April 7, 2005

When he was ten years old, Quang Pham, his mother and three sisters were put on a plane leaving Vietnam just days before the fall of Saigon.

Quang’s father, Hoa, a pilot for the South Vietnamese Air Force, wasn’t as lucky.
While Hoa was able to secure passage for his family, he felt a sense of duty to stay behind with his officers.

“The war wasn’t over for him,” said Quang, author of A Sense of Duty published this month by Ballantine Books. “He anticipated the fall so he made arrangements for our family to leave, but he knew he needed to stay – despite the consequences.”

The decision to stay was one that would separate Hoa from his family for more than a decade while he was imprisoned in a Vietnamese “re-education” camp.

Meanwhile, Quang grew up in America, attended school, graduated from UCLA, and eventually joined the U.S. Marines, becoming a helicopter pilot and serving his country, just as his father had years before.

As a helicopter pilot, Quang flew missions in the 1991 Gulf War and later, in Somalia.

Quang will speak about his experiences at a free public lecture and book signing at 3:15 p.m. Wednesday, April 13, in the George Golleher Alumni House. The Cal State Fullerton lecture kicks off a 20-city book tour.

For more information or reservations, call 278-7306 or e-mail Linda Mencken at lmencken@fullerton.edu. Reservations must be made by April 8.

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