The Ironic and Shameful Fight For The Viet Museum

The Vietnamese American community in San Jose was taken by surprise during the holiday season by some disturbing public announcements about IRCC and the Viet Museum.  

Dec 12, 2024 -  A terse letter by the IRCC Board of Directors announcing the retirement of Loc Vu as  ED of IRCC effective January 2025.  The letter was without signature and sent through a surrogate by Hong Cao, an ED of the Viet Museum

In response, Loc Vu sent a letter terminating Hong Cao as ED of Viet Museum and dissolving the current board due to violations of IRCC bylaws.

Dec. 18, 2024 - The IRCC Board sent a letter to the public claiming that Vu had handled IRCC funding for his benefit and committed nepotism by suggesting his son-in-law be the ED of IRCC.   This time, it was signed by Cuong Nguyen.

Dec. 20, 2024 - Vu’s lawyer sent a cease-and-desist letter to five people on the board claiming that they are in violation of IRCC Bylaws and that their actions are illegitimate.

Dec. 23, 2024 - Loc Vu held an IRCC public forum with an open invitation.  None of his accusers were present.

Dec. 28, 2024 - Tue Phan, an alleged board member, wrote an Op-ed piece doubling down on the accusations.

Jan. 6, 2025 - Vu’s lawyer sent a cease-and-desist letter to Tue Phan demanding public apologies for making false accusations and public statements of libel and defamation.

90th Birthday with Pattie Cortese and Hoang Mong Thu (Cortese's Facebook)

A Brief History of IRCC

To have a better understanding of the public dispute and what the few members of the IRCC Board are fighting for let us turn back the pages.

 Upon arriving in 1976, Loc Vu, 92, founded the Immigration Resettlement and Cultural Center (IRCC) to provide educational and social services to the thousands of Vietnamese refugees coming to northern California.  

IRCC was established as a membership nonprofit organization where members pay dues and participate in board member selection and other activities.

 The Viet Museum also known as the Museum of the Boat People and the Republic of Viet Nam was established by Loc Vu in 1990 as part of the IRCC.   He sought to build a collection dedicated to the experiences of the Vietnamese community in the US.  He sold his house and moved to a trailer so that he could provide $150k in seed money to start the museum. 

The local Vietnamese community soon became involved with many donating items relevant to the experiences of refugees and the war itself.

In March 2006, the city entered an agreement with IRCC to convert the Greenwalt House in Kelley Park to become the Viet Museum housing and exhibiting his collections.   The museum is now one of the main attractions in the park with thousands of visitors annually.

Blood Money and A Smearing Campaign

In August 2024, rumors were heard in the community about the removal of Hong Cao as head of the Viet Museum.  About three years ago, he was hired by Loc Vu to help run the Viet Museum. 

In early 2024, Loc Vu applied for and received a grant of $55,000 from the county.  Before the grant was distributed, he was informed by the county that they received complaints about his mismanagement of funds.

A few board members wanted the $55,000 grant that Loc Vu received from the county to be under a new bank account under the control of Hong Cao.  An email was sent by a few board members to IRCC members worrying about the mental health of Vu and whether he is fit to run IRCC.

In July, without Vu’s knowledge, Hong Cao had his name added to the California Secretary of State's Statement of Information.  Hong Cao is now on file as the director and officer of IRCC. 

Vu called a meeting and expressed his dismay at the treatment of the people he had trusted.  He felt that Hong Cao and a few board members betrayed him and wanted to take over IRCC behind his back.  He wanted to put Hong Cao on a 2-month suspension until the false information was clarified. According to an insider, a few board members headed by My Linh Pham and Tue Phan took the side of Hong Cao and told him that he had no authority.   

A Summer of Heartbreak / Conflict Resolution Attempt

Vu had to deal with the county about the financial mismanagement charge.  There was no proof of funding mismanagement.  He had put his own money as a loan to IRCC to keep it afloat during the lean time.  He had not received a salary for decades as confirmed by annual tax records audited by a local accounting firm.

The nepotism charge was purposedly misconstrued since he only suggested his son-in-law, Minh Le, temporarily replace him as head of IRCC during this time of conflict while the board was looking for a replacement.

Minh Le, 72, is well known in the hi-tech industry as a corporate management consultant and educator.   As a senior fellow of the American Leadership Forum (ALF), he received the 2024 John Gardner Award for his work to bring diversity, inclusiveness, engagement, and respect to the community.  Senior Fellows of ALF are who’s who of the Silicon Valley corporate world and political arena like Sam Liccardo, Cindy Chavez, etc.

The $55k grant was finally released with the approval of Supervisor Cindy Chavez.   Minh Le then suggested a face-to-face meeting with all concerned members for conflict resolution.  A few board members agreed but when it came time to meet, Hong Cao, Tue Phan, and My Linh Pham backed down and refused to attend.

Continuing their practices of secret meetings since July without Loc Vu, key decisions were being made without his knowledge.  A few members of the board expressed their frustration and disrespectful treatment of Loc Vu, they had stopped attending the secret meetings and worried openly about the board's scheming way.

 Who are the Board Members of IRCC

It has been difficult to determine who are the current board members of IRCC.    Emails and phone calls went unanswered.  Only a few board members are now involved in the dispute.  To further obscure the matter, letters sent to the public were without signatures or names until being questioned by the community.

