Proud homecoming for former refugee

DANANG, Vietnam - On the day his family's side lost the Vietnam War, 5-year-old Hung Ba Le fled his homeland in a fishing trawler crammed with 400 refugees. Thirty-four years later, he made an unlikely homecoming - as the commander of a U.S. Navy destroyer.

Le piloted the USS Lassen yesterday into Danang, home of China Beach. That's where U.S. troops frequently headed for rest and recuperation during the war, which ended on April 30, 1975, when communist troops from North Vietnam took the southern city of Saigon.

On that day, Le and his family embarked on an uncertain journey in a fishing boat piloted by Le's father, who was a commander in the South Vietnamese navy. They were rescued at sea by the USS Barbour County and taken to a U.S. base in the Philippines, going from there to a refugee camp in California, and finally to northern Virginia, where they rebuilt their lives.

Le returned on the Lassen, an $800 million, 509-foot destroyer equipped with Tomahawk missiles and a crew of 300. The ship and the USS Blue Ridge, the command vessel for the U.S. Navy's Seventh Fleet, are making the latest in a series of goodwill visits to Vietnam.

"I thought that one day I would return, but I really didn't expect to be returning as the commander of a Navy warship," Le said after stepping ashore yesterday. "It's an incredible personal honor."

"I'm proud to be an American, but I'm also very proud of my Vietnamese heritage," said Le, who spoke a few halting words in Vietnamese.

The ships' visits represent the efforts of both the United States and Vietnam to develop their relationship as a balance to China's power in the region, without antagonizing Vietnam's northern neighbor.

Directly east of Danang are the Paracel Islands, where China and Vietnam are engaged in a sensitive territorial dispute.

Le grew up in Hue, a city on the central coast about 65 miles north of Danang where he still has relatives. He returned to a country that is vastly changed from the days of the Vietnam War.

Along the Danang coastline where U.S. troops used to swim and surf, luxury hotels such as Hyatt and Marriott are springing up. Tourists are flocking to the region, where they can shoot a few rounds at a course designed by professional golf star Colin Montgomerie.

The relationship between the United States and communist Vietnam has changed dramatically since the former foes normalized relations in 1995. Trade has boomed, and diplomatic and military ties have grown closer.

But in an indication of remaining hurdles, yesterday's welcoming ceremony for the Americans was delayed for two hours while the two sides discussed how to display their flags aboard the Blue Ridge.

Cmdr. Jeff Davis, a public-affairs officer with the U.S. Seventh Fleet, said the Americans wanted the flags on the quarterdeck, while the Vietnamese wanted to fly them from the mast. In the end, they flew them from the mast.

When Le fled in 1975, only four of the eight children in his family made it out of the country. The others stayed in Vietnam until 1983, when the family was reunited.

Le has few memories of his three-day journey on the fishing trawler, which ended just as they were running out of food, water, and fuel.

But he has vivid memories of the example set by his father, Thong Ba Le, who is now 69 and has never returned to Vietnam. After the family settled in northern Virginia, he took a job in a supermarket, where he worked his way up from bagger to manager.

"I always wanted to be like my dad," Le said. "He persevered and overcame many challenges."