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I had a chance to spend a night on board the USS Midway Aircraft
Carrier in San Diego with my son’s Boy Scout troops on March 10, 2012.
The carrier is open to the public daily from 10:00 A.M. to 4:30 P.M.. The overnight stay is reserved for groups such
as Boy Scout, YMCA and others.
After the public left the carrier, we checked in the carrier with
other Boy Scout troops. We gathered at the hanger deck to hear the
briefing about the overnight educational programs and the rules we must
follow while we were on board the aircraft carrier. After being assigned
to our beds, we did a fire drill to make sure we know what to do in case
of a fire on board the carrier. We
then headed to the dining area for dinner. After dinner, we had a behind
the scene tour open only to the overnight groups. We had a chance to see
the bridge, the engine room, the control room, the anchor room and other
details on the carrier not available to the public during regular hours.
While I was touring the USS Midway, I noticed this aircraft carrier is
indeed a floating city with almost anything needed to support approximately
4,500 crew members on board when it was still in service. During the
tour, I met one of the volunteers of our group. She is a Vietnamese lady
who left Vietnam in
April of 1975 and stayed on board the USS Midway carrier before being
transferred to the United
States. She publicly announced she
owes this carrier a favor for saving her and now she wants to pay back by
volunteering. For that reason alone, I salute her.
The USS Midway Aircraft Carrier was built in a record 17 months to
get ready for World War Two but by the time the carrier was finished, so
was the war. Since then, the USS Midway had served several major wars
including the Viet Nam
War and the Gulf War. One of the missions it carried during the Viet Nam
War was the Operation Frequent Wind at the end of the war in April of
1975. The main objective of the mission was to evacuate the South
Vietnamese soldiers and officers along with their families who wanted to
leave Vietnam.
I had a chance to learn the details of the mission via photos, videos and
presentations of the service staffs on board the carrier. Being a refugee
myself, it is always a touching experience when hearing those stories.
The more I read and learn about the Operation Frequent Wind, the more I
realize I missed a golden opportunity in April of 1975. Back then, my
desire to leave and my fear of being left behind were not strong enough
for me to make the move. I am sure the fear was the main factor that
drove the refugees to leave back in April 1975. Thanks to the Operation Frequent
Wind, the USS Midway was there to pick them up. The Vietnamese volunteer
told me her family took only a fifteen minutes flight from Tan Son Nhat
Airport to the USS
Midway. For those who took the boat, it would take a bit longer to
arrive. One thing for sure, it would not be as long or as risky compared
to the trips that boat refugees made several years later.
I left Viet Nam
in 1979 on a small wooden boat with about 160 refugees on board. It was a
relatively smooth trip but it still took about one week to arrive at Hong Kong. It took me another 9 months before I was
admitted to the United
States under the refugee program back
then. I strongly believe back in 1979, my desire to leave, not my fear to
stay, was the major factor for me to make the move. If my desire to leave
in 1979 was as strong as it was in 1975, I would be in the United States
in 1975, not five years later.
Looking back at the incident, have I learned anything from it? I
believe I have. To achieve a goal, I personally believe the WHY question
is certainly more powerful than the HOW question. If the answer to the
why question is attractive enough, one will find the answer for the how
question. I always admire the lifestyle of my brother-in-law. He can do
anything and go anywhere at short moment noticed. He has been trading the
market successfully for more than 30 years and being a successful trader
allows him to enjoy a relatively comfortable lifestyle. I want to be like
him one day. The key is to keep that burning desire alive and one day,
that attractive lifestyle will be strong enough for me to find a way to
achieve it.
If there is a will, there is a way.
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