Between 1997 and 2002, many things happened. Mai and I and Angela returned to Vietnam in each of those ye
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ars. After the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center Twin Towers in New York on September 11th, 2001, it took us much longer to check baggage and go through customs. We started living in City (Saigon). I was still working for the Portland Bureau of Fire, so the longest I could stay in Vietnam would be 3 consecutive months. One might ask: “How can you work your full time job as a Fire Captain resopnsible for a Fire Station and still be able to travel to Vietnam for an extended period of three months?” I could only take three month trips with the help of the other Fire Officers in the Fire Bureau. I was allowed to work “extra” 24 hour shifts called: "Tradetimes" for any of about 90 other Fire Officers that worked at 30 different stations. Many of these officers wanted prime time off in the summer in addition to their accrued vacation time. They in turn would work a payback shift of 24 hours for me in the months of November, December or January. Those are the colder months and firefighters don’t mind working during foul weather times to be rewarded with extra time off in the summer. During the 9 months that I did work at my job before returning to Vietnam, I was often away from home working extra shifts at other stations so I could accrue enough time go to Vietnam. Sometimes I would work up to 8 straight days or more before coming home and then I’d plop myself on a sofa and stare at the wall for awhile just to unravel and relax a bit. A firefighter’s first day home after a full 24 or 48 hours of work is often just recovery time and not much enjoyment occurs during that time because of sleep interruption. I thank my fellow Fire Officers and Chief Officers for their understanding and consideration to allow me the freedom to travel as often as I did to Vietnam. Our three story house in Vietnam took four months to complete. Mai and Angela were in Vietnam for 6 months. I could not stay for 6 straight months so I returned to America after just 10
weeks. I worked at the fire station for 6 weeks and then returned to Vietnam for an additional 2 months. As the building construction went into its fourth month we had upwards of 80 people at a time working on our home instead of just the usual 10 to 20. Some were laying tile. Others were putting in windows, painting, welding, wiring, plumbing and doing woodwork for the stairs and kitchen. The metal roof was the most difficult part of the construction, because of the coastal winds coming in off the nearby South China Sea. I know of no serious injuries that occurred to any of our workers. Mai was the head foreman and she arranged for all building materials to be bought and delivered to our site. She developed lifetime business partners and friends with various building supply owners. Mai gave each worker a snack and a lunch everyday they worked on our home during the entire four mo
nths. She provided iced tea all day for refreshment as well. When we realized we did not bring enough money to finish our kitchen, Mai cashed in several of her gold bracelets so we could have nice finished cabinets installed with granite counter tops covering the base cabinets. When the house was finished we gave a big party to all the workers and their bosses. They really enjoyed that. Mai gave bonus cash to some of the harder working women that worked every day for only $3.00 a day. These ladies earned more than some of the male workers because they knew how to form re-bar in shapes that were needed for columns and foundations for each of the three floors and multiple roof braces. The tile and brick layers got about $2.50 per day of labor. All the workers on our home said Mai was different than other returning Vietnamese who came back and built homes in Vietnam. They
said she was kinder and treated them as if they were family. A couple of weeks after our home was completed we had an open house celebration and invited guests from the city government, police, local businesses, the neighborhood, our family and friends. Nearly 100 guests showed up and many of them brought very nice gifts with them. Some were very expensive. For example, we received two air conditioner units valued at over $1,000.00 each from two different building suppliers. We received a beautiful wooden dining room table with 10 matching high back chairs. We received a large oil painting, an intricate Egyptian handcrafted wall hanging from Cairo and numerous other gifts like lacquered tortoises, large wooden sailing ships, and large carved tiger from perfume wood. We received so much; it brought tears to my eyes. I could not understand why so many of our former enemy would be so generous to Mai and me. All I could do was say thank you and marvel at God’s goodness to Mai and me.
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ars. After the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center Twin Towers in New York on September 11th, 2001, it took us much longer to check baggage and go through customs. We started living in City (Saigon). I was still working for the Portland Bureau of Fire, so the longest I could stay in Vietnam would be 3 consecutive months. One might ask: “How can you work your full time job as a Fire Captain resopnsible for a Fire Station and still be able to travel to Vietnam for an extended period of three months?” I could only take three month trips with the help of the other Fire Officers in the Fire Bureau. I was allowed to work “extra” 24 hour shifts called: "Tradetimes" for any of about 90 other Fire Officers that worked at 30 different stations. Many of these officers wanted prime time off in the summer in addition to their accrued vacation time. They in turn would work a payback shift of 24 hours for me in the months of November, December or January. Those are the colder months and firefighters don’t mind working during foul weather times to be rewarded with extra time off in the summer. During the 9 months that I did work at my job before returning to Vietnam, I was often away from home working extra shifts at other stations so I could accrue enough time go to Vietnam. Sometimes I would work up to 8 straight days or more before coming home and then I’d plop myself on a sofa and stare at the wall for awhile just to unravel and relax a bit. A firefighter’s first day home after a full 24 or 48 hours of work is often just recovery time and not much enjoyment occurs during that time because of sleep interruption. I thank my fellow Fire Officers and Chief Officers for their understanding and consideration to allow me the freedom to travel as often as I did to Vietnam. Our three story house in Vietnam took four months to complete. Mai and Angela were in Vietnam for 6 months. I could not stay for 6 straight months so I returned to America after just 10
weeks. I worked at the fire station for 6 weeks and then returned to Vietnam for an additional 2 months. As the building construction went into its fourth month we had upwards of 80 people at a time working on our home instead of just the usual 10 to 20. Some were laying tile. Others were putting in windows, painting, welding, wiring, plumbing and doing woodwork for the stairs and kitchen. The metal roof was the most difficult part of the construction, because of the coastal winds coming in off the nearby South China Sea. I know of no serious injuries that occurred to any of our workers. Mai was the head foreman and she arranged for all building materials to be bought and delivered to our site. She developed lifetime business partners and friends with various building supply owners. Mai gave each worker a snack and a lunch everyday they worked on our home during the entire four mo
nths. She provided iced tea all day for refreshment as well. When we realized we did not bring enough money to finish our kitchen, Mai cashed in several of her gold bracelets so we could have nice finished cabinets installed with granite counter tops covering the base cabinets. When the house was finished we gave a big party to all the workers and their bosses. They really enjoyed that. Mai gave bonus cash to some of the harder working women that worked every day for only $3.00 a day. These ladies earned more than some of the male workers because they knew how to form re-bar in shapes that were needed for columns and foundations for each of the three floors and multiple roof braces. The tile and brick layers got about $2.50 per day of labor. All the workers on our home said Mai was different than other returning Vietnamese who came back and built homes in Vietnam. They
said she was kinder and treated them as if they were family. A couple of weeks after our home was completed we had an open house celebration and invited guests from the city government, police, local businesses, the neighborhood, our family and friends. Nearly 100 guests showed up and many of them brought very nice gifts with them. Some were very expensive. For example, we received two air conditioner units valued at over $1,000.00 each from two different building suppliers. We received a beautiful wooden dining room table with 10 matching high back chairs. We received a large oil painting, an intricate Egyptian handcrafted wall hanging from Cairo and numerous other gifts like lacquered tortoises, large wooden sailing ships, and large carved tiger from perfume wood. We received so much; it brought tears to my eyes. I could not understand why so many of our former enemy would be so generous to Mai and me. All I could do was say thank you and marvel at God’s goodness to Mai and me.
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