NCVA eREPORTER - August 8, 2006
The National Congress of Vietnamese Americans' NCVA eReporter is a regular email newsletter containing information on grant/funding opportunities, events/forums/conferences, available internships and news items pertinent to the Vietnamese American and Asian Pacific American communities.
In this NCVA eReporter:
EVENTS
FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES
JOBS/INTERNSHIPS
TIPS/RESOURCES
NEWS
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EVENTS
Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi
Invites You to a
CITIZENSHIP WORKSHOP
Monday, August 14
11:00 a.m.
Bill Graham Civic Auditorium
99 Grove Street, San Francisco
Eligible applicants will receive free assistance with their citizenship applications at the workshop as time permits. Participants can also obtain answers to questions regarding their applications or the citizenship process.
To receive assistance at the citizenship workshop, you must meet the following requirements:
* Be a legal permanent resident for at least five years
* Have your alien card, Social Security card, state identification or driver's license
* A list of places you have traveled during the last five years, including month, day and year of travel
* A List of where you have lived and worked for the past five years
* Information about your spouse (if applicable), including name, date of birth, social security number, alien number and/or date of naturalization
* Information about your children (if applicable), including name(s), address, date of birth and alien number
* Information about spouses from previous marriages(if applicable), including date of marriage, date the marriage ended, reason for divorce
* Information about any arrests (if applicable), including reason for the arrest, date, place and court disposition
* For men: Selective Service number and date of registration
* Money order made out to the USCIS for $400 and $10 in cash for photos
For more information or to RSVP, please call the office of Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi at 888-841-8801
English Flyer: (http://www.democraticleader.house.gov/pdf/CW/English.pdf)
Spanish Flyer: (http://www.democraticleader.house.gov/pdf/CW/Espanol.pdf)
Chinese Flyer: (http://www.democraticleader.house.gov/pdf/CW/Chinese.pdf)
Vietnamese Flyer: (http://www.democraticleader.house.gov/pdf/CW/Vietnamese.pdf)
Russian Flyer: (http://www.democraticleader.house.gov/pdf/CW/Russian.pdf)
Frank Carrillo
Office of the Democratic Leader
Hon. Nancy Pelosi
frank.carrillo@mail.house.gov
(202) 225-0100
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NONPROFIT MANAGEMENT INSTITUTE – SKILL BUILDING FOR NONPROFIT EXECUTIVES
The Nonprofit Management Institute, hosted by the Association of Fundraising Professionals and Stanford Social Innovation Review, is geared towards senior-level nonprofit executives including CEOs, executive directors, board members, and others with significant leadership responsibilities. Participants will strengthen their executive management skills in order to lead more effective nonprofit organizations. Sessions will be conducted by leading experts and professors from the Stanford Graduate School of Business. The Institute will be held September 25-26, 2006 at Stanford University in Palo Alto, CA.
(http://www.ssireview.com/npinstitute)
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Saturday, October 7, 2006
HOPE BENEFIT CONCERT: A NIGHT TO REMEMBER / MOT DEM DE NHO
Music by Trinh Cong Son, Ngo Thuy Mien, Vu Thanh An and Viet Anh & Washington Chamber Music Group
Masters of Ceremonies: Nam Loc and Trinh Hoi
Performers: Khanh Ha, Y Lan, Tran Thu Ha, Thanh Ha, Tuan Ngoc, Nguyen Khang
Prices: $100 Benefactor, $75 Sponsor, $50 Friend (Tickets will be charged $10 extra at the door)
Rachel M. Schlesinger Concert Hall and Arts Center
Northern Virginia Community College
3001 North Beauregard Street
Alexandria, VA 22311
6:30 – 11:00 pm
Contact:
info@my-hope.org / (301) 963-5079
(http://www.my-hope.org)
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2007 NATIONAL SERVICE-LEARNING CONFERENCE WEBSITE NOW LIVE
The 2007 National Service-Learning Conference website is now accessible. The 18th annual National Service Learning Conference: Beyond Borders, Beyond Boundaries, will be held from March 27-31, 2007 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The site lists general conference information as well as information about speakers, events, the schedule, and how to be a presenter or exhibitor. Registration will open on September 1, 2006.
(http://ga1.org/ct/Vd2P-J61XP-w/Conference)
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FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES
LOWE’S TOOLBOX FOR EDUCATION SUPPORTS K-12 SCHOOL PROJECTS
Lowe’s Toolbox for Education grant program provides grants of up to $5,000 for K-12 school projects that encourage parent involvement and build stronger community spirit. Priority is given to educational programs that reflect the schools they serve and fill their communities’ unique needs and interests. Nonprofit K-12 schools (including charter, parochial, private, etc) and parent teacher groups are eligible to apply. For the 2006-07 school year there will be two grant deadlines, October 15, 2006 and February 15, 2007. However, it is important to apply early as only 1,500 applications will be accepted per grant period.
(http://www.toolboxforeducation.com)
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UNITARIAN UNIVERSALIST ASSOCIATION: FUND FOR A JUST SOCIETY
The Fund for a Just Society, a program of the Unitarian Universalist Association, makes grants to nonprofit organizations in the U.S. and Canada that are addressing issues of social and economic justice. Grants are provided to projects creating systemic social change through collective action. Priority is given to groups of people organizing to create change in the economic, social, and political structures that affect their lives. Projects are welcome that are less likely to receive conventional funding because of the innovative or challenging nature of the work or the economic and social status of the constituency. Applications deadlines are March 15 and September 15, annually.
(http://www.uua.org/uufp/funds/fjs.html)
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SIERRA HEALTH FOUNDATION OFFERS SUPPORT FOR YOUTH PROGRAMS IN NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
The Sierra Health Foundation is a private, independent philanthropy supporting health and health-related activities in a twenty-six-county region of northern California.
The foundation will award Program Improvement Grants of up to $10,000 each for terms of up to one year, three times a year, to improve the quality of youth programs or increase the number of youth who participate in quality programs. The next application deadline is September 15, 2006.
This opportunity is not intended for general operating or ongoing service support. Only one grant per organization will be considered per cycle.
Sierra Health will fund applicants that are tax-exempt 501(c)(3) organizations or public agencies; have or wish to add a youth-serving program; offer a program that focuses primarily on youth between the age of 10 and 15; are able to demonstrate in the proposal an understanding of and commitment to youth development principles and practices; engage or plan to engage youth in projects, programs, and the organization's leadership and decision-making; and serve youth in the California Capital Region (the organization's office may be located outside the region), which includes an area encompassing all of Sacramento County and parts of the surrounding counties. (See the funding region map at the foundation's Web site.)
(http://www.sierrahealth.org/programs/reach/program_improvemnt_grants.html)
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U.S. CONFERENCE OF CATHOLIC BISHOPS ANNOUNCES NEW PROCESS FOR CATHOLIC CAMPAIGN FOR HUMAN DEVELOPMENT GRANTS
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has streamlined the pre-application process for its Catholic Campaign for Human Development grants.
CCHD has two grant programs:
1) Community Organizing Grants: In organizing projects, people work together to address the needs of their community. Poor and marginalized people are empowered by joining together to make decisions, seeking solutions to local problems, and finding ways to improve their lives and neighborhoods. These projects assist individuals to develop as community leaders and to mobilize the community's resources. Community Organizing grants are for $10,000 to $50,000 each.
2) Economic Development Grants: Economic development projects assist poor and low-income people to develop new businesses and create new jobs. Projects provide the potential for low-income people to share greater ownership of assets and participate in decision-making. Economic Development Planning Grants provide up to $10,000 each; Economic Development Implementation Grants provides up to $50,000 each; and Social Investments (Loans) provide $25,000 or $50,000 each.
Organizations pursuing Community Organizing or Economic Development grants that are not currently receiving such support from CCHD may now submit an Eligibility Quiz online. Eligibility quizzes will be accepted between August 1 and November 1, 2006. Organizations are strongly encouraged to submit early.
