| 1 | 1 | | Mary Xinh Nguyen, a beautiful, dark-haired model, has the same dream again and |
| 2 | | again . She is walking towards a man whose face seems familiar, but which she cannot |
| 3 | | clearly make out. The dream always ends abruptly and leaves her no closer to ending the |
| 4 | | search that dominates her life: tracking down the American soldier who served in the |
| 5 | | Vietnam war and must be her father. |
| 2 | 6 | | Young people such as Mary are known as 'children of the dust' in Vietnam. These |
| 7 | | Amerasians (children of mixed American and Asian origin) have been left behind by |
| 8 | | their fathers and are looked down upon by the Vietnamese. But now these unfortunate |
| 9 | | children of war are coming after the servicemen who deserted them . This year, thanks to |
| 10 | | a new law, some 15,000 Amerasians and their relatives will reach America. |
| 3 | 11 | | Mary, 20, is luckier than most. She fled Vietnam 15 years ago for the United States |
| 12 | | and stayed with foster parents until her Vietnamese mother and half brother joined her. |
| 13 | | All she knows about her father comes from her mother's memories . 'I always think about |
| 14 | | finally meeting him and what he would be like. But it's very difficult to picture someone |
| 15 | | you have never known. I don't let myself get carried away thinking about it, because |
| 16 | | anything could have happened to him.' |
| 4 | 17 | | She is angry that America, despite now offering a home to the children of war, is |
| 18 | | not doing more . 'There is a lot of resentment. Americans have a much greater |
| 19 | | responsibility. The marines and the army should give out more information. Kids who |
| 20 | | want to go to university should be provided with grants. Given a chance, Amerasians |
| 21 | | could really make Americans proud.' |
| 5 | 22 | | Refugee agencies have been set up to help the children. Reunions, however, are |
| 23 | | rare, according to Michael Kocher, director of the New York-based InterAction |
| 24 | | Amerasian Resettlement Programme. 'Only a few Amerasians have enough information |
| 25 | | and contacts to allow them to make a start in tracking down their fathers ,' said Kocher. |
| 26 | | 'Unfortunately, most have nothing to go on. When you couple this with the language |
| 27 | | barrier and the feeling of dishonor attached to Amerasians, they have little chance of |
| 28 | | success.' |
| 6 | 29 | | Even with these problems, most Amerasians find the land of their fathers a more |
| 30 | | attractive place to live. In Vietnam, they are treated as second-class citizens. 'Many |
| 31 | | Vietnamese have vivid memories of the war,' said Kocher. 'The existence of Amerasians |
| 32 | | reminds them of the American presence in their country.' |
| 7 | 33 | | Although InterAction does what it can to assist Amerasians trying to locate their |
| 34 | | fathers, it does not encourage it. 'In most cases, the chances that a reunion will take place |
| 35 | | are very slim, although it is wonderful when it does occur.' |
| 8 | 36 | | One story with a happy ending involved Barry Huntoon, who had served in |
| 37 | | Vietnam in the early 1970s. In 1985, an artiele in Life magazine about the sad fate of the |
| 38 | | Amerasians ran a photograph of a young girl who bore a remarkable resemblance to him. |
| 39 | | Convineed that the hazel-eyed girl pictured selling peanuts was his daughter, he hired a |
| 40 | | lawyer to be allowed to bring her to California. In 1987, Huntoon met the daughter he |
| 41 | | had never seen. |
| 9 | 42 | | It was a reunion Mary hopes will one day happen for her and other Amerasians. ' I |
| 43 | | can understand the fathers wanting to move on because Vietnam was such a horrible |
| 44 | | experience,' she says. 'I could understand if my father might not want to see me all these |
| 45 | | years later, but it would make me very sado However, there is something good that came |
| 46 | | out of the Vietnam war - and that is us children.' |