Information gathered from the board members who are disgusted with the actions of the other board members in their treatment of Loc Vu, shed some light on the causes behind the conflict.  Here are brief backgrounds of the board members.

Philip Nguyen is the ED of the Vietnamese American Roundtable.  He has not been active since February 2024 and resigned in September 2024.  He did not know about the conflict since nobody included him in the communication.

Nhut Ho is a retired insurance agent in San Jose and a long-time board member. He is uncomfortable by the whole episode and decides to stay out.  He told Vu that since you did not bend your knee to them, he would suffer the consequences for they are determined.

Tanya Thai Ha is a well-known community activist who in the past has been a reliable fundraiser for IRCC.  She could not stand the “That duc” actions a few board members were doing.   “That duc” in Vietnamese means a lack of morality and unethical.

Cuong Nguyen, 83, owner of Pho Wagon Restaurant in Sunnyvale.  He is trying his best to resolve the conflict but feels powerless.  He and Nhu Ho were trying to get the other board members involved in a conflict-resolution process.

Hong Cao, My Linh Pham, and Tue Phan are the three known board members who are proponents of adversarial tactics and public confrontation.

Tue Phan, 82, a retired administrative immigration judge, living in Danville.  He is distant in the community but always reminds people that he was the first Vietnamese American federal judge.  

Mentally not as sharp as he used to be,  his recent Op-ed letter to the community accusing Vu of mismanaging money while committing all kinds of misconduct showed his confusion of facts.    

Vu’s lawyer sent a letter requesting him to stop the public libel and pointed out the false accusations.   See the attached document.

Hong Cao was hired by Vu to help with maintaining the Viet Museum.  He has a knack for controversy.  In the summer of 2024, he openly accused the head of the United Vietnamese American Community of Northern California of laundering money.  In response, the head of UVAC of Northern Cal sent a public statement asking Hong Cao to either provide proof or he should resign from being the head of the Viet Museum.   Hong Cao did not respond.

My Linh Pham is currently a Santa Clara County employee in one of their healthcare divisions.  She and her husband, Sam Ho, have a nonprofit organization called Asian American Center of Santa Clara County.   She also claimed that UVAC of Norther Cal mismanaged funding.

Hong Cao and My Linh were members of the UVAC of Northern California.  They both resigned after getting tangled in a power struggle with other league members. But not to be forgotten, their departing gift was the accusation that the head of UVAC of Northern Cal laundered money and mismanaged funding.  

Money Laundering and Fund Mismanagement?   

The money laundering and fund misuse accusation is a familiar story in the community -

 Phuong (Peter) Nguyen, an aide to State Senator Dave Cortese, in the past, had told people in the community that My Linh Pham had mismanaged COVID-19 funding given to her nonprofit from Destination Home.  The truth is probably a vengeful action by Peter Nguyen as he felt he did not get what he wanted in his dealing with her. 

The controversial accusation by My Linh Pham and Hong Cao against UVAC when they resigned from the group.  The truth is probably hurt ego and damaged pride for they were on the short end of a power struggle.

The public accusation of Loc Vu by a few members of the IRCC board on mismanagement of funding and IRCC itself.  The truth has not yet fully revealed itself but the conventional wisdom is probably a smearing campaign to take over IRCC by hook or by crook.

Community Reactions

Most people are puzzled why the dispute between a few board members and Loc Vu had to be dragged out in public.   Loc Vu has helped build the community in the last 45 years.  He plays an important role in putting the Vietnamese American community on the map in San Jose.  

A few board members mentioned are his junior, and some are his children’s age.   Their public smearing campaign against an old man has caused anger in the community.  The disrespectful treatment of somebody older than your father and unwillingness to sit down for a conflict resolution is what people are questioning.

Instead of de-escalating, Tue Phan is escalating and doubling down on false accusations in the name of the IRCC Board.  A board that nobody knows for sure who they are and working under a cloak of secrecy with an agenda that is so far not in the best interest of the community.   

On December 23, 2024, an IRCC held a public forum with an open invitation to all.  Leaders of the community including Hoang Co Dinh, the lawyer Bich Nguyen, Trieu Ha, Hoang Mong Thu, and Van Lan Truong, spoke in support of Loc Vu.    

One of the lingering questions in their minds is why such a divisive and scorched earth donnybrook by the few members of the boards who have not contributed anything significant to IRCC but were using IRCC and Loc Vu’s name to gain their 5 minutes of fame.

Loc Vu said at the end: " I would like to apologize for everything, it is all my fault for building something to preserve our history and trusting people to be decent and do the right thing for the benefit of all..."

What's next?

With the alleged board with few members left refusing to have any communication with Loc Vu for conflict resolution and the recent defamation letter by Tue Phan with the intention to hurt Vu's reputation, it is difficult to know where this conflict will be heading.  

The community is afraid whatever happens, the damage already has been done by the few members of the board with their egoistic determination to shamefully destroy an honorable old man who has dedicated his life to serving the community proudly and generously. 

As the Vietnamese diasporic community in San Jose prepares for the 50th anniversary of the Fall of Saigon for being on the losing side of a bitter and divisive war among brothers, it is ironic that the Vietnam Museum and its collections of Vietnam War history and refugee experiences is now a battleground to the death among brothers.