(http://www.usccb.org/cchd/grants/types.shtml)
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NONPROFIT SECTOR RESEARCH FUND OFFERS SUPPORT FOR RESEARCH ON NEW PHILANTHROPIC PRACTICES AND THE CHANGING ENVIRONMENT FOR PHILANTHROPY
The Aspen Institute Nonprofit Sector Research Fund is currently inviting Letters of Interest for research projects that seek to improve understanding of new philanthropic vehicles and of important changes in the field of philanthropy, including the growth in the number of small family foundations. Studies of the impact of technology and of changing demographics on philanthropy will also be supported.
The goal of this grantmaking program is to develop new knowledge that informs efforts to create more strategic philanthropy in response to social and technological changes.
NSRF is seeking Letters of Interest in research projects that address the following or related critical topics, which are described in greater detail in the guidelines: Donor-Advised Funds and Other New Philanthropic Vehicles; Promising Practices and New Technologies; Family Foundations; and the Changing Demographics and Geography of Wealth and Philanthropy.
NSRF currently has up to approximately $325,000 to allocate to this work. Grants generally range from $10,000 to $125,000 each, and proposals are invited at all funding levels.
The fund seeks applications from researchers with a wide range of viewpoints and encourages applications from research teams that bring together individuals from diverse backgrounds (e.g., researchers and practitioners, researchers from different disciplines). Grants will be awarded to institutions and individuals. Proposals from university-based researchers, independent scholars, nonprofit practitioners, and other researchers are welcome. The fund is primarily interested in supporting research on new philanthropic practices developing in the United States, though the philanthropy may be distributed internationally.
(http://www.nonprofitresearch.org/newsletter1525/newsletter_show.htm?doc_id=385427)
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JOBS/INTERNSHIPS
EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT – CHINATOWN COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CENTER
*Reports to:* Deputy Director
*Status:* Full-time, non-exempt
*Hours:* Monday through Friday, regular business hours, some evening work required
*Salary:* Low 30's with excellent benefits
*Job Summary:* The Executive Assistant maintains the administrative and information systems to support the Executive Director and Deputy Director. The position requires a motivated individual who pays careful attention to detail, has strong interpersonal skills, and is highly organized. He/she must be versatile, enjoy working independently, and thrive in a casual, yet fast-paced professional environment.
*The Organization:* A private nonprofit organization established in 1977, Chinatown Community Development Center's mission is to build community and enhance the quality of life for San Francisco residents through its roles as neighborhood advocates, organizers and planners, and as developers and managers of affordable housing. Our organization is based in Chinatown, but also serves the Tenderloin and North Beach communities. We have had a role in the development of over 2,400 units of affordable housing and currently manage over 1200 units in 20 properties, serving diverse ethnic, racial, and age constituencies.
*PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES*
* Draft, edit, and proofread general correspondence or other written materials
* Maintain Board of Directors database
* Prepare monthly Board packets
* Coordinate, attend, and record minutes for Board of Directors bi-monthly meetings, and other Committees as requested
* Organize Board of Directors orientation and recruitment events
* Assist Executive Director with Board calendaring and agenda setting
* Assist with planning and logistics of organization and Board events
* Research and write articles; obtain and compile information to produce monthly staff newsletter
* Maintain Executive Director's chronological files
* Facilitate bi-monthly meetings with department assistants
* Provide computer assistance to Executive Director and Deputy Director
* Perform word-processing, photocopying, and faxing as requested
* Support Executive Director and Deputy Director and assist other committees as requested
*Knowledge/Skills Required by the Job *
* Strong organizational, analytical, and problem-solving skills **
* Consistent attention to detail and ability to manage multiple deadlines
* Capacity to work independently and exercise own judgment
* Strong interpersonal skills
*Minimum Experience and Skill level *
* Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience
* High proficiency with Microsoft Word, Excel, Access, and Publisher
* Excellent writing and editing skills
*Preferred Experience and Skill level*
* Experience with non-profit Boards or non-profit organizations
* Two years experience as administrative assistant or executive assistant
* Bilingual in English and Cantonese/Toisanese language
* Bi-literate in English and Chinese
* Familiarity with San Francisco Chinatown or Tenderloin communities
Please send résumé/letter to: Chinatown CDC, Attn: CCDC-EA
*Email *jobs@chinatowncdc.org – *Fax* 415.362.7992 – *Mail* 1525 Grant Ave, San Francisco, CA 94133
(http://chinatowncdc.org)
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APIAVOTE NATIONAL FIELD ORGANIZER AND TRAINER
APIAVote is a national nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that encourages and promotes civic participation of Asian Pacific Islander Americans in the electoral and public policy processes at the national, state and local levels. Headquartered in Washington, D.C. , APIAVote has worked with over a dozen national* and 150 local organizations since 1996 on short-term campaigns.
Incorporated during the fall of 2005, APIAVote is focused on continuing its important work in the field to promote voter outreach and education activities, building a stronger research and policy component, and expanding local and national internal capacity building and strategic planning work necessary for long-term sustainability in the area of civic participation and voter empowerment.
THE POSITION:
The National Field Organizer and Trainer, under the direction of the Executive Director, is responsible for creating and implementing field plans, building and sustaining long term partnerships with local and national organizations, and training and building the capacity of volunteers and partners. In this role, this staff member will also serve as the coordinator for the APIAVote trainings and perform other duties as assigned.
JOB DESCRIPTION:
The National Field Organizer will be responsible for:
* Developing civic engagement, voter education and mobilization strategies in targeted areas
* Helping identify APIAVote partners, coalitions, and volunteer leaders
* Recruiting leadership and volunteers in selected areas
* Training, mobilizing and managing volunteers in key organizing skills, such as voter education and get-out-the-vote techniques.
* Developing education and training curriculum and coordinating trainings
* Motivating volunteers to build and maintain civic engagement infrastructures
* Coordinating select events (house parties, etc)
* Coordinating with APIAVote partners, coalitions, networks, volunteers in get-out-the-vote activities in local communities.
QUALIFICATIONS:
The National Field Organizer must have:
* Minimum of 5 years experience in electoral work and community organizing around issues
* Ability in developing leaders and organizations in an organizing context, issues and campaign development, and training new organizers and leaders
* Demonstrated experience in organizational assessment
* Familiarity with and openness to different approaches in grassroots organizing
* Extensive experience in organizing communities effectively with attention to detail and follow-through
* Exceptional interpersonal skills and demonstrated ability and success in working in coalitions with a diverse group of people
* Strong facilitation and speaking skills
* Ability to serve as an effective team leader while understanding team dynamics
* Ability and willingness to travel extensively to conduct community outreach and organizing throughout the country
* An entrepreneurial spirit since we are in the process of building this organization
* Capacity to prioritize multiple and competing projects, manage complex workload, and meet deadlines
* Ability to assist in drafting, designing, and preparing educational and campaign materials
* Capability to take initiative and to solve problems independently or collaboratively as a member of a team
* Demonstrated ability to work under pressure and on deadlines
* Strong written, communication and organizational skills
* Excellent administrative and computer skills
* High level of personal energy and commitment to working on behalf of Asian American and Pacific Islanders and for social justice and social change
* Substantive knowledge of Asian American and Pacific Islander community and its issues
SALARY & BENEFITS:
* Salary dependent upon experience
* Health & dental insurance
* Paid vacation & holidays
HOW TO APPLY:
* Send a resume with a letter of interest
* Send a writing sample - English and any other supporting materials
WHERE TO SEND TO:
APIAVote
Attn: Christine Chen, Executive Director
1666 K Street NW, Suite 440
Washington, DC 20006
APPLICATION DEADLINE DATE: August 15, 2006 or until filled
START DATE: Immediately
APIAVOTE
TEL: (202) 223-9170
info@apiavote.org
www.apiavote.org
(http://www.apiavote.org)
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TIPS/RESOURCES
MANAGEMENT: FACING RADICAL ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE
Change is a fact of everyday life, and it is something all organizations must face at one time or another.
In his book Radical Change, Jerome H. Want discusses the necessity for organizations to face change head on rather than trying to fight it or avoid it. The book is aimed at businesses, but it does offer helpful suggestions about change that nonprofit managers can apply.
