipants learn to put this amazing project together.