Oral History of Martin Nguyen

This is the oral history of Martin Nguyen. He was born in Saigon, Vietnam in 1974. In 1982, at the age of 8, Martin and his family of 9 arrived in Tampa, Florida after being separated, escaping from Vietnam by boat, landing in a refugee camp, being reunited, and finally getting sponsored by a Lutheran church to come to the United States. Within a year, he and his family moved to Van Nuys, California with the help of some acquaintances from back in Vietnam. His family struggled and worked hard for many years to adjust to the American way of life and make it out of their poverty as new immigrants. Martin describes his difficulties and frustrations growing up with his parents’ rigidness and unrealistically high expectations for him. He believes that this type of parental behavior is rooted in old cultural traditions, and therefore stresses over and over again the need for his generation and future generations of Vietnamese American parents to use only the "good" aspects of their cultural traditions from the past in raising their children. Martin is now a programmer who works in information technology. He has two children, and he lives in North Hills, California.Recorded Digitall