According to Want, many organizations fail to respond to change for five basic reasons:
* Micro versus macro thinking. Senior managers devote too much of their time to operational and financial problems and not enough to issues of change and strategy.
* Short- versus long-term goal setting. With increasing pressures CEOs have been forced to measure success in terms of months rather than years. This behavior is pushed down the line so that the entire organization reacts to immediate pressures and manufactured, short-term goals.
* Fixing versus reinventing the business. As a result of their short-term and narrow focus, leaders tend to reach for tactical remedies for business problems that are strategic and global. For many organizations, fixing is not enough.
* Failing to understand and manage the culture. Many managers will claim to have a feel for the organization’s culture. An organizations culture is not an appendage of the managers office.
* Losing track of the customer. When faced with failure, too many organizations blame outside factors rather than looking within themselves and seeing how they regard and care for clients.
(http://www.nptimes.com/enews/tips/management.html)
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DATABASE: TROUBLESHOOTING AND FIXING DATA MISTAKES
Thank-you letters mailed to the wrong people; donors thanked twice for the same gift; no responses to an expensive package; donors receiving multiple mailings.
These are mistakes that occur all too often in fundraising, resulting in wasted time and effort as well as bad donor relations.
At a recent national nonprofit conference, executives learned of ways to address these and other problems in such a way as to prevent them before they happen.
The preventive measures involve six phases:
* Know your data-management system; understand your coding structure; review your current source code structure; restructure your source code logic if needed.
* Know your data transfer protocols.
* Document your caging and data entry process/procedures; ensure name and address formats are entered correctly; use a check digit on your printed pieces to ensure accuracy; make sure all your source codes are accurate.
* Practice effective data hygiene, with an NCOA of the database twice a year or request and upload changes after each mailing; flag undesirables, regularly scan the database for duplicates.
* Understand and document merge/purge procedures, so that when mailing to outside lists, suppress house files; de-dupe at the household level; if you use finder numbers, understand how they work.
* Document and monitor the acknowledgement process: understand your process, monitor your file transfers and visually check printed pieces before mailing.
(http://www.nptimes.com/enews/tips/database.html)
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CAPACITY BUILDING: 5 TIPS FOR COALITION BUILDING
Nonprofits occasionally find it effective or expedient to form coalitions to bring about some kind of change. Although forming coalitions can bring strength through numbers, the results may not always be the optimum results expected by each member.
In The Nonprofit Lobbying Guide, Bob Smucker offers several considerations for any organizations thinking of joining forces with others for a certain objective such as legislative issue.
* To determine if there is sufficient interest one organization should describe in a page or two the problem. Once that is done, potential members can be invited to a meeting.
* To avoid later misunderstandings, everyone should seek clear agreement at the outset on the goals of the coalition, how it will target its efforts and how the undertaking will be financed.
* A small "secretiat" will be formed, usually of coalition leaders. It should build a sense of trust and openness, with honesty and no surprises. It should also be allowed to make on-the-spot compromises.
* One organization must serve as the clearinghouse. This starts at the initial meeting and continues with that organization receiving information from the others and passing it along without delay.
* It is wise to assess in advance the commitment of the organizations being asked to join.
* It is good to remember that the coalition issue is not a priority for every member.
(http://www.nptimes.com/enews/tips/pasttips.html)
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MANAGEMENT: 14 CRITICAL MANAGERIAL SUCCESS FACTORS
Many nonprofit leaders have found that good intentions are not always enough. In his book Migrating from Innovation to Entrepreneurship, Jerr Boschee writes that nonprofit leaders may have to move to a spirit of entrepreneurship.
Boschee offers 14 factors that are important in changing an organizational culture and embracing this spirit.
* Candor. Starting a new venture is difficult enough without being honest about a product or service, the market, resources.
* Clarity of purpose. Consensus must be reached on this before the planning process begins.
* Courage. Entrepreneurial planning cannot be swept aside by day-to-day demands.
* Core values. The organization is willing to accept the consequences, the value must be freely chosen from genuine alternatives, it must be acted upon as a regular pattern, it must apply everywhere in the work, it must last over time, the organization must be proud of it.
* Willingness to plan.
* Building the right team. This includes the leader, the senior management team, industry expertise, the employees.
* The separation strategy. Any social sector business should be kept as separate as possible from the other operations.
* Strategic marketing. Marketing is not a business function; it is the business.
* Viability first, not mission. Be ready for value conflicts.
* Focus, focus, focus.
* Customer service. Be attuned to customer needs.
* Quality. Make no compromises on this.
* Aggressive pricing. Think of annual budgets, not just unit costs.
* Strategic partnerships.
(http://www.nptimes.com/enews/tips/management.html)
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VOLUNTEERMATCH: RECRUIT VOLUNTEERS
Attracting volunteers who are talented, enthusiastic and dependable is not without its challenges. However, with VolunteerMatch's proven effective online service, available at http://ga0.org/ct/jpaKh951bmJC/, nonprofits anywhere in the United States can recruit volunteers quickly and efficiently.
By making it easy for nonprofits large or small to post volunteer opportunities, offering easy-to-use volunteer management tools (http://ga0.org/ct/j7aKh951bmJV/), and creating a secure and reliable way to maintain contact with volunteers, VolunteerMatch helps bring more volunteers through the doors of nonprofits than ever before.
In addition, VolunteerMatch's subscription-based Community Leaders program, affordable Multi-ZIP service (http://ga0.org/ct/j1aKh951bmJK/), and partnerships with social and business leaders including the American Red Cross, the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, Network for Good, Dell, Ford, Nationwide, and Target can increase any organization's visibility among potential volunteers.
With millions of people visiting VolunteerMatch each year looking for ways to help out, and offering a 40,000 strong network of participating nonprofits (http://ga0.org/ct/jdaKh951bmJZ/), VolunteerMatch is truly where volunteering begins.
(http://www.volunteermatch.org)
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NEWS
July 29, 2006
SWELTERING PROBLEM BEGS FOR COOL SOLUTION
By Staff
Northwest Asian Weekly
A woman on the other side of the world inspired Minh-Duc Nguyen to start Helping Link, a social-service agency dedicated to helping immigrants and refugees in the Vietnamese community.
During a return trip to her native Vietnam in 1993, Nguyen met an old friend of her mother’s. The woman lived an impoverished life; to support herself and her family, she searched for discarded paper, plastic wrap, string — whatever she could resell. “In her destitute poverty, she also found a way to salvage her dignity, initiative and ability to support herself,” remembers Nguyen.
“I came back to Seattle with a burning vision to help all the new members of our community recapture their dignity, initiative and ability to support themselves as Vietnamese Americans.”
Quickly, a group of volunteers, both young and old, came together to make the vision a reality. Thirteen years later, its core programs include English as a Second Language classes, homework tutoring, youth leadership, citizenship classes and a referral service for a variety of needs, including mental health, domestic violence, substance abuse and housing.
“Helping Link,” Nguyen said, “was born out of the need our newest arrivals had for a bridge between the new and old, especially (at a time) when fewer and fewer government resources are available.”
She herself had once been a refugee. Nguyen and her family came to the United States in 1975, having been sponsored by an American family in Redmond. That’s where they resettled and where she went to school. But it wasn’t until she started classes at the University of Washington that she started feeling connected to the Vietnamese community.
Until then, Nguyen said, she had had “little opportunity to interact with the Vietnamese community or be involved with my own cultural heritage outside my immediate family.”
If it were around back then, Helping Link would have been able to provide her with a network of Vietnamese mentors and professionals from whom she could learn.
Ever humble, Nguyen wants to make sure people know that she was not the only founder of Helping Link. Others who deserve credit, she said, include Chi Hong, Hung Nguyen, Tien Mai, John (Dung Tri) Le, Nam Bach, Loc Nguyen, Duy Nguyen, Thien Ha Nguyen, Thien Nga Nguyen, Kim Thoa Vu, Thuy Phuong Nguyen and Quang Quoi Tran.
