A Minnesota PBS Initiative
Vu's Family History
France invaded and colonized Vietnam from 1857-1954. During this time, there were many resistance groups, but the group led by Ho Chi Minh successfully ejected France after a final battle at Dien Bien Phu. Since 1954, North Vietnam became a communist country, and my family moved to the South including both sides of my paternal and maternal families.
VU FAMILY PHOTOS
Since 1945, the communists had already harassed my paternal family, and murdered my father’s great-uncle through their land owner’s program (đấu tố địa chủ). As a result, in 1950 my paternal family had to escape from a village in Nam Dinh city at night time going to Hai Phong city, where my dad met and married my mother, and I was born in 1954 a few months before moving to the South.
Memory of the day when I left Saigon Vietnam at about 2 AM 30 April 1975
from the roof top of US Embassy, 43 years ago:
The US started the ground war in Vietnam in 1965 and withdrew in 1973, and I was able to get out on April 30, 1975 from the roof top of the US embassy in Saigon by helicopter to the 7th fleet, then Subic bay of the Philippines, refugee camps at Guam island and Fort Chaffee Arkansas before coming to Minnesota in July 1975.
The Lucky Few: The Story of USS Kirk - In late April and early May of 1975, the destroyer escort USS Kirk became a haven for refugees fleeing South Vietnam. Kirk's officers and enlisted personnel--trained as warriors--instantly transformed their man-of-war into a humanitarian assistance ship. Desperation and anguish gave way to reassurance as crew members fed their unexpected guests, dispensed medical care, diapered infants and provided hope to a dispirited people.
As today, we just had a long documentary, Vietnam War. My helicopter was landed on one of the ships of the 7th fleet, perhaps the Midway carrier that’s now as a museum in San Diego. It was dark, so I could not see much. After landing, I was then transferred to a cargo ship to Subic bay Philippines.
Since then I have been living here in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul until now.
In summary, the root cause of the Vietnam war was due to the France’s invasion and colonization of Vietnam from 1857-1954. The US joined in preliminary since 1954 with a reason of fighting against communism, but later on giving up because of its politics, economy along with a strategy of not winning the war quickly. As a result, Vietnamese has been suffering tremendously and continuously since 1857 until now!
Viet Nam 1994
My first trip back to Vietnam in 1994 after 20 years since i left in 1975. It was exciting and emotional. Since then i came back about a half of dozen times mostly for business. One time was touring the country sides in remote places for about 1.5 months.
Thomas Vũ Trường Thọ has 40 years experience in integrated circuits, electronics, start-up and management. He authored 70 papers, 11 patents, 2 books, and received 2 national awards (IR-100 and Best Paper). Thomas is available as a consultant and interim executive. He worked at topvu.com, Goodrich, Honeywell, Sperry Univac, and University of Minnesota. He has also been an adjunct faculty in electrical and computer engineering at the Univ. of Minnesota and Univ. of St. Thomas. His curriculum vitae is available at https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Tho_Vu.
U. S. citizen. Languages: English, Vietnamese and French. Traveled internationally about once a year over the past 30 years. Editor and organizer of technical journals & conferences. His wife, Chi, is a software engineer. His oldest son, Alex, graduated with a bachelor in electrical & computer engineering and a juris doctor degree in intellectual property and litigation. His second son, Nick, completed a bachelor of science in biochemistry and a pharmacy doctorate program. His daughter, Melanie, earned a bachelor in math with a specialty in actuary science and business administration.
Activities: Vietnamese Student Association (vsaminnesota.org, 1978-79) – Elected as President to serve the interest of Vietnamese students at UMN. Management Assistant Project (1986-89) – Board of Director (BoD). Vietnamese Association for Computing, Engineering Technology and Science (1999-2000) – BoD, and Chair of Strategic Planning Board. Centre for Asians and Pacific Islanders (capiusa.org, 2000-01) – Chairman, Board of Directors. Vietnamese Broadcasting of Minnesota (myspace.com/vbmtv, 2002-03) – Advisor, and reading news when needed. Teacher of Buddha Dharma or Buddhism at Phật Ân temple in Roseville MN (2004-08); published a teaching manual and a dozen of articles on this subject (phatan.org).
Interests: • "Innovations in Teaching a Control Systems and Automation Laboratory," Tho (Thomas) T. Vu, Christopher S. Greene, Thomas P. Sturm, F. Joseph Albright, and Carl E. Haugan, University of St. Thomas, School of Engineering, 46 slides and a summary page, presented at VTIC’07 (VACETS Technical International Conference), Milpitas California, 1-3 June 2007. • "The Green Tiger Initiative: A Global Collaboration," Huy Do, Phac Le, and Tho Vu, SAVVi Strategic Ventures - A Global Platform for Entrepreneurship and Business Ventures [savvi.bz], presented at the World Vietnamese Business Forum, 25 slides, Paris France, 13-15 Nov. 2008. • "Top-Vu Technology and investment in high-tech stocks," Tho Vu, presented at the Investment Forum Group, 24 slides, 14th January 2011 9:30-11:15am, Roseville MN. • Voting member of Anoka Investors, LLC. since 2004 (an angel funding source for start-ups) and others.
FAVORITE QUOTES
Just as the great ocean has one taste, that is the taste of salt, like so, this teaching has one taste too, that is the taste of liberation - The Buddha
Story Themes: Engineer, Fall of Saigon, Family, Honeywell, Operation Frequent Wind, Operation New Life, Refugee, Saigon, Sperry, University of Minnesota, USS Kirk, Vietnamese, Vietnamese Student Association of Minnesota