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Love Found and Lost: The Kim Vui Story by Kim Vui (Texas Tech University Press, 2022)
This memoir details the epic love story and stalwart resilience of Kim Vui, a famous Saigon actress and singer who performed in 1960-70s. In spring 1972, Kim traveled to Guam to take the naturalization exam to become a US citizen. In September 1972, she moved more permanently to Guam with her then-husband, an American contractor. During Operation New Life, Kim helped set up a radio program for Vietnamese refugees. A few years later, she and her family left Guam for Fairfax, Virginia. In the following passages, Kim details the militarized environment she encountered on Guam and the comfort she provided for displaced refugees.
“America still has a significant defense role in Asia, and the B-52 may still be the big neighborhood policeman. While those B-52s roost in Guam, the military command, with associated contractors, will always be an important cog and gear in the Guam economy. I observed that there is a hospitable homegrown Guam society based on the indigenous Chamorro people. But more than forty years ago, the ‘contract culture’ and economy, derivative of the island-based B-52 representing far-away continental political America, dominated all” (195).
“Radio Station KUAM asked me to join their staff for broadcasting reassurance to approaching vessels and to provide a regular Vietnamese-language newscast each day for the hundreds, and soon thousands, who would be long-term sheltered, fed, and processed persons for onward movement to continental points where permanent relocation within America could be arranged. The Hakubotan Company kindly made me available to participate in that vast humanitarian undertaking. United States Army, Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps personnel were energized to prepare Guam facilities to treat and temporarily house incoming waves of desperate Vietnamese. I visited those locations every day even while spending hours at the radio station.
I recall that the most quickly contrived reception and processing site was at the Camp Orote ‘tent city,’ set on what might have been an abandoned airfield, where old runways and taxiways were now avenues and streets for refugees. Walking through Orote, winding around tents, I often encountered people who had known me in Saigon long before. If there was an immediate need for a small amount of money, I provided it right away. People enthusiastically set up platforms upon which I could sit and speak by handheld megaphone to explain administrative notices. I encouraged everyone to look to the future, have courage, and retain a faith that, having come so far, they could surely build new lives in a new land. Strangely, speaking this way was also a form of self-therapy, as I knew that the advice so easily offered to others really needed to be applied to myself” (201).
This memoir details the epic love story and stalwart resilience of Kim Vui, a famous Saigon actress and singer who performed in 1960-70s. In spring 1972, Kim traveled to Guam to take the naturalization exam to become a US citizen. In September 1972, she moved more permanently to Guam with her then-husband, an American contractor. During Operation New Life, Kim helped set up a radio program for Vietnamese refugees. A few years later, she and her family left Guam for Fairfax, Virginia. In the following passages, Kim details the militarized environment she encountered on Guam and the comfort she provided for displaced refugees.
“America still has a significant defense role in Asia, and the B-52 may still be the big neighborhood policeman. While those B-52s roost in Guam, the military command, with associated contractors, will always be an important cog and gear in the Guam economy. I observed that there is a hospitable homegrown Guam society based on the indigenous Chamorro people. But more than forty years ago, the ‘contract culture’ and economy, derivative of the island-based B-52 representing far-away continental political America, dominated all” (195).
“Radio Station KUAM asked me to join their staff for broadcasting reassurance to approaching vessels and to provide a regular Vietnamese-language newscast each day for the hundreds, and soon thousands, who would be long-term sheltered, fed, and processed persons for onward movement to continental points where permanent relocation within America could be arranged. The Hakubotan Company kindly made me available to participate in that vast humanitarian undertaking. United States Army, Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps personnel were energized to prepare Guam facilities to treat and temporarily house incoming waves of desperate Vietnamese. I visited those locations every day even while spending hours at the radio station.
I recall that the most quickly contrived reception and processing site was at the Camp Orote ‘tent city,’ set on what might have been an abandoned airfield, where old runways and taxiways were now avenues and streets for refugees. Walking through Orote, winding around tents, I often encountered people who had known me in Saigon long before. If there was an immediate need for a small amount of money, I provided it right away. People enthusiastically set up platforms upon which I could sit and speak by handheld megaphone to explain administrative notices. I encouraged everyone to look to the future, have courage, and retain a faith that, having come so far, they could surely build new lives in a new land. Strangely, speaking this way was also a form of self-therapy, as I knew that the advice so easily offered to others really needed to be applied to myself” (201).
These audio files feature digitized recordings of Kim Vui's singing. The album on the left is Remembrance Best Actress- Saigon Vietnam 1970 (2014). which featurs Kim Vui singing popular American and international songs of the period. The album on the right is Hòa Âm Lê văn Thiện - Shotguns Sàigòn Việt Nam 1970 (2014) which showcases her singing popular Vietnamese songs of that time.
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Kim Vui won the Presidential Award for Best Actress for her role in this 1971 film titled Chân Trời Tím (The Purple Horizon).
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