By ROBERT HORSTING
Noting April 30, 2026, was the anniversary of the Fall of Saigon made me think about all the Vietnam-era veterans, who, regardless of whether or not they served in-country, experienced the internal turmoil associated with training to fight, and possibly not making it home.
For many Asian American veterans, being pointed to as an example — “This is what the enemy looks like!” — during training added an additional level of stress.
While this wording, “not make it home,” will conjure up the names of those who made the ultimate sacrifice as killed in action (KIA) or missing in action (MIA), veterans and their family members know that for many, this also refers to not making it home on the mental health front.
Too many veterans who have served in our nation’s foreign conflicts have experienced the internal scars of combat, the pain of suffering or witnessing the debilitating physical wounds of their “brothers and sisters,” or their final moments.
This anniversary also reminded me of the longtime JAVA (Japanese American Veterans Association) member and WWII veteran Grant Ichikawa’s Hanashi Oral History Program interview, when he shared the events of those final days of April 1975.
Ichikawa, working for the CIA, met with Ambassador Graham Martin to brief him on a meeting he was going to have with a Vietnamese contact. Grant said, “He kept his cards close to his vest,” noting that the ambassador gave him no hint of any orders or the timing of their evacuation.
Grant Ichikawa (1919-2017)
Having made his way back into the city, he found the embassy seemingly under siege as crowds of desperate Vietnamese tried to access the compound in the hope of flying out in one of the helicopters. Recognized by a group of Caucasian Americans also making their way in, Grant was embedded in the center of the group as they entered the embassy grounds. He was among the last groups of Americans evacuated from the U.S. Embassy.
Looking to efforts that can be beneficial to all veterans, but whose focus is on sharing the stories of Vietnam veterans, I’d like to acknowledge filmmaker David Brodie. His seminal documentary “The Volunteer” made huge strides in giving voice to the story of Bruce Nakashima, a Vietnam War veteran with severe post-traumatic stress.
Both Bruce and David showed great patience in maintaining an open line of communication, which allowed the story to unravel naturally in its own time, as Bruce felt ready to share his secrets and David was on hand to preserve the moments.
Brodie states the scenario “centers on Nakashima’s close but unlikely friendship with L.V. Hendking, a soldier from Birmingham, Alabama, who eventually saved Bruce’s life, before they were separated and lost contact.” Another major factor in Bruce’s story is his inner conflict of fighting an enemy who looked like his family.
Having seen “The Volunteer” in the presence of four groups of veterans, I’ve had the honor of witnessing the cathartic effect that seeing and hearing Bruce’s struggle had on those now willing to share their stories with the audience during the Q&A session following the film screening.
Another noteworthy effort to draw attention to is George Wada and Don Bannai’s Japanese American Vietnam Era Archives (JAVEA), produced by the Asian American Community Media Project, the nonprofit they co-founded. They’ve focused on documenting the video-recorded oral histories of Vietnam-era veterans, primarily those of Asian Americans, to highlight the contributions the AAPI (Asian American and Pacific Islander) communities have made to our nation, and per their website, overcome the “cultural biases that have been known to lead to violence and even hate crimes.”
At this stage in life, many of these veterans who are in their late 70s to mid-80s may be able to shed the shame or anger of returning home to anti-war protesters calling them “baby killers,” being spat on, or having things thrown at them. Seeing that the stigma of seeking counseling is now diminished, as this is widely recognized as a move toward mental health, it’s hoped that veterans will also release some of the weight they’ve carried for decades by sharing the stories that have been too hard to tell.
The oral histories they’ve produced have been recorded in compliance with guidelines established by the Library of Congress (LOC). Having already completed 191 interviews since 2022, 172 interviews have been submitted and are available to the public through the Library of Congress Veterans History Project (https://www.loc.gov/programs/veterans-history-project/about-this-program/).
In a 2018 keynote speech delivered during the Japanese American Veterans Joint Memorial Service in Little Tokyo, Quang Nguyen, who as a child joined his family as they fled Vietnam after the fall of the South Vietnamese government, offered the following words of gratitude:
“From the bottom of my heart I want to thank you all, those who put on the uniform, whether you’re the WWII, Korea, Vietnam, (or) the current war (veterans). You have done everything you can for this pretty crazy world, and because of people who put on the uniform I can stand here and speak without fear.
“And because of you, my wife gets to be a school nurse taking care of the next generations. Because of you, my son graduated from college and has a really nice career. And because of you, my daughter is a third-class midshipman, floating somewhere in the Mediterranean. We appreciate the freedom we have because so many people like you laid down the foundation for us.”
To contact David Brodie: https://www.volunteerdocumentary.com/
To contact George Wada and Don Bannai: https://www.aacomp.org/
Veterans Crisis Line: Dial 988, then press 1 or www.veteranscrisisline.net
©2026 Robert M. Horsting
Opinions expressed in Vox Populi are not necessarily those of The Rafu Shimpo.