Vietnam: Children of the Enemy Our World

journey back to Saigon to try to find the children they fathered

there more than 40 years ago. To form American GIs return to

Saigon and on the hour 40 years ago they set up home with their very ``

with their Vietnamese girlfriend. The day that I had to go home I knew

it. I couldn't tell her that I have ago. I'll live with that for the

rest of my life. It's hard to even talk about it. I can't talk about

it. Now they want to find the children of those relationships. May

I hold your hands? Of course! Because these hands held my baby.

And sons want to be reunited with fathers.

Saigon, April, 1975. American personnel rushed to get on the last

Telecom is that took off. They leave behind girlfriends and tens of

thousands of children, fathered by American soldiers. Jerry Quinn was

one of those soldiers. 62 years old and currently a missionary in

Taiwan, he hasn't been back to Saigon for over 40 years. He is here

now to look for his son. It's not the same. It was Jeeps, now there

are fancy cars and motorcycles. The bicycles are gone. The real irony

for me is that the war was all about bringing communism here and getting

rid of capitalism. All those soldiers died and yet, when you look

around, when you look everywhere, you see capitalism. Ho Chi Minh was

leader during much of the 20`year war during America. He fought to

bring about a united Communist Party. Over 500,000 American troops

`` tried to stop him until an humiliating peace treaty signed in

1973 sent the majority of them home. Jerry served 26`month tours. At the

Museum of The American War in Saigon, now renamed Ho Chi Minh

City, the guides tell the locals of barbaric acts committed by the

Americans during the war. Jerry didn't expect his own people to

accuse him of the same when he got home. To brand me as a baby killer

when I felt like I was serving my country, ma'am, apple pies, I came

back as a baby killer. No wonder many GIs prefer to forget. It took

for decades for him to come back. A beautiful daughter, three

grandchildren, I would be happy. He has contacted Brian Hjort from

Denmark. He came across the children of former GIs when he was a tourist

in Vietnam 20 years ago. He was moved by their predicament. With his

Vietnamese friend, they have worked voluntarily to put together some 30

fathers and children. It could have been many more, says Brian. I want

to hear the father say, why are you calling? What do you want? Why do

you talk about Vietnam? Stop calling me! I don't want to have anything to

do with that. He is not my son, not my daughter. Have you had many

fathers react I cut? Way too many. `` react like that. Jerry is

desperate to find his son who would now be 40. She was warm and

friendly. He has a photo of his former girlfriend, very `` who he

only knows of the name Brandy, and of the door `` and of the child that

was born. His family back home told him to forget her. Brandy sent this

photo to my mother. When my mother saw the photo, she said, you don't

want to marry a Vietnamese, you don't want to marry a Gook. They be

part of it is the guilt of thinking I could have done something

different. Maybe I could have. I don't know. All I know is I am here

now and because Brian has been so relentless, he just kept saying,

let's go, let's go. And I'm here. Jerry and his friend had for the

area where he shared a house with Brandy. Some GIs were allowed to

live off base. He has the address and a photo of the house but can't

find it. When the Viet Cong entered Saigon 40

years ago, he explains, they changed all the street names and even

numbers. We cannot find the house with numbers! That's a problem.

Another man suggested they go to the police station. They will have

records of the old names there, he says. Others suggest they talk to

the family of another GI who are visiting Saigon and staying with

friends in a house around the corner.

Midas is the oldest of five children of an African`American soldier, who

was stationed in Saigon for ten years. He now lives in America. You

remember any Amerasians children who had red hair? Quite a few of them.

Really? Did they go to school with you? Yes. I only went to third grade

in Vietnam. Midas doesn't remember Jerry's son but he would like to

help him in his search, not least because of what happened when he

made contact with his father in America. When I talked to him, he

seemed... The conversation was trying to deny the reality. So, I

was just like a OK, if that's what he wants, I didn't want to bother

him. His mother remembers vividly today David Beer Kong entered

Saigon. She told me that when she heard

there was an opportunity to take the family to America she grabbed it.

She moved them all to New York. In the early 1980s, the children of

the American GIs were found to be living in a dreadful state here.

Discriminated against and living in poverty. The American government

felt compelled to start a programme of immigration. In all, some 30,000

children went to live in America with their immediate families. But

the programme came to an end after eight years.

When Saigon fell, the Viet Cong imprisoned thousands of those who

had supported the Americans. Women, who had slept with the enemy, were

publicly humiliated and those who couldn't escape were sent to

re`education camps. Sam was only a baby when his mother

went into hiding and she gave him to her family to look after. But nobody

wanted such a child, whose features were an unwelcome reminder of the

defeated enemy. Life hasn't got much better. Sam was

bullied at school and left without any qualifications. He and his wife

lived out an existence with the tiny shop they run from home. `` live

out. This is the address we need to find

here. I'm sure that if we can find that... Meanwhile, Jerry is still

looking and getting increasingly despondent of ever finding his son.

If we find somebody that know somebody, they will know somebody.