Learn more about the executive director of Helping Link in this question-and-answer session with Minh-Duc Nguyen.
Q: What are the challenges of providing social services to the Vietnamese community?
A: Vietnamese individuals and families do not have a history of having social-service programs or agencies such as those that exist in the U.S. For centuries, our own families and our temples or churches were our main support for help and assistance. The idea of going to a stranger or an agency is completely foreign to us, and in many ways antithetical to our culture. It’s what Americans call “airing your dirty laundry.”
The other challenge is that Vietnamese who have lived for any time under the communist regime are used to a government that pays for and controls everything, but at the same time they seriously distrust the motives of such programs.
Lastly, for these very same reasons, the necessity of fund-raising to support social-service programs, other than those of temples or churches, is also not generally in our frame of reference.
Q: Helping Link has struggled financially for a number of years. How are you staying afloat?
A: Our history has been one of volunteer commitment, and it continues to be the heart of our strength. Through the years, our funding has generally supported one to two staff members for administrative functions, with volunteers contributing literally hundreds of hours annually in direct services — as teachers, board members, technical specialists, etcetera. We have also received hundreds of dollars worth of in-kind contributions — office equipment and supplies, program materials and donated services.
In the past, we also qualified for grants serving new refugees, but organizations like Helping Link, which services primarily immigrant Vietnamese clientele, are no longer eligible for such government support. So, like most social-service agencies, we must increasingly rely on foundation and corporate grants, for which we must compete with other programs. Earlier this year, we began teaching Vietnamese as a Second Language to adults and published a bilingual basic computer literacy manual. Both have helped generate program income.
Perhaps the single most important source of support, and the most difficult to generate, is individual contributions and donations. I was so proud to read in the Northwest Asian Weekly (in the July 8, 2006, issue) of the very generous gift by the two Lee families to the Seattle Art Museum. It was wonderful to read of our Asian community members giving back financially. This example of local philanthropy — giving back financially to the community in which we live, where our children and grandchildren live — is a powerful message for all of us.
Q: What is your vision for Helping Link in the next five years?
A: Helping Link has always intended to respond to the needs of our Vietnamese community. When I think of the next five years and vision, it is not really in terms of Helping Link, per se, but rather for our community. I would hope that we as a community are able to meet what I think will be the growing needs of our elders as they age, perhaps still isolated by language challenges and contemporary culture, needing more care and attention as their children still need to work into their 60s and even beyond.
I’m also concerned about our youth, those as young as junior high school students as well as college-age students and young adults. My experience has been that so many of them experience identity issues more intensely than typical for these developmental years, even in spite of the academic success many achieve. Others need mentors, tutors and “their place,” where they’re safe and assured of their culture and life experiences being understood, whether or not they’re fluent in Vietnamese.
Q: What kind of assistance would you like to have that you’re not receiving now?
A: Like most not-for-profit organizations, we are always recruiting active board members who are experienced serving in such a capacity, who can bring professional skills (e.g., financial operations, marketing, fund-raising, grant writing, public relations) and have time to participate on a working board of directors.
Frankly, like most other not-for-profit social-service agencies, especially those serving refugee and immigrant communities, we need to build a base of regular donors willing to give financially. More specifically, those donors need to come from within the Vietnamese community. I think it’s realistic to say that any not-for-profit agency faces a very uncertain future without the financial support of individual donors. Even the foundation and corporate grants for which we apply ask about the financial support we receive from our own community; it’s reasonable that they would want to support projects in which the communities themselves invest.
Philanthropy is more than just what the “rich” or “wealthy” give; it’s what we all give. Even those donors on a limited income are philanthropists. It’s an equal opportunity activity! Literally, money talks. By investing in the services our community needs, we make sure our community gets what it needs. Everyone can make a difference, but it really is up to each and every one of us.
Q: Who do you look up to?
A: I admire Jimmy Carter for his commitment to Habitat for Humanity — for all that he has given and all the countless families he has helped through his dedication. To me, he seems to be a man of character, who strives to live by his principles.
Q: What do you do in your spare time?
A: I try to spend as much time as possible with my family, including my elderly father. I enjoy the outdoors, walks and hikes, being on the water, getting together with friends for outings and musical and cultural performances.
Q: Favorite quote?
A: “The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.” —Eleanor Roosevelt
Q: Name one thing about you that people are surprised to find out.
A: I like to play tennis.
For more information about Helping Link, call 206-568-5160 or visit www.cityofseattle.net/helpinglink.
(http://www.nwasianweekly.com/20062431/agendy0062431.htm)
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August 5, 2006
GOV. SCHWARZENEGGER SIGNS EXECUTIVE ORDER HONORING VIETNAMESE HERITAGE
Gov. Schwarzenegger today signed executive order S-14-06 that honors
Vietnamese heritage. Below is the text of the Executive Order.
WHEREAS California is the home to approximately 500,000 Vietnamese immigrants; and
WHEREAS the Vietnamese-American community has made positive contributions to the historical, cultural, educational, and economic prosperity of California; and
WHEREAS Vietnamese-Americans remain vigilant in opposing tyranny of all forms, actively supporting human rights for all people, and celebrating the principles of democracy, justice, and tolerance upon which our nation was founded; and
WHEREAS the flag of the former Republic of Vietnam, with three red stripes upon a field of yellow, and dating back to 1948, has been and will continue to be a symbol of resilience, freedom, and democracy to many Vietnamese-Americans in California; and
WHEREAS the flag of the former Republic of Vietnam is an important symbol in the history of Vietnamese-Americans and is now known as the Vietnamese Freedom and Heritage Flag; and
WHEREAS the vast majority of California's Vietnamese-Americans embrace the yellow and red-striped Freedom and Heritage Flag as the symbol of the Vietnamese-American community.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER, Governor of the State of California, formally recognize the Vietnamese Freedom and Heritage Flag as the official symbol of the California Vietnamese-American community and support the efforts of California's Vietnamese-American community to promote freedom and democracy. By virtue of the power and authority vested in me by the Constitution and statutes of the State of California, I do hereby issue this Order to become effective immediately:
The Vietnamese Freedom and Heritage Flag may be displayed on the premises of state buildings in connection with a state-sponsored Vietnamese-American ceremonial event, consistent with rules and protocol regarding the proper display of the United States and the State of California flags, including the provisions of title 4, chapter1 of the United States Code.
I FURTHER DIRECT that as soon as hereafter possible, this Order be filed in the Office of the Secretary of State and that widespread publicity and notice be given to this Order.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Great Seal of the State of California to be affixed this 5th of August 2006.
________________________________
ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER
Governor of California
ATTEST:
________________________________
BRUCE McPHERSON
Secretary of State
###
(http://gov.ca.gov/index.php/press-release/3162/)
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For Immediate Release:
Monday, August 7, 2006
Contact:
Margita Thompson
Rachel Cameron, 916-445-4571
TRANSCRIPT OF GOVERNOR ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER’S REMARKS SIGNING EXECUTIVE ORDER HONORING VIETNAMESE HERITAGE IN WESTMINISTER
Time: 10 a.m.
Date: Saturday, August 5, 2006
Event: Executive Order Signing, Westminster, CA
GOVERNOR SCHWARZENEGGER:
Thank you very much, Mayor Rice, for the wonderful introduction. It is terrific to be here today with all of you, especially for this signing of the executive order honoring the Vietnamese Freedom and Heritage Flag. (Applause)
And this is very important, because this flag is a symbol of the rich cultural heritage and diversity of the 500,000 Vietnamese people that are making California their home. And this executive order means that the Vietnamese-American community will be now allowed to fly officially the Freedom and Heritage Flag at any state-sponsored ceremonial events. (Applause)
Vietnamese immigrants have contributed so much to our state, it is amazing the amount of contributions that they have made. Just alone here in Little Saigon there are 4,000 businesses, and there are 50,000 businesses all over the state, up and down the State of California. The Vietnamese community, through their businesses, are contributing 6.6 billion dollars to our economy. So give yourself a big hand for this very big contribution. (Applause)
And the contributions go on. You have Superior Court judges, you have your own Assemblyman in Van Tran. You have school board members, you have council members, you have doctors, you have lawyers, dentists, you have all kinds of people that are contributing to this great, great state here. And you are vital members of the California communities up and down our state.
