Years Later

Years Later, Family Thanks Parish for Its Loving Welcome

By Lee Simmons, The Herald, Rock Hill, S.C.

(Published September 11, 2000)

In the Spring of 1975, the Phan family boarded a fishing boat that would take them from their native Vietnam forever. Just as the country was crumbling under the weight of several years of war, thousands of families, including the Phans, escaped the oppressive North Vietnamese military. The journey was perilous and claimed the lives of many in the Pacific Ocean, as those who lived through it now recall.

The same family that fled panicked on a fishing boat is now one of Rock Hill's greatest success stories. They own local businesses, and their children are graduating from college and starting families. They do not hesitate to call Rock Hill their home. On Sunday, the Phans gathered at Buffet Dynasty on Cherry Road to host a celebration dinner for the same men and women who gave them their new American start 25 years ago.

"We want to say thank you to the people who helped us, especially to Father (Joseph) Wahl and St. Anne's Catholic Church," said Chinh Phan, who was 16 when he arrived with his family in America. With nothing more than the clothes on their backs, the Phans were transported to a refugee camp in Arkansas in the summer of 1975. They were in a foreign place, knew no one and certainly did not now exactly where they would end up next.

"It was very hard, very awful," recalled Chinh Phan. "You don't understand the language, and you can't communicate."

Their journey started in Langcat, a small town on the southern Pacific coast of Vietnam. Tu and Khai Phan were brothers who served in the South Vietnamese military during the war. Once they realized their families were threatened by northern forces, they began seeking a way out.

Tu could not speak English, but he was able to send a translated letter asking for help to Wahl, then pastor at St. Anne. Only weeks earlier, two members of Wahl's parish had helped another family move from South Vietnam to Rock Hill. Van and Mary Vu are now owners of Mary's Cafe.

The Vu family's generosity had inspired Wahl. So, with Tu's letter in hand, the pastor went to his parishioners and recruited volunteers - anyone who was willing to help bring the 20-member Phan family to South Carolina.

"I was always trying to keep the parish involved in helping people," said Wahl. "Your heart went out when you heard of these refugees. The fact that the parishioners were so quick to support it was great."

What started with the Vu and Phan families led to the successful relocation of dozens of Vietnamese families to Rock Hill, thanks to St. Anne and St. Mary's Catholic Church.

One parishioner immediately donated a house to the Phan family, and a group of 55 volunteers painted and prepared it for the family's arrival. The church also found work for Tu and Khai at the Celanese plant.

"The churches were asked to supply the friendship and support and volunteer workers," Wahl said. "I went to the (St. Anne) parish, and the parish overwhelmingly endorsed the idea."

The federal government allocated $300 per month to each family that came to America, distributed through different parishes. Wahl remembered that two months after borrowing that money, the Phans paid off their debt. They never had to resort to federal subsidies from then on.

"It struck us how quickly they sought and achieved independence," Wahl said.

A few of the Phans have returned to Vietnam since their traumatic exodus 25 years ago. They have visited relatives and have witnessed the slow reconstruction of their former homeland.

Chinh Phan remembered seeing another Vietnamese face for the first time since fleeing his country. "At first it was very painful coming to a new place. But you will never know the felling of seeing your countrymen arrive here for the first time," he said. "This is home."

Photo of Phan family is by P.G. Walls

Contact Lee Simmons at 329-4064 or lsimmons@heraldonline.com.