Garden Spot Teacher Shares Her Story

On Sept. 13, Garden Spot High School English as a Second Language (ESL) teacher Lei Williams stepped up to a microphone located in a hangar at Lancaster Airport and told the veterans, dignitaries, and others who had gathered for the 100th anniversary celebration of the First Cavalry Division how she left Vietnam in a Huey helicopter in 1975, when she was only 5.

Williams began by sharing details of her early life in Saigon, where her mother was the daughter of peasant farmers, and her father was a retired Air Force pilot working for Air America. Williams and her younger sister grew up visiting the park, playing with other children, and attending preschool. In early 1975, Williams' father died. Shortly thereafter, Viet Cong troops began to approach Saigon.

Williams' mother knew she needed to get her family to safety. She dressed her Amerasian daughters in their best clothing, pinning money and basic information about the girls inside. On April 29, she took them to an evacuation site where she was able to pass them over a fence into the arms of an American. A Viet Cong soldier stopped her from following. Williams and her sister were taken to the rooftop, where a helicopter waited. "I can still hear the sound of the helicopter blades as the big machine lifted off the building and the people below me disappeared," recalled Williams. "The tears started to fall as I began to cry, and I clung to my sister, who was 3, not knowing what would happen to us." The helicopter landed on a United States ship waiting in the China Sea. Saigon fell into the hands of the Viet Cong on April 30, but by then, Williams and her sister were on their way to America, where they were placed in a refugee camp at Camp Chaffee in Arkansas.

By the fall of 1975, Williams and her sister had both been adopted by a family in Nebraska, and she began attending a small public school, where she was the only student who spoke a different language. With no ESL programs, her initial transition was difficult, but she began to learn English, made friends, and confronted living in a colder climate. "I slowly adjusted to my new life in America," said Williams.

When Williams was 9 years old, she became a naturalized citizen. She attended college, working to earn a teaching degree. At that time, she began to think about how she might return to Vietnam and be reunited with her mother. As conditions in Vietnam stabilized, she made contact, and in 1998, she was able to visit her mother. "We are both so thankful for the time we've shared even though our lives are vastly different and a massive ocean separates us," Williams noted.

Williams ended her talk by expressing gratitude for her life in America and for the men and women who served to provide her with the freedoms she enjoys here. "I humbly and deeply thank you for your service," she said to the veterans in attendance at the First Cavalry event. "Your sacrifice changed the trajectory of this girl's life, and I hope I have made you proud."