Kentwood — While interviewing her grandfather, Bong Cao, to write his story of immigration, Sophia Cao learned that he had been a prisoner of war.
That detail and many others impacted the way the ninth-grader views her family and their journey from Vietnam. She interviewed Bong Cao for a narrative for the Grand Rapids Public Museum’s program “GR Stories: This is our home now, 50 years of building community after Saigon.”
She wrote:
“The political upheaval brought about by the Vietnam War changed his life forever. Imprisoned as a political prisoner, he endured eight years without his family. This isolation made my grandfather question his family’s future in his own country.”
Sophia’s narrative is one of 20 written by East Kentwood High School students that will become part of local history resources. The Vietnamese students documented their family’s immigration stories for the project, marking the 50th anniversary of the fall of Saigon. The goal is to commemorate the contribution of Vietnamese people who were able to forge new lives in West Michigan since April 30, 1975, when Saigon fell.
‘We are trying to engage students more. The more local the history, the more personal and relevant. Anytime you can use those angles to get at the major themes of social studies, that’s a win.’
— history teacher Matt Vriesman
Students interviewed parents, grandparents and other relatives who immigrated in waves following the war. Sophia said she got to know her grandfather at a deeper level.
“It was kind of emotional. Every time he would talk about his story, he was so sad,” she recalled. “It made me realize all the sacrifices my grandparents and parents had made for me. Now I can understand why they’re so strict about my schooling and stuff, because they don’t want me to live the life that they did.”
In partnership with Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library & Museum, many of the students’ pieces, which include photos, will not only become part of local archives, but will be sent to the National Archives as well.
As part of the project and anniversary, several students and East Kentwood art teacher Le Tran, an immigrant from Vietnam, read their stories during a special ceremony at the museum, which also included a reception and Vietnamese singing and dancing.
A more formal event at the Gerald R. Ford Museum followed two days later, during which Tran and other Vietnamese community members spoke on a panel. President and Betty Ford’s son, Steve Ford, was a special guest.
Adding to the Historic Tapestry
GR Stories was launched during the pandemic by Tony Baker, a Ferris State University professor and community research fellow for the museum, as a way to hear from the people of Grand Rapids themselves, sharing their rich history and contributions to the area. It is an ongoing series of events with in-person and virtual options.
Baker said he wanted to highlight the Vietnamese community and its significance in a series installment. He connected with Tran, an adviser for the Asian Student Union, and East Kentwood High School history teacher Matt Vriesman.
Together they pieced together the plan to involve the students, who had unique access to little-known history, Baker said.
Much of the focus after the war wasn’t on the community, but on politically charged debate about whether President Ford made the right decision in resettling Vietnamese refugees in the U.S. and in signing the Indochina Migration and Refugee Assistance Act. That legislation was followed by the Refugee Act of 1980, signed by President Jimmy Carter.
Due to the acts, 125,000 South Vietnamese people resettled in cities across America, including Kentwood, according to a Michigan Public Radio interview with Tran, Vriesman and senior Christina Le.
But now, Baker said, the lasting impact of policy is clear.
“The legacy is these kids. Anyone that doubts the decision of 1975 and 1980 to create these refugee acts, it doesn’t really matter what the debate was anymore. These students are the legacy of those decisions.”
They Are History
Le Tran clearly remembers the day Saigon fell.
“I immigrated in 1975, literally this day, 50 years ago,” she said, while sitting in her art classroom at East Kentwood on April 30.
The longtime educator and community member said having her students be part of telling stories similar to hers and filling gaps in history is extremely meaningful. She was instrumental in inviting students to take part in the project and helping them compile information.
“When I think about that, it gives me goosebumps knowing that our stories are no longer invisible, a footnote, and it’s not coded with the dark history of the war.”
Vriesman, who was National History Teacher of the Year in 2023, said the project is the epitome of good history teaching.
“It is one of the coolest things I’ve ever been a part of. It’s so cool and so aligned with all the things you want as a social studies teacher,” he said. “We are trying to engage students more. The more local the history, the more personal and relevant. Anytime you can use those angles to get at the major themes of social studies, that’s a win.”
He emphasized the enormity of the project.
“Our students are literally adding primary sources to our community resources.”
Students said interviewing their families helped them piece together what they already knew and learn a lot more. Junior Christina Le interviewed her parents, dad Tien Le and mom Bich-An Phan, who arrived in the U.S. in the late ’90s or early 2000s.
“I live with that culture that they brought with them, but it wasn’t exactly something we sit down and talk about all the time,” she said during an interview at East Kentwood. “Just hearing them talk about it made me realize how difficult and how much they had to give up in order to get here.”
‘…It gives me goosebumps knowing that our stories are no longer invisible, a footnote, and it’s not coded with the dark history of the war.’
— art teacher Le Tran
Christina said the crucial part of the project for her is helping change negative narrative around immigrants. The stories detail the many contributions of Vietnamese refugees.
“A big part of what I like about this project and why I wanted to do it was because when we hear about refugees and immigrants you always here about how it’s the U.S. who brought these people here, but we don’t really highlight or talk about the ways that refugees and immigrants have contributed to our economy and our culture.”
Senior Jennifer Pham reiterated that point in her narrative, which she read at the Public Museum ceremony, ending with the fact that her family shaped her life and made her who she is.
“Their story is not what defines their legacy. Their legacy is the homes they paid off,” she said. “Their legacy is the store my father worked so hard to build. Their legacy is my sisters, and cousins and I.
“I am their legacy.”
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