HOF071: Le Thuan Kien

On the eve of April 30th 1975, 12-year-old Lê Thuần Kiên and his extended family were rushed onto a battleship of the “Hải Đội II” South Vietnamese fleet that was under the authority of his father, Lieutenant Commander Lê Thuần Phong. The fleet was part of the larger Vietnamese naval force of the that was leaving the naval headquarters in Saigon, on the early morning of what would be the last historical day of the proud Republic of Vietnam.

The South Vietnamese Navy had intended to reposition the naval force around Con Son Island, away from weakened Saigon, and to return for future battles. But upon learning that northern Vietnamese tanks had entered Saigon and broken into the Presidential Palace, the Navy had no choice but to press on eastward to the Philippines, where the weary convoy of then stateless refugees was then transferred onto tankers heading to U.S. military bases, in Guam and eventually Camp Pendleton in southern California. Soon after,  Lê Thuần Kiên and his family would eventually begin a new life in Toronto.

Note to Researchers

A consent form was signed by each of the interviewees whose videos are posted here on the website. They have each consented to making the video available to the public and they have consented to the use of the contents of their videos by the Hearts of Freedom project researchers. Consent is not available to external researchers to quote or publish from it. Researchers interested in the subject have the opportunity to view a documentary film, Passage to Freedom which has been completed and is available through a distributor https://www.mcintyre.ca/ Researchers from the project are in the process of completing a full length book based on the interviews. Once this book is available researchers will have the opportunity to review it and to refer to it for research purposes.