Bảo Trương's parents both fled Vietnam in 1975 following the war. His father Thuận was a pilot for the South Vietnamese Air Force and left the day before the Fall of Saigon, evacuating almost 100 people to Thailand on a plane. Thuận has now been settled in the U.S. for decades, but he still writes songs mourning the Vietnam of his childhood – a country that, to him, no longer exists because it is still under a communist government. On the flip side, his son Bảo wants to live in the Vietnam of today, a yearning his father doesn't understand. In this episode, the father and son sit down for a frank conversation about the country they both long for, in different ways.

Inheriting is entirely funded by supporters like you. If you want to hear future seasons, go to LAist.com/Inheriting and click on the orange box to donate.

You can also find resources about the historic events covered in each episode and relevant lesson plans from the Asian American Education Project, including the ones below.

Lesson 4.6.1 (Grades 3-5): Resettlement of Vietnamese Refugees in Southern California
https://asianamericanedu.org/vietnamese-refugees-in-socal.html

Lesson 4.2 (Grades 9-12): Asian Americans Serving and Fighting in the Vietnam War
https://asianamericanedu.org/asian-americans-serving-and-fighting-in-vietnam-war.html

Lesson 4.5 (Grades 7-12): Asian American Veterans and the Anti-War Movement
https://asianamericanedu.org/asian-american-veterans-and-anti-war-movement.html

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Bảo & the Vietnam War

Inheriting