A six-meter, engineless river sampan powered by two oars and a sail. Eight adults and one child departed from Vung Tau, Vietnam on September 3rd, 1984 in this boat. They sailed the open seas and survived treacherous conditions for seven days as ships passed them. On September 10th, 1984, the passengers, along with the boat, were finally taken aboard the Cetra Corona of Le Havre, a French bulk carrier. The refugees disembarked at Nagoya Seaport in Japan, while the boat was taken to France. The boat remained in the Musée Maritime et Portuaire in Le Havre for 38 years until it moved to the Vietnamese Heritage Museum in February 2023.
A chest made out of repurposed materials at the Galang refugee camp in Indonesia. The wood comes from the boards of the rotting barracks at the camp and the aluminum handle and clasps are made from materials (e.g. pots) issued by UNHCR. This chest was used to hold mementos from Le Xuan Mui's time at the refugee camp. Since Le Xuan Mui arrived at Pulau Bidong on March 13, 1990, after the adoption of the Comprehensive Plan of Action, he was not automatically granted refugee status and was subject to screening to qualify as a refugee. He was ultimately repatriated to Vietnam on August 19, 1996.
Grey denim backpack made from a pair of jeans donated by a philanthropic organization. The backpack was created by a fellow Vietnamese refugee named Tan at Pulau Bidong and gifted to Vincent Doan as a token of appreciation.
Aluminum trunk used as travel luggage. The side of the trunk shows the name of the owner, Nguyen Thi Trang, and her destination address.
This trunk belonged to Nguyen Thi Trang, a Vietnamese refugee who was resettled to the US after the introduction of the "Humanitarian Operation" (HO) category in the Orderly Departure Program (ODP), designed in 1989 for refugees who had spent more than 3 years in re-education prison camps. Eligible individuals and their family members were permitted to immigrate to the US through interviews with US representatives in Saigon and were added to the official HO list.
During the second wave of Vietnamese refugees who immigrated to the United States, aluminum trunks were often used by those under the HO category. The rectangular trunks had lids with rings for locks, rolled on four wheels, and were airline-approved. They were painted in either red or black with the names of the refugees and their sponsor's addresses on three sides. The HO number would also often be included.
Journaling diary with a pink paper cover decorated with flowers and a white bunny, and fixed with painter's tape. The diary belonged to Nguyen Doan, a Vietnamese refugee who wrote it during the year he was imprisoned in Thailand following his escape attempt from Vietnam. The diary describes his escape from Vietnam, two pirate attacks, and the subsequent months of captivity in a Thai prison.
He fled Vietnam by boat with about 100 people. During the voyage, they were attacked by Thai pirates who abducted a girl from their boat. Then they were attacked a second time, during which they fought back and killed several pirates. As a consequence, Nguyen Doan and 18 other refugees were arrested by Thai police and imprisoned for close to a year.
Metal Guigoz milk can. The can belonged to Nguyen Duc Trach, who was imprisoned in a re-education prison camp for ten years until 1988 in conditions of extreme hunger. Produced in the Netherlands, Guigoz powdered milk was a common dietary staple for children of civil servants, military personnel, and affluent families before 1975. Several prison camp inmates would keep these cans and use them to secretly cook insects and other critters to supplement their meals. Nguyen Duc Trach used this can to secretly boil water and make extra meals to avoid starvation.
During his ten years of imprisonment, he attempted to escape or commit suicide multiple times, and after his release he also made several unsuccessful attempts to flee Vietnam by boat between 1988 and 1990. He was eventually resettled to the US in 1990 through Orderly Departure Program (ODP), and went on to become a poet.
Paper envelope carrying a brown planet-shaped icon with the initials ICM / CIM, the logo of the Intergovernmental Committee for Migration (known today as IOM, the UN's International Organization for Migration). This was the type of envelope provided to the majority of Vietnamese refugees upon their acceptance to settle in the US, and it contained their immigration documents and lung X-ray films. This made it extremely valuable as it was proof of their right to immigrate.
This specific envelope belonged to Ms. Nguyen Thi Bao Nga, who escaped by boat from Vietnam to Palawan, Philippines, in 1987. She later settled in the US and kept this envelope because of its importance.
Grey women's prison cotton shirt with the letters Z30D written on the chest in faded black ink. The shirt was worn by Lieutenant Nguyen Thanh Thuy, a former member of the SWAN (a special police force under the Republic of Vietnam), during her 13-year detention in the Z30D re-education prison camp between 1975 and 1988. She took this shirt with her when she was released and relocated to the US through the Ordinary Departure Program (ODP). The PTSD caused by her long imprisonment made her unable to drive for several years because she was triggered by the sound of keys, but she was eventually able to get treatment and overcome the trauma.
This black, bronze pot from the 18th century has been in Nguyen Tuyet's family for hundreds of years and has traveled with them through multiple forced displacements: from their home village of Dương A to Nam Định during the First Indochina War, to Saigon after the Geneva Accords was signed and Vietnam was divided at the 17th parallel, and then to the U.S. with the end of the Vietnam War.
