Andy Nguyen and Cultures Through Lenses

Navy Captain Huan Nguyen's Circle of Life

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... It's the circle of life

All it moves us all

Through despair and hope

Through faith and love

Till we find our place

On path unwinding

In the circle, the circle of life.

Theme from "The Lion King"

As the news spread about the nomination of Navy Captain Huấn Từ Nguyễn, 60,  to be rear admiral, some astute observers of the Vietnam War could not help but notice the captain's history.

At 16, Nguyen arrived in Guam as refugee right after the Fall of Saigon in 1975.  Seven years before, he was badly injured during the attack by the communist rebels during the surprise Tet Offensive.   Some of the rebels pretended to be civilians and infiltrated key areas in Saigon.   Nguyen's family was captured at their home in the early morning of the fight.  The rebels targeted his family because his dad, Lt. Colonel Tuan Nguyen, was the head of an armored division protecting the city.   His parents along with his 5 siblings and his 80 years old grandma were executed.  He was the only one in his family survived the brutality despite being shot in the arm and leg and afterward by one of the rebels in the head execution style.  He was clinging to his mother's lifeless body when he was found. 

A few days later, the communist rebel leader responsible for the killings, Lem Nguyen, was captured.  Hearing the cowardly and heartless massacre committed by Lem Nguyen, then Brigadier General Loan Nguyen, pulled out his revolver and summarily executed Lem Nguyen at point blank.  The image was captured by Eddie Adams and seared into the American public opinion. The story of why Lem Nguyen met his death was never mentioned and the American press quickly condemned the action of Brigadier General Loan Nguyen as barbaric.  The photo became an icon of the brutality of an unwinnable war and helped galvanized the  anti-war movement.   

Eddie Adams won the Pulitzer Prize for the photo.  However,  Adams regretfully believed he had destroyed Loan’s life.  He wrote years later,  “Two people died in that photograph, the recipient of the bullet and General Nguyen Ngoc Loan. The general killed the Viet Cong; I killed the general with my camera.”   In 1975 after the war was over, Nguyen and his family came to US as refugees.  However, upon his arrival, INS wanted to deport him, a move influenced by the photo.  INS officials approached Adams to testify against Nguyen, but he instead spoke in his favour.  Congress eventually lifted the deportation and Nguyen was allowed to stay.  When Loan Nguyen died in 1998, Adams praised him as hero of a just cause.

Came to America as an orphan,  Huan Tu Nguyen, determined to make the best of his life and followed his dad's military career.  He attended Oklahoma State University and graduated in 1981 with a bachelor's degree in electrical engineer.  He holds master's degrees in EE from Southern Methodist University, BS in EE from Purdue University and IT from Carnegie Mellon University.  In 1993, Nguyen received a direct commission into Navy's Reserved Engineering Duty Officer program.   He was assigned to US Fleet Activies Yokosuka, Naval Sea System Command, US Pacific Fleet and Office of Naval Research.  He also served combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan.   And soon, barring any unexpected circumstances,  he will become the first Vietnamese-American rear admiral.  He will join 3 other Vietnamese-Americans to hold the general rank in the US Armed Forces.

The Vietnam War produced many tragedies, brought down administrations and a country, destroyed lives while created refugees and endless misery.  Yet, in the circle of life, the triumph of the human spirits,  of good over evil, of hope over despair, is indomitable. 

Candidates for State Assembly D25

For a district where the majority is Asian American and with current Assemblyman Kansen Chu (D) resigning to run for Santa Clara County supervisor,  the following people have either filed or stated their intents to run -

Anna Song (D) - Santa Clara County Board of Education Trustee

Jim Canova (D) - Santa Clara Unified Board of Education Trustee

Bob Brunton (R) - former Ohlone College Board of Trustee

Alex Lee (D) -  Legislative Aide

Rich Tran (D) - Mayor of Milpitas

Karina Dominguez - Vice Mayor of Milpitas


With about 210,000 votes up for grab, it is a wide open race and it will come down  to money and organizational support to be in the top two in the primary in March of 2020.    The conventional wisdom says that both Alex Lee and Bob Brunton are just for the ride with no serious contention.    

2020 Census Jobs

Janet Nguyen Vying for MWDOC Board

Former State Senator Janet Nguyen told some of her closest friends that she is done sitting around being a housewife.  To keep her name active and also to have some supplemental income, she is putting her name for the vacant board seat of the Municipal Water District of Orange County.  The wholesale water supplier sells to 28 city water departments and water districts which supply water to more than two-thirds of Orange County population.

The position paid up to $30,000 a year plus another $20,000 of benefits.  There are at least 5 other candidates the board will also consider for the appointment.   Whoever the board chosen will have to run for election in 2020

After the interview, she thinks she has a good chance of being chosen by the board.  After all, she is more than qualified in comparison to her illustrious political career.  



Epilogue:  The MWDOC Board voted 4-0 in favor of former Fountain Valley Planning Commissioner Robert McVicker to the post.   Janet Nguyen hinted that she will run for the seat in 2020.   With more than $350,000 left over from her last campaign, Nguyen has a great chance of winning.  

Huy Tran For San Jose City Council D4

Huy Tran made it official with his campaign kickoff last weekend at Cataldi Park.  Despite pouring rain, over 70 supporters showed up to share their enthusiasm for his campaign.  Assemblyman Ash Kalra (D) gave praises about Tran as an activist on many issues affecting San Jose.  Milpitas Vice Mayor Karina Dominguez and Fremont Vice Mayor Raj Salwat were also at the event.

There are currently two candidates vying to unseat the incumbent Lan Diep who won the election 4 years ago  by 28 votes to another incumbent Manh Nguyen.   Lan Diep's lip service, self-center personality, and his disloyal to supporters remind Vietnamese-American voters of the controversial former City Councilmember Madison Nguyen.   This tension created by Diep opens the door for David Cohen, a school board trustee, and Huy Tran. 

The district is predominately Asian-American with about 20% Vietnamese-American registered voters.  The rest of the breakdown is 11.6% Chinese American, 9% Filipino, 5% Indian-American and 14.4% Latino.


Huy Tran is a lawyer specializes in labor law.  Until recently, he served on the Housing and Community Development Commission.  He is well known and liked in the Vietnamese-American community.    

Karina Dominguez Enters Race for Assembly D25?

Milpitas Vice Mayor Karina Dominguez declared to people she met at various events last week  her candidacy for 25th California Assembly District.   She will be running against Milpitas Mayor Richard Tran and school board trustees Anna Song and Jim Canova from Santa Clara.  She has not yet made a formal announcement because she is waiting to see if she can cut a deal or two.

Dominguez was just elected as city councilmember in November 2018.    Just like Tran,  Milpitas is just too small for her political ambition.  But who could blame them, this is an opportunity of a life time.

The D-25  has about 210,000 registered voters.  The voting demographic is 33% Asian, 15% Latino and 45% White.   The area covers Newark, most of Fremont, Santa Clara, Milpitas, most of San Jose D4 and small part of Sunnyvale.

There are rumors of one potential candidate from San Jose and one from Fremont.