For many students, law school is a journey focused on illuminating their futures. For alumna Ha-Thanh Nguyen (J.D. ’11), though, it was also a chance to uncover her past: a GW Law class and professor inspired her to learn more about her family, their persecution in Vietnam, and the U.S. Navy Captain who saved them and many others from near-certain death.

The Nguyen family at Thanh's 2011  Commencement from GW Law.  Thanh is practicing international law in Washington, D.C. and continues to perform the pro bono hours that helped shape her career.

One afternoon in 2008, Ha-Thanh Nguyen’s First Year Legal Research & Writing Professor Tim McIlmail asked about her family’s journey from Vietnam to the United States. Decades earlier, Professor McIlmail had volunteered in a Philippine refugee camp where thousands of Vietnamese refugees lived awaiting sponsorship to other countries.

His question led to an unraveling of the past and a timely reunion for Thanh's family with the American Navy captain who had saved them decades earlier.

“Growing up in Chicago, I knew my family made it to the U.S. as ‘boat people,’ but up until Professor McIlmail asked me about it, I realized I knew very little details about the story of the escape and those who helped us get here,” Thanh said.

From conversations with her mother, and documents her mother had saved, Thanh learned that in 1975 her family faced persecution from Communists because her grandfather had worked for the former non-Communist government of South Vietnam. Additionally, her uncle had been locked in prison in solitary confinement for 10 years for being a Catholic priest. Under these circumstances, Ms. Nguyen’s family decided they had to get out of Vietnam and tried to escape several times before finally succeeding in June of 1982.

Her sister, brother, dad, and mother—pregnant with Thanh at the time—tiptoed barefoot through a swampy jungle. Upon arriving at their boat, they were shocked to see a 35-foot wood fishing boat, instead of the larger ship that they had paid to board. The boat would normally only fit five to eight people, but there were already 50 people piled in and on top of one another. Out of fear of detection by Communist guards, the family had no choice but to board the boat.

Once they were safely past the checkpoints, the boat sailed out for two days hoping to get to Hong Kong, the Philippines, or anywhere but Vietnam. Several large ships passed by, but all of them refused to pick up the refugees. Just 150 miles off the coast, the engine of the boat died.  A storm was approaching and the overloaded boat began to take on water. Fearing they would drown, Ms. Nguyen’s aunt was forced to burn her shirt to attract the attention of a passing ship.

Captain Corwin “Al” Bell (from USS Morton DD 948 webpage) To read about the rescue in his own words, visit the USS Morton website.

The ship that they attracted was the USS Morton DD 948, a 415-foot U.S. Navy destroyer ship led by Captain Corwin “Al” Bell. Captain Bell had been given orders from his superiors not to pick up refugees out of fear that it would encourage more people to risk their lives at sea. Additionally, whichever country’s vessel picked them up would be required to take them in. Seeing the conditions of the boat, though, Captain Bell decided he could not let them die.

Thanh's family was brought to a refugee camp in the Philippines where they lived for six months in a small hut with little to eat. In December, 1982, they moved to the United States and settled in Chicago.  Two months later, in the midst of a freezing Chicago blizzard, Thanh was born. Her father eventually returned to Vietnam, and her mother worked multiple jobs to support her four children through college. Thanh's family back in Vietnam gave her the nickname “Nam-My,” which means “Vietnam-America” because she was the first American-born child of the group of 52 refugees aboard the boat.

Shocked about the details of her family’s past, Thanh dug deeper and searched the internet for information about the USS Morton. She discovered that Captain Bell had posted information about the ship and crew online, as well as some correspondence with other members of the 52 rescued people that day, and she decided to contact him. She sent him this message:

“Dear Captain Bell, My name is Thanh, and I am the daughter of one of the families you saved in June of 1982. I cannot believe it has taken me this long to say this to you, but thank you…the entire trajectory of my life has been changed because of what you did for my family that one day.”

She received a response from Captain Bell and the two kept in touch. Just before her Commencement in May, 2011, Thanh and her family were invited to a reunion that was being held for the crewmembers of the ship. Her family reconnected with Captain Bell for the first time since his ship rescued them almost 30 years before.  Thanh was also the guest speaker for the reunion banquet.

Standing before Captain Bell, her family, the ship’s crewmembers, and other Vietnamese survivors from the boat, she said: “I didn’t realize when I wrote that first email to Captain Bell that he didn’t just save my family, he saved me. My existence and my life’s accomplishments are a result of Captain Bell’s heroic decision and the work of his amazing crew. As I sit amongst a sea of law school graduates at my Commencement ceremony and become the very first attorney in my entire family lineage, I will be thinking about the USS Morton, and all that you have done for us.”

Excited about the new information she had about her family and insight to her journey, Thanh wrote an essay and won second place in a writing competition held by Fountain Magazine. She was awarded this honor on May 5 in New York City.

Thanh, her family, and Captain Bell look at photos during the reunion in May 2011—the day before her GW Law graduation.  Their story was covered in The Washington Post: "For Vietnamese Family, An Emotional Rescue and Reunion" (photo above by Marvin Joseph / TWP)

Thanh has been an active volunteer in her community and abroad. She graduated cum laude from Northwestern University, and prior to law school, volunteered with a non-profit organization in Taiwan that helps Vietnamese victims of sex trafficking.

As a 1L, Thanh volunteered at the Asian Pacific American Legal Resource Center, which helps economically disadvantaged clients by translating for Vietnamese clients and helping them work through legal issues involving labor, domestic violence, and immigration. Throughout her law school career, she also held an internship at the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division, Criminal Section, and Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit, working on cases involving human trafficking, hate crime, and police brutality.  To read more about Thanh's pro bono work, read this 2010 profile of her in the GW Law School Magazine.

At GW Law, Thanh was also involved in The Jacob Burns Community Legal Clinics where she worked for Professor Joan Meier at the Domestic Violence Legal Empowerment and Appeals Project (DV LEAP) as part of the Domestic Violence Clinic.  She and her moot court partner, fellow 3L Alexander Hastings, were the runner-ups in the prestigious 2011 Van Vleck Constitutional Law Moot Court Finals at GW.

Thanh graduated GW Law in May 2011 and was in Vietnam just a short time later working for a United Nations office to combat human trafficking. 

"My legal training at GW immediately came in handy," said Thanh.  "My colleagues and I used Vietnam law to successfully help prevent a Vietnamese woman from being trafficked to Macau.  The experience of my family being saved by an American Captain has inspired me to continuously return to Vietnam to help the people my family was forced to leave."

Thanh is now back in the U.S. and is currently working at an international law firm in Washington, D.C.

--Kate Harlander-Locke