Coast Life: Vietnamese refuge and resilience showcased on the Gulf Coast

BILOXI, Miss. (WLOX) - This week marks the 50th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War. The American withdrawal led to thousands of Vietnamese refugees fleeing their home country for a better life.

Many of them found a home on the Mississippi Gulf Coast and still continue building their family legacies.

“We started from nothing, the ground up, and within a couple of decades, this is where we are now,” said Emma To, child of a Vietnamese refugee. “People shouldn’t forget how we started and how we began.”

A half a century ago, desperation for Emma To and Jennifer Le’s parents led to the search for a new life.

“My dad heard from word of mouth that coming to America would be a better opportunity in general,” Le said.

Like so many other Vietnamese refugees, the journey to America was filled with countless obstacles. Emma and Jennifer’s parents eventually found hope and a new beginning on the Mississippi Coast. The loss of loved ones in recent years brought Emma and Jennifer together, and out of grief, they’ve been inspired to share their family stories.

“We realized that our parents’ history had so much similarities in it, how we grew up in our upbringing and translating for our parents has so much similarities,” To said. “When I realized our history sounds horrible, difficult, and challenging, but our children need to know this. We’ve gotten to the point that those children of Vietnamese refugees have grown up, we’re having children and our parents are aging.”

Many of the stories and community updates are now being posted on the Gulf Coast Vietnamese Narratives Facebook page. After starting the group, Emma and Jennifer reached out to Elizabeth Alexander at the Maritime and Seafood Industry Museum in Biloxi about making an exhibit showcasing the Coast’s Vietnamese influence.

Just a few months later, the display featuring pictures and stories is open to the public.

“Our struggles in the past in representing the Vietnamese community was their openness, or reluctance to open up about their struggles,” Maritime and Seafood Museum Education and Outreach Director Elizabeth Alexander said. “When Emma and Jen presented themselves, I felt they were the missing link between the two cultures.”

Other family stories are being actively pursued by Emma and Jennifer. They started by recording their own parents talking about the past.

“War is terrible and I think when we ask certain questions about emotions, experiences, and stories, it digs up a lot of things that they have worked so hard to bury over the years,” To said. “The children know their parents in a way that I don’t, so we always involved the children or someone close to the elders, just because we don’t want to unearth something that we’re not supposed to.”

Most of the Vietnamese natives who came to the Coast found a new way of life in the fishing industry, including Jennifer Le’s father. He turned the love of fishing into a family business named for his daughter that’s still active today.

“My dad started in the shrimping boats, my mom worked in the oyster and shrimp factory,” Le said. “They wanted to provide something more close to the family, so they started their own seafood factory where they manufacture crab meat. With my parents’ factory, they’ve provided jobs for the moms in the local area.”

The seafood factory is one of many examples of how former refugees built a new and prosperous home.

“It was a community that helped each other in the beginning,” To said. “That was a beautiful thing for the immigrants to get together and help each other to the finish line, almost.”

The lessons learned by Vietnamese refugees and their families can now serve as inspiration for others.

“Whether it be storm or economic factors, we are a resilient area,” Alexander said. “I love painting that picture more boldly in showing their stories.”

“I just want people to know that Mississippi was a big part of the Vietnamese refugees and boat people when we started over,” To said. “We wouldn’t be where we are today if it wasn’t for growing up here and being part of the industry.”

“We hope with this project it inspires other cultural groups to share their stories too,” Le said.

This story still has more chapters to come in a place that took so much sacrifice to find.

“This is our home,” To said. “Even when my mom goes back to Vietnam to visit family, she misses home, which is America. There is no better place than here is what my mom says.”

A reception for the Gulf Coast Vietnamese Narratives exhibit is happening this Saturday from 4 to 6 p.m. at the Maritime and Seafood Industry Museum.

Photo contributions to the museum display were made by Tim Isbell and Horatio Nguyen.

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