And of course I'm an immigrant myself, so I can totally relate to what you go through, and when you came over here, the challenges you had to face and so on. We all came around the same time, which is, I came over here in 1968, and a lot of you came during the war, and a lot of you came after the war. But we all came over here because we were seeking a better life. We wanted to have a little slice of the American dream. We wanted to have a little bit of that great freedom that we are celebrating here, the opportunities, and a chance to have children here, that they have great opportunities, and that this generation and the next generation have great opportunities.
Now, that doesn't mean we don't love where we come from. Of course we all love where we come from. I love Austria, you love Vietnam. But you know something? That no matter how great Austria is, it cannot even come close to America, because this is the greatest place in the world. (Applause)
And I know that all of us feel the same way. I came over here and I could make my dream become a reality, if it is in bodybuilding, if it is in business, if it is in show business, and now of course in politics. And you all, I know, have made your dreams come true. This is why you all are so successful. And that doesn't mean that we are turning our back on our home country; not at all, no. We want to hold onto that heritage, but we are enjoying this place now here, which we call home.
So let me tell you, this is great to be here today with all of you. It's great to be here today as governor and also as an immigrant, and I'm very proud to sign this executive order here today.
And now I want to turn the microphone over to someone that is really largely responsible for this great event here today, someone that has been a great warrior up in Sacramento, someone that has been fighting by my side every step of the great way, someone I always can go to for great advice, and I'm talking about Assemblywoman Lynn Daucher. Thank you very much. (Applause)
-30-
GAAS:510:06
For Immediate Release:
Contact: Margita Thompson
Saturday, August 5, 2006
Darrel Ng
916-445-4571
(http://gov.ca.gov/index.php/speech/3229/)
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August 6, 2006
VIETNAM CIVILIAN KILLINGS WENT UNPUNISHED
Declassified papers show U.S. atrocities went far beyond My Lai
by Nick Turse and Deborah Nelson
Los Angeles Times
The men of B Company were in a dangerous state of mind. They had lost five men in a firefight the day before. The morning of Feb. 8, 1968, brought unwelcome orders to resume their sweep of the countryside, a green patchwork of rice paddies along Vietnam's central coast.
They met no resistance as they entered a nondescript settlement in Quang Nam province. So Jamie Henry, a 20-year-old medic, set his rifle down in a hut, unfastened his bandoliers and lighted a cigarette.
Just then, the voice of a lieutenant crackled across the radio. He reported that he had rounded up 19 civilians, and wanted to know what to do with them. Henry later recalled the company commander's response:
Kill anything that moves.
Henry stepped outside the hut and saw a small crowd of women and children. Then the shooting began.
Moments later, the 19 villagers lay dead or dying.
Back home in California, Henry published an account of the slaughter and held a news conference to air his allegations. Yet he and other Vietnam veterans who spoke out about war crimes were branded traitors and fabricators. No one was ever prosecuted for the massacre.
Now, nearly 40 years later, declassified Army files show that Henry was telling the truth - about the Feb. 8 killings and a series of other atrocities by the men of B Company.
The files are part of a once-secret archive, assembled by a Pentagon task force in the early 1970s, that shows that confirmed atrocities by U.S. forces in Vietnam were more extensive than was previously known.
The documents detail 320 alleged incidents that were substantiated by Army investigators - not including the most notorious U.S. atrocity, the 1968 My Lai massacre.
Though not a complete accounting of Vietnam war crimes, the archive is the largest such collection to surface to date. About 9,000 pages, it includes investigative files, sworn statements by witnesses and status reports for top military brass.
The records describe recurrent attacks on ordinary Vietnamese - families in their homes, farmers in rice paddies, teenagers out fishing. Hundreds of soldiers, in interviews with investigators and letters to commanders, described a violent minority who murdered, raped and tortured with impunity.
Abuses were not confined to a few rogue units, a Times review of the files found. They were uncovered in every Army division that operated in Vietnam.
Retired Brig. Gen. John H. Johns, a Vietnam veteran who served on the task force, says he once supported keeping the records secret but now believes they deserve wide attention in light of alleged attacks on civilians and abuse of prisoners in Iraq.
"We can't change current practices unless we acknowledge the past," says Johns, 78.
Among the substantiated cases in the archive:
* Seven massacres from 1967 through 1971 in which at least 137 civilians died.
* Seventy-eight other attacks on noncombatants in which at least 57 were killed, 56 wounded and 15 sexually assaulted.
* One hundred forty-one instances in which U.S. soldiers tortured civilian detainees or prisoners of war with fists, sticks, bats, water or electric shock.
Investigators determined that evidence against 203 soldiers accused of harming Vietnamese civilians or prisoners was strong enough to warrant formal charges. These "founded" cases were referred to the soldiers' superiors for action.
Ultimately, 57 of them were court-martialed and just 23 convicted, the records show.
Fourteen received prison sentences ranging from six months to 20 years, but most won significant reductions on appeal. The stiffest sentence went to a military intelligence interrogator convicted of committing indecent acts on a 13-year-old girl in an interrogation hut in 1967.
He served seven months of a 20-year term, the records show.
Many substantiated cases were closed with a letter of reprimand, a fine or, in more than half the cases, no action at all.
There was little interest in prosecuting Vietnam war crimes, says Steven Chucala, who in the early 1970s was legal advisor to the commanding officer of the Army's Criminal Investigation Division. He says he disagreed with the attitude but understood it.
"Everyone wanted Vietnam to go away," says Chucala, now a civilian attorney for the Army at Ft. Belvoir in Virginia.
In many cases, suspects had left the service. The Army did not attempt to pursue them, despite a written opinion in 1969 by Robert E. Jordan III, then the Army's general counsel, that ex-soldiers could be prosecuted through courts-martial, military commissions or tribunals.
"I don't remember why it didn't go anywhere," says Jordan, now a lawyer in Washington.
Top Army brass should have demanded a tougher response, says retired Lt. Gen. Robert G. Gard, who oversaw the task force as a brigadier general at the Pentagon in the early 1970s.
"We could have court-martialed them but didn't," Gard says of soldiers accused of war crimes. "The whole thing is terribly disturbing."
Early-Warning System
In March 1968, members of the 23rd Infantry Division slaughtered about 500 Vietnamese civilians in the hamlet of My Lai. Reporter Seymour Hersh exposed the massacre the following year.
By then, Gen. William C. Westmoreland, commander of U.S. forces in Vietnam at the time of My Lai, had become Army chief of staff. A task force was assembled from members of his staff to monitor war crimes allegations and serve as an early-warning system.
Over the next few years, members of the Vietnam War Crimes Working Group reviewed Army investigations and wrote reports and summaries for military brass and the White House.
The records were declassified in 1994, after 20 years as required by law, and moved to the National Archives in College Park, Md., where they went largely unnoticed.
The Times examined most of the files and obtained copies of about 3,000 pages - about a third of the total - before government officials removed them from the public shelves, saying they contained personal information that was exempt from the Freedom of Information Act.
In addition to the 320 substantiated incidents, the records contain material related to more than 500 alleged atrocities that Army investigators could not prove or that they discounted.
Johns says many war crimes did not make it into the archive. Some were prosecuted without being identified as war crimes, as required by military regulations. Others were never reported.
In a letter to Westmoreland in 1970, an anonymous sergeant described widespread, unreported killings of civilians by members of the 9th Infantry Division in the Mekong Delta - and blamed pressure from superiors to generate high body counts.
"A batalion [sic] would kill maybe 15 to 20 [civilians] a day. With 4 batalions in the brigade that would be maybe 40 to 50 a day or 1200 to 1500 a month, easy," the unnamed sergeant wrote. "If I am only 10% right, and believe me it's lots more, then I am trying to tell you about 120-150 murders, or a My Lay [sic] each month for over a year."
