Citizenship and Service in Vietnam War
From: Lien-Hang Nguyen
Date: Thu, Oct 8, 2009 at 10:07 AM
Dear VSGers,
Would anyone be able to answer Van's questions below? If so, please email her directly.
Thanks in advance,
Hang
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Lien-Hang T. Nguyen
Assistant Professor, Department of History, University of Kentucky
Henry Chauncey Jr. '57 Postdoctoral Associate in Grand Strategy, International Security Studies, Yale University
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From: Hue-Tam Ho Tai
Date: Thu, Oct 8, 2009 at 10:15 AM
I think this question would be better directed at American historians. Perhaps Linda Kerber at U of Iowa?
Hue-Tam Ho Tai
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From: Chung Nguyen
Date: Thu, Oct 8, 2009 at 10:55 AM
In asking a number of Vietnam veterans, I was told the following:
That was true. In Boston there were a lot of Irish immigrants who availed themselves of that option.
The Moving Vietnam Wall was brought to Ireland because 17 Irish immigrants died during the war.
One veteran mentioned a case in California in which a Vietnam veteran was posthumously awarded citizenship.
CNguyen
UMASS Boston
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From: Nguyen Qui Duc
Date: Thu, Oct 8, 2009 at 6:31 PM
The case of the WW II Filipino veterans should have set some relevance.
The trial asking for recompensation also had to do with U.S. promises.
It went on for many years, until a few years back.
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From: Dan Duffy
Date: Fri, Oct 9, 2009 at 4:35 AM
this was and is absolutely the common sense understanding of male franchise in the United States in my lifetime and that of my father, grandfather and great-grandfather.
I would ask the VVA, the VFW or the AL.
Dan
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From: Tai VanTa
Date: Sat, Oct 10, 2009 at 8:49 PM
Dear Van Nguyen,
How about presenting to your judge the section 329 of the Immigration and Nationality Act, which I attach herewith.
Tai Van Ta
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From: Lien-Hang Nguyen
Date: Mon, Oct 12, 2009 at 4:03 AM
Forwarded on behalf of Peter Berres...
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From: Berres, Peter
Sent: Friday, October 09, 2009 10:01 AM
More important than the legal question is the reality of recruitment into military service and the long history of recruiters telling potential recruits anything, anything, to get them to sign on. Given the ‘body count’ in recruiting (especially) in those days, where success was defined by the numbers - and promotions and careers made or broken, be assured that this was ‘promised’ anytime it seemed tactical. Raised in the military (with a career senior officer/father – which was also known to the recruiter) and versed in much of this, I was promised things which had legal guarantees, but which were not provided The widespread perception among soldiers during that time was that citizenship was guaranteed by enlistment and so I find the claim by this vet to be completely plausible and probably certain.
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From: Frank
Date: Mon, Oct 12, 2009 at 9:10 AM
If I understand correctly, service in the armed forces only creates an eligibility for naturalization - there is nothing automatic about becoming a citizen in most cases, you still have to fill out the forms and stand in line. Lots of young ex-refugees got deported in the post-2001 era because they never got around to applying for citizenship, even though they were entitled to do so.
My grandfather served in the U.S. Army in World War I and thought he had therefore become a citizen, until he found out in the late 1930s that he still had to go through the proper procedures to establish his citizenship. He spent months studying for his citizenship exam, and passed everything until he got to the final interview, when he was asked what his occupation was. He replied, "bookmaker", and the immigration officer said, "but that's illegal, you can't become a citizen". He never tried again, even when he had later moved on to less illegal occupations. When asked why he hadn't simply called himself a "bookkeeper" or something similar, he said, "It just didn't seem right to start being a citizen by telling a lie".
Or at least that's the story my mother tells.
Frank Proschan