A remembrance and a cultural celebration at Chandler City Hall seemed focused on learning disparate lessons from the past.
The April 26 “Freedom.Hope.Future” event ended with people of diverse backgrounds enjoying food and stories of each other’s experiences.
Bugs Bunny, the horrors of war, living in Iowa, living in Arizona, Camp Pendleton and actor/director Ron Howard were among the myriad places, people and concepts described during an event scheduled just before April 30. That date marks 50 years since the official 1975 day that marks the capture of the Saigon capital by the North Vietnamese, and thus the end of the American Vietnam War.
The mostly speaker-centered schedule included Chantan Vanklompenberg, who was born in Southeast Asia. She was the one who mentioned Bugs Bunny as one of her early memories of American culture, in the course of telling her story at the event.
Vanklompenberg also talked about living in both Iowa and Arizona and the differences between those places and from Vietnam.
She also mentioned Howard, the actor/director who once greeted refugees at Camp Pendleton in California, and thanked her parents for their courage in raising her so that she could eventually make it to a more stable country.
Jimmy Tran spoke about his experience growing up, the war in Vietnam and coming to and growing up and living in the U.S. He mentioned some of the horrors of war, including seeding dozens of bodies stacked along a roadside, but also talked about the opportunities in the U.S. that drive so many to immigrate to it.
Tran mentioned he me Bob Moffitt at one point in his journey. Moffitt spoke himself at the event, pointing out that war isn’t something that ends for most veterans once they come home.
Charles “Chuck” Byers, vice char of the Arizona Department of Veteran Services Board of Directors, spoke about the endless struggle to get veterans their due benefits. Dennis Gorman, president of the East Valley Vietnam Veterans of America, talked about Agent Orange and the long process of getting honesty and proper analysis and remedies from government for veterans.
Chandler Mayor Kevin Hartke read a proclamation. He thanked City Council member and U.S. Air Force and National Guard veteran Matt Orlando and others who helped set up the event.
Members of a Hamilton High School team posted the colors. Basha High School’s ACE, or Asian Cultural Ethics, team performed both a traditional Vietnamese and, later, a pop song.
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Jason W. Brooks
Associate Editor
Jason W. Brooks is a News editor for the Daily Independent and the Chandler Independent.
He covers the Chandler area for both yourvalley.net and the monthly print edition while writing for and assisting in the production of the Daily Independent.
Brooks is a well-traveled journalist who has documented life in small American communities in nearly all U.S. time zones.
Born in Washington, D.C. and raised there and in suburban Los Angeles, he has covered community news in California, New Mexico, Arkansas, Iowa, Nebraska and northern Arizona.
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