A high-level Army review of the letter cited its "forcefulness," "sincerity" and "inescapable logic," and urged then-Secretary of the Army Stanley R. Resor to make sure the push for verifiable body counts did not "encourage the human tendency to inflate the count by violating established rules of engagement."
Investigators tried to find the letter writer and "prevent his complaints from reaching" then-Rep. Ronald V. Dellums (D-Oakland), according to an August 1971 memo to Westmoreland.
The records do not say whether the writer was located, and there is no evidence in the files that his complaint was investigated further.
Pvt. Henry
James D. "Jamie" Henry was 19 in March 1967, when the Army shaved his hippie locks and packed him off to boot camp.
He had been living with his mother in Sonoma County, working as a hospital aide and moonlighting as a flower child in Haight-Ashbury, when he received a letter from his draft board. As thousands of hippies poured into San Francisco for the upcoming "Summer of Love," Henry headed for Ft. Polk, La.
Soon he was on his way to Vietnam, part of a 100,000-man influx that brought U.S. troop strength to 485,000 by the end of 1967. They entered a conflict growing ever bloodier for Americans - 9,378 U.S. troops would die in combat in 1967, 87% more than the year before.
Henry was a medic with B Company of the 1st Battalion, 35th Infantry, 4th Infantry Division. He described his experiences in a sworn statement to Army investigators several years later and in recent interviews with The Times.
In the fall of 1967, he was on his first patrol, marching along the edge of a rice paddy in Quang Nam province, when the soldiers encountered a teenage girl.
"The guy in the lead immediately stops her and puts his hand down her pants," Henry said. "I just thought, 'My God, what's going on?' "
A day or two later, he saw soldiers senselessly stabbing a pig.
"I talked to them about it, and they told me if I wanted to live very long, I should shut my mouth," he told Army investigators.
Henry may have kept his mouth shut, but he kept his eyes and ears open.
On Oct. 8, 1967, after a firefight near Chu Lai, members of his company spotted a 12-year-old boy out in a rainstorm. He was unarmed and clad only in shorts.
"Somebody caught him up on a hill, and they brought him down and the lieutenant asked who wanted to kill him," Henry told investigators.
Two volunteers stepped forward. One kicked the boy in the stomach. The other took him behind a rock and shot him, according to Henry's statement. They tossed his body in a river and reported him as an enemy combatant killed in action.
Three days later, B Company detained and beat an elderly man suspected of supporting the enemy. He had trouble keeping pace as the soldiers marched him up a steep hill.
"When I turned around, two men had him, one guy had his arms, one guy had his legs and they threw him off the hill onto a bunch of rocks," Henry's statement said.
On Oct. 15, some of the men took a break during a large-scale "search-and-destroy" operation. Henry said he overheard a lieutenant on the radio requesting permission to test-fire his weapon, and went to see what was happening.
He found two soldiers using a Vietnamese man for target practice, Henry said. They had discovered the victim sleeping in a hut and decided to kill him for sport.
"Everybody was taking pot shots at him, seeing how accurate they were," Henry said in his statement.
Back at base camp on Oct. 23, he said, members of the 1st Platoon told him they had ambushed five unarmed women and reported them as enemies killed in action. Later, members of another platoon told him they had seen the bodies.
Tet Offensive
Capt. Donald C. Reh, a 1964 graduate of West Point, took command of B Company in November 1967. Two months later, enemy forces launched a major offensive during Tet, the Vietnamese lunar New Year.
In the midst of the fighting, on Feb. 7, the commander of the 1st Battalion, Lt. Col. William W. Taylor Jr., ordered an assault on snipers hidden in a line of trees in a rural area of Quang Nam province. Five U.S. soldiers were killed. The troops complained bitterly about the order and the deaths, Henry said.
The next morning, the men packed up their gear and continued their sweep of the countryside. Soldiers discovered an unarmed man hiding in a hole and suspected that he had supported the enemy the previous day. A soldier pushed the man in front of an armored personnel carrier, Henry said in his statement.
"They drove over him forward which didn't kill him because he was squirming around, so the APC backed over him again," Henry's statement said.
Then B Company entered a hamlet to question residents and search for weapons. That's where Henry set down his weapon and lighted a cigarette in the shelter of a hut.
A radio operator sat down next to him, and Henry was listening to the chatter. He heard the leader of the 3rd Platoon ask Reh for instructions on what to do with 19 civilians.
"The lieutenant asked the captain what should be done with them. The captain asked the lieutenant if he remembered the op order (operation order) that came down that morning and he repeated the order which was 'kill anything that moves,' " Henry said in his statement. "I was a little shook Š because I thought the lieutenant might do it."
Henry said he left the hut and walked toward Reh. He saw the captain pick up the phone again, and thought he might rescind the order.
Then soldiers pulled a naked woman of about 19 from a dwelling and brought her to where the other civilians were huddled, Henry said.
"She was thrown to the ground," he said in his statement. "The men around the civilians opened fire and all on automatic or at least it seemed all on automatic. It was over in a few seconds. There was a lot of blood and flesh and stuff flying around”.
"I looked around at some of my friends and they all just had blank looks on their faces”. The captain made an announcement to all the company, I forget exactly what it was, but it didn't concern the people who had just been killed. We picked up our stuff and moved on."
Henry didn't forget, however. "Thirty seconds after the shooting stopped," he said, "I knew that I was going to do something about it."
Homecoming
For his combat service, Henry earned a Bronze Star with a V for valor, and a Combat Medical Badge, among other awards. A fellow member of his unit said in a sworn statement that Henry regularly disregarded his own safety to save soldiers' lives, and showed "compassion and decency" toward enemy prisoners.
When Henry finished his tour and arrived at Ft. Hood, Texas, in September 1968, he went to see an Army legal officer to report the atrocities he'd witnessed.
The officer advised him to keep quiet until he got out of the Army, "because of the million and one charges you can be brought up on for blinking your eye," Henry says. Still, the legal officer sent him to see a Criminal Investigation Division agent.
The agent was not receptive, Henry recalls.
"He wanted to know what I was trying to pull, what I was trying to put over on people, and so I was just quiet. I told him I wouldn't tell him anything and I wouldn't say anything until I got out of the Army, and I left," Henry says.
Honorably discharged in March 1969, Henry moved to Canoga Park, enrolled in community college and helped organize a campus chapter of Vietnam Veterans Against the War.
Then he ended his silence: He published his account of the massacre in the debut issue of Scanlan's Monthly, a short-lived muckraking magazine, which hit the newsstands on Feb. 27, 1970. Henry held a news conference the same day at the Los Angeles Press Club.
Records show that an Army operative attended incognito, took notes and reported back to the Pentagon.
A faded copy of Henry's brief statement, retrieved from the Army's files, begins:
"On February 8, 1968, nineteen (19) women and children were murdered in Viet-Nam by members of 3rd Platoon, 'B' Company, 1st Battalion, 35th Infantry”.
"Incidents similar to those I have described occur on a daily basis and differ one from the other only in terms of numbers killed," he told reporters. A brief article about his remarks appeared inside the Los Angeles Times the next day.
Army investigators interviewed Henry the day after the news conference. His sworn statement filled 10 single-spaced typed pages. Henry did not expect anything to come of it: "I never got the impression they were ever doing anything."
In 1971, Henry joined more than 100 other veterans at the Winter Soldier Investigation, a forum on war crimes sponsored by Vietnam Veterans Against the War.
The FBI put the three-day gathering at a Detroit hotel under surveillance, records show, and Nixon administration officials worked behind the scenes to discredit the speakers as impostors and fabricators.
Although the administration never publicly identified any fakers, one of the organization's leaders admitted exaggerating his rank and role during the war, and a cloud descended on the entire gathering.
"We tried to get as much publicity as we could, and it just never went anywhere," Henry says. "Nothing ever happened."
After years of dwelling on the war, he says, he "finally put it in a closet and shut the door."
The Investigation
Unknown to Henry, Army investigators pursued his allegations, tracking down members of his old unit over the next 3 1/2 years.
