I Touched Freedom

by Day Nguyen

Hai, an eight year old child growing up in the war-torn country of Vietnam in the 1950s, witnesses a devastating blow to his family when Communist agents kidnap his older brother. His older brother's long-time friend, a secret Communist agent is the villain behind this horrendous crime. Almost all of the Communist abduction victims vanish forever or their beheaded corpses are dumped at the edge of the thick woods in his poor little village. This incident creates a crease in Hai's mind about the Communists' grievous treatment of the innocent Vietnamese people. With the full support of the Communist bloc, the guerrilla war initiated by the Communist North Vietnam escalated to a full-scale conventional engagement and ultimately the South Vietnamese government collapses in 1975. The new totalitarian regime revokes all of the people's basic freedoms and creates havoc for the country's economy by establishing highly inefficient agriculture cooperatives and a moribund command economy policy. The oppression of freedom, collapse of the economy, the confiscation of people's properties and forcing them to the new economic zone pushes people to flee the country by any means imaginable. Recalling painful memories from his own childhood and seeing nothing but a dark future for his children, Hai decides to flee the country. Inflicted with poverty and the strict control of the government's brutal security apparatus, Hai and his friends work tirelessly in this precarious situation to escape Communist Vietnam. Their plan is dangerous, bold and risky but they successfully flee the country in 1981 by boat through the heavily guarded river mouth of Rach Gia province in the South of Vietnam. Immigrating to the USA, the family works very hard to assimilate themselves in this wonderful country and they are now living a comfortable life in North Carolina.

312 pages, Paperback

Published April 22, 2016

Reviews

[Jack · Rating 4 out of 5]

I met this author in the library one day and he wanted me to read his book. It looked interesting so I said I would, it turns out it was a very good read. His escape from Vietnam was fascinating.