Red and pink woolen women's button-up sweater. The sweater was worn by Ms. Nguyen Thu Nhi at the Marine Corps base of Camp Pendleton, CA, in 1975, where she was relocated after escaping from Vietnam to Guam. The sweater was handmade using two blankets from the airplane taking her from Guam to Camp Pendleton. Her husband was a Republic of Vietnam Senator.
Blue cotton American Navy hat with yellow embroideries on the bill, also embroidered with the words "USS John Young DD 973".
The cap belonged to Day Nguyen, a Vietnamese refugee who was rescued by the US Coast Guard USS John Young 973 in the Gulf of Thailand on April 18, 1981 from a small boat carrying 65 boat people. The cap was donated to Day Nguyen by the ship’s captain as a souvenir for helping him organize sleep arrangements and food distributions for the 350 people rescued by the ship in various parts of the Gulf of Thailand during this trip.
Men's beige cotton button-up shirt with a bullet hole in the right side of the chest. The shirt was worn by Nguyen Long Chi as he tried to escape Vietnam in 1981 by boat together with other refugees. After 2 days in the South China Sea, their boat was attacked by pirates. Mr. Nguyen Long Chi was shot by the pirates in the right side of his chest; all the boat people were robbed, and the women were raped. The boat was able to land at the island of Pulau Bidong, Malaysia, two days after the attack.
Metal military compass measuring 7" in height, 6.6" in width, and weighing 5 lbs. The compass belonged to Ngo Van Thu, a former Major of the 2nd Infantry Division, who had been interned in a re-education prison camp from 1975 to 1984. After a failed escape attempt in 1986, he was able to flee Vietnam in 1989 on a boat with 149 other passengers, using his compass to sail over 500 miles to Malaysia, where he became the director of the Pulau Bidong refugee camp. Compasses were a rare and sought-after commodity as more and more people attempted to escape from Vietnam, and were regularly confiscated when refugees were stopped by the local police. Ngo Van Thu buried his compass after reaching Malaysia to safeguard it, and secretly sent it to America with the help of a priest. In 2023, he retrieved the compass and donated it to VHM.
Set of 4 metal dental instruments. The set belongs to Dr. Vu Tien Dat, a dentist and former Major who had served in the General Staff of the Vietnamese Armed Forces and the Republic of Vietnam. He was able to carry these tools with him when he was interned in a re-education camp in 1975 and used them to help his fellow prisoners for the four years he was imprisoned. He was later relocated to the USA and went on to use the tools in his dentist practice, which inspired his grand-daughter to become a dentist as well.
The violin was created in about 4 weeks by Le Tri, a former Captain in Unit 101 of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam who trained himself as a carpenter while in the prison camp.
The faces of the violin are made of two 1.5 cm thick pieces of Vang Tam wood, thinned down to 3 mm using a broken glass shard.
The pieces were glued together using glue made from buffalo or cow hide. The violin strings are made of discarded bicycle brake cables, and the bow strings are made of thin nylon wire.
After being caught working on the violin, the creator was first put in solitary confinement for 15 days and then beaten with a hammer, but he was ultimately able to finish the violin and hide messages for his family inside of it when he was released.
Aluminum and bamboo tabletop stove. The stove is made of three distinct components, described by its creator as "the bottom receptacle, which housed the lamp oil; the middle portion, which functioned as a rim to hold the bottom container and to attach the small tubes for inserting the fabric wick; and the top part, which constituted the stove's upper section." The metal components were made reusing bomb parts found by the prisoners in the re-education prison camp. The top part was derived from a Guigoz milk can.The lid is connected using bamboo or tree branches. Barbed wire pieces and zinc coins were also used to create smaller components.
Aluminum folding razor with intricate hand-carved details. The handle is engraved with floral motifs, the back edge of the blade is engraved with a geometric pattern. The creator had become paralyzed in his legs due to overwork and malnutrition, so he crafted and carved the razor with the intention to use it to symbolically commit suicide "meaningfully, beautifully, and heroically" on Vietnam's National Day of Mourning (April 30th). He was eventually dissuaded by the thought of his family.
Rectangular aluminum plate hand-engraved with words in Vietnamese. The item was crafted using a thin piece of aluminum donated by a friend of the creator, a fellow prison camp inmate. It was meant as a birthday gift for the creator's daughter and was delivered to her by a prison visitor.
Round aluminum jewelry box handmade for the creator's wife. The top lid is engraved with the words "Mừng Sinh Nhật Anne K Liên" (Happy Birthday Anne K Lien) and the image of an apple and a woman's face. The inside of the top lid is engraved with the letters R E N. The box lids are padded with round leather discs.
Handmade aluminium comb with engravings of religious (Catholic/Christian) imagery and the initials of the three family members (creator, his wife, and their daughter).
