Remembering the Boat People… 30 years later
Thirty years ago, thousands of Vietnamese fled the advance of communism in small boats in the South China Sea. Some didn’t make it, but others got to Malaysia. Nearly a million of those refugees resettled in the US, many of them in Minnesota and Iowa.
Walter Mondale, then the Vice President, championed their cause and helped bring about their rescue. And in this piece from MPR’s Dan Olson, he reflects on what was a turning point for hundreds of thousands of people. Listen
If you want to watch a few more clips on this subject, check out Iowa Public Television’s companion web site to a recent documentary about the Boat People who started a new life in Iowa.
Unfortunately, the entire doc isn’t available online, the videos aren’t embeddable, and they require Silverlight. Wow, three strikes. But deserving of a mention, in any case.
