Vietnam War Veteran

Being drafted into war at a young age, living in a country that is at war, and being a POW aren’t easy things to go through. My Pre-calculus teacher Tung Le was 21 when he was drafted into the Vietnam War right before New Year’s Day in 1968, after a surprise attack by the Viet Cong. He was trained to be a pilot, but after only 2 months he was captured and put in prison. He spent 6 ominous years in prison, and he tried to escape multiple times. “If you are able to survive that, you are able to survive anything.” he joked about his experience as a POW, a key to surviving this painful ordeal. After those 6 long years, he was released and given the opportunity to come to the U.S.A. with his family.
Living for quite some time in the U.S., he says he feels more at home here than he could ever feel in Vietnam. And, he hasn’t returned to Vietnam since the day he was allowed to leave, “I don’t plan to go back anytime soon, I feel much safer here.” Tung Le went through a lot during the Vietnam War, but he remains optimistic and keeps working for the good of the community even now, as my high school math teacher.