Our History

    Vietnam is a country located in Southeast Asia.  The land has an S shape and is bounded to the north by China, west by Laos and Cambodia, and east by Pacific Ocean.  Vietnam has a total area of 127,816 square miles, approximately half of Texas’ size.  Vietnam’s population, as of 2002, is 80,200,000 million.  Ethnic composition includes 85% Vietnamese, 3.5% Han Chinese, and other groups make up the rest.  Every ethnic group has its own language, but the main official language is Vietnamese.  Vietnam is the only country in Asia that uses Latin characters for its writing.  There are several religions in Vietnam today – Buddhist, Christian, Protestant, Cao Dai, Hoa Hao, and others.  The majority of Vietnamese are Buddhist (67%).  Christian and Protestant were not known by Vietnamese until the colonial conquest by the French.

     Vietnam has a history dated back to more than 4,000 years.  However, the country is not known to the outside world until approximately 150 years ago.  The first artillery shot from a French naval squadron in August 1858 marked the end of isolation and opened the county to a beginning of a history of struggles for independence.  The French’s occupation has always been met with stiff resistance from the patriot nationalists.  Generation after generation of Vietnamese continuously fought against the French imperialism.  However, due to a lack of cooperation among groups, all the attempts to revolt were suppressed at the early stages.  It took almost 100 years for the country to be liberated from the French’s domination.  World War II helped end the French’s occupation in Southeast Asia, including Vietnam.  Nevertheless, the country enjoyed only a very brief period of independence.  With ideological differences, the country was split in half – the North chose Communism, using Marxism and Leninism as its social ideology foundation, and the South determined Capitalism would be its way of life.  The North was supported by China and Soviet Union (it is now known as Russia), the South mostly by the United States.  But the U.S.’s support proved short-lived.  After nine years of military and personnel support, the U.S. finally withdrew its support, leaving the Soviet-made tanks trampled Saigon streets (Saigon was then the capital of South Vietnam).  South Vietnam lost the war.  The world lost another free country to the Communist aggression.

     The collapse of Saigon set off a chaos and created a mass exodus in the history of Vietnam, forcing the Vietnamese on a journey to find freedom in foreign lands.  There are no accurate statistics, but it is estimated that close to two million Vietnamese have fled the country since 1975.  They risked their lives trying to flee the country by any means within their ability – by planes, by foot to neighboring countries, but so far the most common means is by boats (thus earning their name as boatpeople).  They fled the country to avoid the

     Communist persecution, which had become a reality after South Vietnam was taken over.  Their destination would be any free countries in the world.  Although, not all of them were able to see the freedom; it is approximate that one third of them have died on the way.  They became victims of hunger, rapes by pirates, and neglected by local authorities of the temporary countries (before they were accepted by the third country).

VIETNAMESE IN IOWA

    In 2008, there are approximately 9,000 Vietnamese in Iowa, of which around 5,000 are living in Des Moines and surrounding areas.  Most Vietnamese can be found in major cities like Sioux City, Des Moines, Iowa City, Cedar Rapids, and Quad Cities.  Like most of other immigrant/refugee groups, most of the Vietnamese who came to Iowa has a limited education.  Besides, this first generation was not prepared for major obstacles in their life – language, culture, customs, etc.  And the average age of the majority of these immigrants/refugees was in mid 30’s to 40’s.  Most of them had to settle with low paying jobs.

     The new generation of Vietnamese has been trying to assert its ethnic identity in a very diverse culture and had impressive successes.  Most of them were born in this country or came to this county at a very early age.  They are educated, speak English fluently and some Vietnamese own their own businesses.  These businesses mostly concentrate in automobile service, grocery, restaurant, dry cleaning, publishing, and medical practice.  Their businesses have received strong support from the Vietnamese community as well as American friends, adding another dimension to American small business landscape in Iowa.

     Religion has always been an important facet of Vietnamese people’s spiritual life.  Vietnamese in Des Moines work hard to support their families, but do not forget the importance of social participation in the political process.  They form associations/organizations to voice their opinion and express their rights and desires. Their once suppressed religious desires under Vietnamese Communist government are set free in this country.  Several religious groups have been formed in Des Moines and continue to attract more members – Vietnamese Buddhist Association, Vietnamese Catholic Community, Vietnamese Lutheran Church, Vietnamese Evangelical Church, South Vietnamese Veteran Group, and Vietnamese Youth Association.

     In a result, a group of Vietnamese in Des Moines and surrounding areas was pushing forward the idea of a more unified Vietnamese community in 2002; they have recognized the strength of having a unified community and the importance of such unification in a democratic society like the U.S.  Their effort is receiving wide support from all Vietnamese associations in Des Moines and finally the “Vietnamese American Community in Iowa” was born with that ideology in early 2004.  Their ultimate goal is to build a stronger Vietnamese American community to support and promote the Vietnamese American community and to add another color to the social fabric of Iowa.