We just need to find somebody that knows somebody. But it all looks so

different. It looks so different. Then comes the breakthrough that

Jerry has been praying for. The owner of entered Orbach recognises

the woman in a white uniform, in a photo standing next to Jerry's

girlfriend, Brandy. She says the midwife had a

daughter, who now lives in California, but she happens to be in

Saigon on a visit. She popped into the noodle bar the day before. They

contact the midwife's daughter, who is called Kim, and arranges for her

to meet Jerry. This is Brandy and the baby. Oh my goodness! I remember

her. You know why? I was very close to her. Oh my goodness! I was

holding this baby, changing the diaper. I took care of the baby

and... Oh my goodness. I have goosebumps. I remember her. I sat

next to her. I talked to her a lot. Did you help deliver my baby? Yes, I

did. I did. You help my baby in your hands? Yes. And I remember I talked

to her. I came in to sweep the floor. I swept the floor and she

asked me questions and I stopped. I sat next to her bed and, you know,

we got along very well. We talked a lot. Kim, may I hold your hands? Of

course. Because these hand`held my baby. There is just so much emotion

in my heart rate now. I may never see him or touch him. This is as

close as I will get. Right here. Kim gives Jerry his old address, where

his son was born and where Brandy lived for a while. The photos come

out again for the neighbours. One woman, who recognises the photo of

Brandy, comes up with a vital bit of information. Brandy's Vietnamese

name, and then a shattering bit of news. If what she says is correct,

Jerry's son could also be in America. Another former G.I. ,

Dennis Hall has arrived in Saigon to ask for help. He asked the two

volunteers who helped the soldier's bothers buying their children. They

have set up a website that is a point of contact for American

veterans. `` fathers. They would appear to have little in common.

One, a missionary living in Saigon and the other an engineer living in

Seattle. But they were and are again on the same mission. Like Jerry,

Dennis was not deployed in combat. I was lucky not to get stationed here

in Saigon. I had a very easy job flying VIPs around. My job was to

take care of aircrafts like these. In my time off, which we had lots

of, three days on and two days off, I spent most of my time downtown.

Unlike Jerry, Dennis remembers exactly how to get to the house he

shared with a girl he called Anna. Used to drop me off every day here

and I would walk 20 steps to get to my house. This is it right here. See

those circular stairs? I don't know how many times I went up there. It

leads to her. We kept our laundry there and ducks in a pond. His

girlfriend had told him she was pregnant just before he left

Vietnam. We make inquiries of a neighbour. This is the one I took at

the market. This woman remembers the mother and the baby. But when the

Viet Cong came, like so many girlfriends of GIs, Anna fled and

abandoned her son. The woman was surprised when the child, then about

eight years old appeared at the door. His name is Vinh. And then a

few years later his mother, who now lives in Canada turned up. Neither

mother nor son left any contact details with her. If you find

anything out or hear anything, my name will be right here in your

house. My phone number and everything. If there is anything at

all I can do... Dennis is in shock. In one day he has discovered that he

has a son and unless he comes knocking at the door again, he may

never find him. I know, it is terrible. Thank you so much. That

night, Jerry asks Brian to use his expertise to search a website for

finding family members. They now have his son's family name and he

enters the details. A male born the same month as his son comes up. This

one, born 1st of September 1973 in Oklahoma. There is an old phone

number. What are the chances of the same last name, born in September

73, that was the year. You have reached a number that is

disconnected or no longer in service. The trail has gone cold. I

think this part of town looks more like I remember when you look at

it. The only thing missing are hookers who would come out and try

to get us into the house. Yes, they always had them like that. Time is

up for Dennis and Gerry. They leave Vietnam tomorrow. They both have

information about their sons, that they have not found them. On this,

their last night in Saigon, they can only indulge in memory and regret.

She said, you are a good G.I., I like you. You should come inside and

let me buy you a drink. I knew better but she was so insistent that

I went in and she did buy me a drink. How did you meet your lady?

My first night in Saigon, this girl picked me out of a crowd. Just

grabbed me and by the arm and tells me away from the bunch of guys I was

with. I looked back and said, I think I'm OK with this and they

shook their head and said, I bet you are. The day I had to go home, I

knew it but I could not tell her I had to go. I will live with that for

the rest of my life. It is hard to even talk about it. I can't talk

about it. Sorry. It is all right, I have been there. The next day, the

men leave Saigon. At least Jerry now have the name of his son and using

social media puts his son 's name on Facebook although he does not

hopeful `` is not hopeful. In the aftermath of the Vietnam War, only

3% of Amerasian children have made contact with their fathers. Two

weeks later, a 41`year`old male in New Mexico recognise is the photos

online. These same pictures had been given to him by his mother. We

arrange for Jerry to go to Albuquerque. By now he has learned

that the Brandy was targeted by the Viet Cong when they took over in

Saigon and like so many mothers of Amerasian children, she abandoned

her son. There he is. Jumping up and down. Wow. There he is. Grandpa!

Hello, how are you guys? A 22nd hug `` 20 second hug. A hug to make up

for the last 40 years. Is it real? Willian now it is real for. Now it

is real `` Sir. He arrived in America when he was eight Ainslie

government programme the 1980s. He explains what it was like for

Amerasian children growing up in Vietnam. We were away from Saigon,

out in the middle of the jungle to start a new life. We built a house

out of clay, it was hot and dry and there was no food. You would eat

what ever you had out there. It was pretty tough. Being half white and

half Vietnamese is not fun. People make fun of you, your mum is this,

your mum is that, you need to go back to your country... Jerry is

racked I guilt `` by. I did not know that you were an orphan. I thought

you would have been with your mother. The Statue of Liberty to

meet men to freedom. I landed in New York and saw the statue and new that

I had to go there and climb all the way up to the top so that everyone

would know that I am an American now, free. So, I made it. From now

on, neither intends to let the other go.

With clear skies for many, it will be pretty chilly and there may be a

touch of frost first thing in the morning. It will lead to a dry day