Vietnam

Members of Orlando’s Vietnamese community are reacting to the death of Vietnam’s President Tran Dai Quang who died on Friday of an unspecified illness at the age of 61.

Central Floridians who risked to their lives to escape Vietnam forty two years ago will gather in Orlando this weekend to commemorate Black April, a pivotal moment in Vietnam War history when thousands of Vietnamese fled for the United States, many on makeshift boats.

Central Florida’s Vietnamese leaders are joining an international push to end human rights abuses in Vietnam.

Forty years ago was the fall of Saigon, marking an end to the Vietnam War. Soon after Central Florida quickly became a magnet for the wave of Vietnamese refugees, creating the state’s largest Vietnamese community. Now as that generation gets older, their children are starting to redefine what it means to be part of Orlando’s Vietnamese community.