Witnesses described the killing of the young boy, the old man tossed over the cliff, the man used for target practice, the five unarmed women, the man thrown beneath the armored personnel carrier and other atrocities.
Their statements also provided vivid corroboration of the Feb. 8, 1968, massacre from men who had observed the day's events from various vantage points.
Staff Sgt. Wilson Bullock told an investigator at Ft. Carson, Colo., that his platoon had captured 19 "women, children, babies and two or three very old men" during the Tet offensive.
"All of these people were lined up and killed," he said in a sworn statement. "When it, the shooting, stopped, I began to return to the site when I observed a naked Vietnamese female run from the house to the huddle of people, saw that her baby had been shot. She picked the baby up and was then shot and the baby shot again."
Gregory Newman, another veteran of B Company, told an investigator at Ft. Myer, Va., that Capt. Reh had issued an order "to search and destroy and kill anything in the village that moved."
Newman said he was carrying out orders to kill the villagers' livestock when he saw a naked girl head toward a group of civilians.
"I saw them begging before they were shot," he recalled in a sworn statement.
Donald R. Richardson said he was at a command post outside the hamlet when he heard a platoon leader on the radio ask what to do with 19 civilians.
"The cpt said something about kill anything that moves and the lt on the other end said 'Their [sic] moving,' " according to Richardson's sworn account. "Just then the gunfire was heard."
William J. Nieset, a rifle squad leader, told investigators that he was standing next to a radio operator and heard Reh say: "My instructions from higher are to kill everything that moves."
Robert D. Miller said he was the radio operator for Lt. Johnny Mack Carter, commander of the 3rd Platoon. Miller said that when Carter asked Reh what to do with the 19 civilians, the captain instructed him to follow the "operation order."
Carter immediately sought two volunteers to shoot the civilians, Miller said under oath.
"I believe everyone knew what was going to happen," he said, "so no one volunteered except one guy known only to me as 'Crazy.' "
"A few minutes later, while the Vietnamese were huddled around in a circle Lt Carter and 'Crazy' started shooting them with their M-16's on automatic," Miller's statement says.
Carter had just left active duty when an investigator questioned him under oath in Palmetto, Fla., in March 1970.
"I do not recall any civilians being picked up and categorically stated that I did not order the killing of any civilians, nor do I know of any being killed," his statement said.
An Army investigator called Reh at Ft. Myer. Reh's attorney called back. The investigator made notes of their conversation: "If the interview of Reh concerns atrocities in Vietnam Š then he had already advised Reh not to make any statement."
As for Lt. Col. Taylor, two soldiers described his actions that day.
Myran Ambeau, a rifleman, said he was standing five feet from the captain and heard him contact the battalion commander, who was in a helicopter overhead. (Ambeau did not identify Reh or Taylor by name.)
"The battalion commander told the captain, 'If they move, shoot them,' " according to a sworn statement that Ambeau gave an investigator in Little Rock, Ark. "The captain verified that he had heard the command, he then transmitted the instruction to Lt Carter.
"Approximately three minutes later, there was automatic weapons fire from the direction where the prisoners were being held."
Gary A. Bennett, one of Reh's radio operators, offered a somewhat different account. He said the captain asked what he should do with the detainees, and the battalion commander replied that it was a "search and destroy mission," according to an investigator's summary of an interview with Bennett.
Bennett said he did not believe the order authorized killing civilians and that, although he heard shooting, he knew nothing about a massacre, the summary says. Bennett refused to provide a sworn statement.
An Army investigator sat down with Taylor at the Army War College in Carlisle, Pa. Taylor said he had never issued an order to kill civilians and had heard nothing about a massacre on the date in question. But the investigator had asked Taylor about events occurring on Feb. 9, 1968 - a day after the incident.
Three and a half years later, an agent tracked Taylor down at Ft. Myer and asked him about Feb. 8. Taylor said he had no memory of the day and did not have time to provide a sworn statement. He said he had a "pressing engagement" with "an unidentified general officer," the agent wrote.
Investigators wrote they could not find Pvt. Frank Bonilla, the man known as "Crazy." The Times reached him at his home on Oahu in March.
Bonilla, now 58 and a hotel worker, says he recalls an order to kill the civilians, but says he does not remember who issued it. "Somebody had a radio, handed it to someone, maybe a lieutenant, said the man don't want to see nobody standing," he said.
Bonilla says he answered a call for volunteers but never pulled the trigger.
"I couldn't do it. There were women and kids," he says. "A lot of guys thought that I had something to do with it because they saw me going up thereŠ. Nope Š I just turned the other way. It was like, 'This ain't happening.' "
Afterward, he says, "I remember sitting down with my head between my knees. Is that for real? Someone said, 'Keep your mouth shut or you're not going home.' "
He says he does not know who did the shooting.
The Outcome
The Criminal Investigation Division assigned Warrant Officer Jonathan P. Coulson in Los Angeles to complete the investigation and write a final report on the "Henry Allegation." He sent his findings to headquarters in Washington in January 1974.
Evidence showed that the massacre did occur, the report said. The investigation also confirmed all but one of the other killings that Henry had described. The one exception was the elderly man thrown off a cliff. Coulson said it could not be determined whether the victim was alive when soldiers tossed him.
The evidence supported murder charges in five incidents against nine "subjects," including Carter and Bonilla, Coulson wrote. Those two carried out the Feb. 8 massacre, along with "other unidentified members of their element," the report said.
Investigators determined that there was not enough evidence to charge Reh with murder, because of conflicting accounts "as to the actual language" he used.
But Reh could be charged with dereliction of duty for failing to investigate the killings, the report said.
Coulson conferred with an Army legal advisor, Capt. Robert S. Briney, about whether the evidence supported charges against Taylor.
They decided it did not. Even if Taylor gave an order to kill the Vietnamese if they moved, the two concluded, "it does not constitute an order to kill the prisoners in the manner in which they were executed."
The War Crimes Working Group records give no indication that action was taken against any of the men named in the report.
Briney, now an attorney in Phoenix, says he has forgotten details of the case but recalls a reluctance within the Army to pursue such charges.
"They thought the war, if not over, was pretty much over. Why bring this stuff up again?" he says.
Years Later
Taylor retired in 1977 with the rank of colonel. In a recent interview outside his home in northern Virginia, he said, "I would not have given an order to kill civilians. It's not in my makeup. I've been in enough wars to know that it's not the right thing to do."
Reh, who left active duty in 1978 and now lives in Northern California, declined to be interviewed by The Times.
Carter, a retired postal worker living in Florida, says he has no memory of his combat experiences. "I guess I've wiped Vietnam and all that out of my mind. I don't remember shooting anyone or ordering anyone to shoot," he says.
He says he does not dispute that a massacre took place. "I don't doubt it, but I don't rememberŠ. Sometimes people just snap."
Henry was re-interviewed by an Army investigator in 1972, and was never contacted again. He drifted away from the antiwar movement, moved north and became a logger in California's Sierra Nevada foothills. He says he had no idea he had been vindicated - until The Times contacted him in 2005.
Last fall, he read the case file over a pot of coffee at his dining room table in a comfortably worn house, where he lives with his wife, Patty.
"I was a wreck for a couple days," Henry, now 59, wrote later in an e-mail. "It was like a time warp that put me right back in the middle of that mess. Some things long forgotten came back to life. Some of them were good and some were not.
"Now that whole stinking war is back. After you left, I just sat in my chair and shook for a couple hours. A slight emotional stress fracture?? Don't know, but it soon passed and I decided to just keep going with this business. If it was right then, then it still is."
Times researcher Janet Lundblad contributed to this report.
About this report
Nick Turse is a freelance journalist living in New Jersey. Deborah Nelson is a staff writer in The Times' Washington bureau.
This report is based in part on records of the Vietnam War Crimes Working Group filed at the National Archives in College Park, Md. The collection includes 241 case summaries that chronicle more than 300 substantiated atrocities by U.S. forces and 500 unconfirmed allegations.
The archive includes reports of war crimes by the 101st Airborne Division's Tiger Force that the Army listed as unconfirmed. The Toledo Blade documented the atrocities in a 2003 newspaper series.
