Tony Lam
Tony Lam was born in northern Vietnam on October 4, 1936. In 1954, he and family were forced to flee to southern Vietnam after the country was partitioned. In 1958, he graduated from Nguyễn Công Trứ High School. Afterward, he worked for Johnson & Piper as an assistant supervisor for the construction of the Sài Gòn Biên Hòa Highway. Up until 1962, he served as an assistant to specialists from Taiwan helping Vietnam in agriculture and fishery. From 1963 to 1964, Tony worked for the USAID/Office of Rural Affairs in counter-insurgency as an Area Specialist. In 1965, he worked for the RAND Corporation as an assistant analyst interviewing the captured communist cadres for motivation study. He and his brother founded the Lam Brothers Corporation for Construction and Stevedoring, beginning a long career in business. He continued running the business until 1975, when he and his family were again forced to flee their home.
In the final days leading up to the Fall of Saigon, as thousands of Vietnamese sought to flee the country, Tony’s wife, Mau Hop, went ahead with the couple’s six children plus three other unaccompanied minors, children of their friends, while Tony stayed behind in Vietnam to help other family and friends to leave. After a few days of separation and uncertainty, Tony reunited with his family at US Naval Base Subic Bay in the Philippines before moving to a refugee camp in Guam as part of Operation New Life.
In Guam, Tony’s extroverted nature, leadership experience, and bilingual language skills positioned him well to step up as an elected “commanding officer” of Camp Asan. In this role, Tony greeted new arrivals, directed families to their tents, helped organize cleaning and sanitation committees, met with US military officials, comforted homesick refugees, arbitrated conflicts, translated during immigration interviews, assisted the nursery with infant milk preparation training, and helped with the refugee children’s English learning sessions. Tony also helped to organize the Fourth of July celebrations, which included sack races, a beauty pageant, a volleyball tournament, and an evening dance. Although most refugees stayed in Guam for only one or two weeks while they awaited sponsorship, Tony and his family spent three months in Guam helping to administer Camp Asan. When his daughter Cathy recently asked him why they decided to stay for so long, Tony admitted that in addition to his desire to help his displaced compatriots, he also felt some apprehension about what would come next, in the continental United States. Having lost the successful business he had built in Vietnam, the future looked uncertain.
Once Tony and his family left Guam, they were transferred to Camp Pendleton in southern California, where Tony once again took on a leadership role and volunteered to stay for a month to help administer the camp. The family briefly moved to Florida, sponsored by family friends, before moving to Westminster, California.
In Westminster, Tony and his wife worked many jobs in the community before opening a successful restaurant, Quán Ăn Viễn Đông. Tony continued to assist newly arrived Vietnamese refugees by providing job opportunities at the restaurant while also serving the community, helping refugees to apply for citizenship, settle in the US, get driver’s licenses at the DMV, and negotiate with landlords for lower rent. He helped to find space for Vietnamese American artists to exhibit and for Vietnamese American Boys Scouts to meet, and he assisted a Buddhist temple to get a city permit to operate. Tony was the founder and secretary of the Lions Club in Little Saigon. He also served as interim President of the Vietnamese Chamber of Commerce in Orange County in early 1982. He has organized several Vietnamese Tết festivals and parades on Bolsa. He also lobbied alongside community leaders for Little Saigon to have exit signs on freeways 22 and 405.
In 1992, Tony made history as the first Vietnamese American elected to public office in the United States — in this case, Westminster City Council. He campaigned on a platform of lower taxes to support the city’s small businesses. In May 2021, the Council Members of Westminster unanimously voted to change the name of West Park to Tony Lam Park in honor of his services and dedication as a council member.
Tony continues to be a celebrated member of the Little Saigon community. In 2015, he donated his papers, some of which you see here, to the Southeast Asian Archive at UC Irvine. Articles about his leadership during Operation New Life can also be found at the Richard F. Taitano Micronesian Area Research Center at the University of Guam.
In the final days leading up to the Fall of Saigon, as thousands of Vietnamese sought to flee the country, Tony’s wife, Mau Hop, went ahead with the couple’s six children plus three other unaccompanied minors, children of their friends, while Tony stayed behind in Vietnam to help other family and friends to leave. After a few days of separation and uncertainty, Tony reunited with his family at US Naval Base Subic Bay in the Philippines before moving to a refugee camp in Guam as part of Operation New Life.
In Guam, Tony’s extroverted nature, leadership experience, and bilingual language skills positioned him well to step up as an elected “commanding officer” of Camp Asan. In this role, Tony greeted new arrivals, directed families to their tents, helped organize cleaning and sanitation committees, met with US military officials, comforted homesick refugees, arbitrated conflicts, translated during immigration interviews, assisted the nursery with infant milk preparation training, and helped with the refugee children’s English learning sessions. Tony also helped to organize the Fourth of July celebrations, which included sack races, a beauty pageant, a volleyball tournament, and an evening dance. Although most refugees stayed in Guam for only one or two weeks while they awaited sponsorship, Tony and his family spent three months in Guam helping to administer Camp Asan. When his daughter Cathy recently asked him why they decided to stay for so long, Tony admitted that in addition to his desire to help his displaced compatriots, he also felt some apprehension about what would come next, in the continental United States. Having lost the successful business he had built in Vietnam, the future looked uncertain.
Once Tony and his family left Guam, they were transferred to Camp Pendleton in southern California, where Tony once again took on a leadership role and volunteered to stay for a month to help administer the camp. The family briefly moved to Florida, sponsored by family friends, before moving to Westminster, California.
In Westminster, Tony and his wife worked many jobs in the community before opening a successful restaurant, Quán Ăn Viễn Đông. Tony continued to assist newly arrived Vietnamese refugees by providing job opportunities at the restaurant while also serving the community, helping refugees to apply for citizenship, settle in the US, get driver’s licenses at the DMV, and negotiate with landlords for lower rent. He helped to find space for Vietnamese American artists to exhibit and for Vietnamese American Boys Scouts to meet, and he assisted a Buddhist temple to get a city permit to operate. Tony was the founder and secretary of the Lions Club in Little Saigon. He also served as interim President of the Vietnamese Chamber of Commerce in Orange County in early 1982. He has organized several Vietnamese Tết festivals and parades on Bolsa. He also lobbied alongside community leaders for Little Saigon to have exit signs on freeways 22 and 405.
In 1992, Tony made history as the first Vietnamese American elected to public office in the United States — in this case, Westminster City Council. He campaigned on a platform of lower taxes to support the city’s small businesses. In May 2021, the Council Members of Westminster unanimously voted to change the name of West Park to Tony Lam Park in honor of his services and dedication as a council member.
Tony continues to be a celebrated member of the Little Saigon community. In 2015, he donated his papers, some of which you see here, to the Southeast Asian Archive at UC Irvine. Articles about his leadership during Operation New Life can also be found at the Richard F. Taitano Micronesian Area Research Center at the University of Guam.