Turse came across the collection in 2002 while researching his doctoral dissertation for the Center for the History and Ethics of Public Health at Columbia University.
Turse and Nelson also reviewed Army inspector general records in the National Archives; FBI and Army Criminal Investigation Division records; documents shared by military veterans; and case files and related records in the Col. Henry Tufts Archive at the University of Michigan.
A selection of documents used in preparing this report can be found at www.latimes.com/vietnam.
(http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-vietnam6aug06,0,6350517.story)
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August 8, 2006
OAKLAND A HUB FOR CHINESE-VIETNAMESE BUSINESSES
Formerly hidden population now asserts its unique identity
By Momo Chang, STAFF WRITER
If people ask Kiet H. Lam, 49, "What are you?" he'll say, "I'm American." But if they dig deeper, he'll answer, "I'm Chinese-Vietnamese."
As one of thousands of ethnic Chinese who lived segregated lives in Vietnam until forced to leave as refugees, Lam wound up in Oakland, becoming a small-business owner.
Like Lam, many ethnic Chinese refugees settled in Oakland's Chinatown after the Vietnam War and lived there as a hidden population for three decades. They began operating small businesses such as jewelry stores and produce markets that helped revive Chinatown, and they created a "New Chinatown" in the Eastlake district.
After being segregated in ethnic enclaves in Vietnam, the Chinese refugees found comfort in Chinatown, blending in with the local Chinese and Vietnamese refugee populations because of their language skills.
"Once they got to America, the existence of the Chinatown community gave them a chance to reclaim their (Chinese) identity," says Minh-Hoa Ta of City College of San Francisco, who estimates there are 10,000 Chinese Vietnamese in Oakland and 10,000 in San Francisco — though it's nearly impossible to find an exact number because neither census nor immigration data capture this information.
And today, at least some ethnic Chinese from Vietnam are redefining who they are as "Chinese-Vietnamese," a term that could have shared meaning for thousands in Oakland and San Francisco but is still a fledgling identity.
The first generation
Lam and his older brother left Vietnam in 1974. Their parents paid smugglers to take the two youths on a boat to Hong Kong so they could avoid serving in the South Vietnamese army.
After a long journey to Hong Kong and then to Taiwan, Lam applied for refugee status and made it to San Diego.
Soon after, he heard his sister was in Oakland. She had left Vietnam in 1975 and gone to Guam, then to the Philippines. She ended up in Oakland, sponsored by Catholic Charities.
The migration from Vietnam, like the experience of many refugees and immigrants, has scattered his family throughout the world. Of his 12 siblings, two live in Toronto, one in Chicago, three in Southern California, one in Hayward, one in Oakland, two in Concord, one in Zurich and one in Geneva.
Lam spent several years as a dishwasher at Chinese restaurants while attending Berkeley Adult School, then earned an associate's degree from Diablo Valley College.
Today, Lam is a travel agent. His office in Swan's Market Place in Old Oakland is just a short walk from downtown and from Chinatown.
Lam speaks four Chinese dialects — Fukinese, Chaozhou, Cantonese and Mandarin — in addition to Vietnamese and English.
He lives in Lafayette with his wife, who is ethnic Chinese from the Philippines, and 16-year-old daughter, who attends Acalanes High School.
And his parents? They left Vietnam in the early '80s as "boat people," on a ship with
5,000 refugees who Lam says were able to pay the government "10 ounces in gold" to get a foothold on the boat. His parents ended up in Switzerland and lived there for almost seven years.
Eventually, Lam's parents also wound up in Oakland.
"It's pretty amazing how things worked out," Lam said.
Multiple identities
Some people may ask this generation, "What are you? How come your parents speak Vietnamese but you're going to Chinese school? Are you Chinese? Are you Vietnamese?"
"It turns out to be a long, drawn-out story," said Jennifer Giang.
Giang is one of a few second-generation Chinese Vietnamese grappling with and reasserting their identity. She is writing her master's thesis on the experiences of Chinese Vietnamese women in the Bay Area, in part to learn about her personal history.
Giang's parents and three older siblings fled post-war Vietnam, like the many Chinese who left in the late '70s and '80s as "boat people" along with Vietnamese refugees. Many Chinese lived in Cholon, the Chinese enclave of what once was Saigon, now renamed Ho Chi Minh City.
Growing up in Richmond, Giang identified more with kids from Vietnam and Cambodia than with those from mainland China and Hong Kong, or with fourth- or fifth-generation Chinese Americans.
"We had the same understanding of coming here, coping with parents not having the language capacities, using public assistance, and coming (to the United States) as refugees," said Giang, 25, who identifies herself as Chinese-Vietnamese.
The second generation grew up knowing their parents came from Vietnam, and they speak Vietnamese and cook Vietnamese food, for example, yet can speak several Chinese dialects and consider themselves Chinese.
Some Chinese Vietnamese have even changed their last names from Vietnamese spellings to Chinese ones: Tran to Chan, Ly to Le or Lee, evidence of reclaiming their ethnic identity.
Giang says her own parents have taken more interest in China than in Vietnam. When Giang told them about a college trip to Vietnam, her parents asked if she could go to China instead.
Revitalizing Chinatown
Chances are, if one walks into a business in Chinatown or up the Eastlake/San Antonio commercial districts — dubbed "New Chinatown" — they'll find someone who is Chinese-Vietnamese.
In Chinatown proper, about 20 percent of the businesses are owned by ethnic Chinese from Vietnam, according to data from the Chinatown Chamber of Commerce.
Minh-Hoa Ta, who identifies as being Chinese-Vietnamese, explained why Chinese Vietnamese were initially drawn to Chinatown.
"When they were in Vietnam, they were classified as Chinese," Ta said. "They were forced to leave the country, labeled as unwanted by the government.
"The existence of the Oakland Chinatown allowed them to adjust themselves, because they did not have the English skills to survive but they have the Chinese language skills to help them start businesses in Chinatown."
They could serve the burgeoning Vietnamese and Cambodian refugee populations, and other Asian ethnicities.
Fish sauce, jasmine rice, jackfruit — beginning in the late '70s, foods unknown to most tongues in the United States started popping up in Chinatowns.
As businesses grew and space became limited in the existing Chinatown, a "New Chinatown" was born in the Eastlake and San Antonio districts along International Boulevard and East 12th Street. Many storefronts now are owned by Chinese Vietnamese or by Vietnamese, Thai, Cambodian, Laotian or other Southeast Asians.
Many untold stories
Ta worked with the refugee population for many years at the Oakland-based International Institute of the East Bay.
She believes most Chinese Vietnamese in Oakland, in addition to small-business owners, are working class — mechanics, restaurant workers and construction workers. If businesses became successful, families often chose to move to the suburbs but maintain their businesses in Oakland.
When Ta was a counselor at City College of San Francisco, she said, many of the ethnic
Chinese-Vietnamese students were not doing as well as the Vietnamese students. She attributes the difference to a generation that came to the United States without knowledge of English or the education system. Ta is currently director of the Asian Pacific American Student Success Center at the college.
While many Chinese Vietnamese may identify themselves as Chinese, whether to neighbors or on the census, the identification does not capture the full picture of the population.
Jim Nguyen, a language access advocate for Oakland-based Law Center for Families, said his office has been advocating for language services for Vietnamese and other emerging Southeast Asian populations in Oakland. Currently, the number of Vietnamese-limited English speakers is fewer than 6,000, he said.
Giang, who now lives in Hayward and is getting her master's degree in Asian American Studies at San Francisco State University, said she hopes her thesis opens up opportunities for moreChinese Vietnamese to tell their stories.
"I hope to give more value to their voices and experiences," said Giang. "And I hope they will be able to tell their story to their children."
Contact Momo Chang at mchang@angnewspapers.com.
''Once they got to America, the existence of the Chinatown community gave them a chance to reclaim their (Chinese) identity."
Minh-Hoa Ta
CITY COLLEGE OF SAN FRANCISCO
(http://www.insidebayarea.com/argus/localnews/ci_4145702)
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