The story of the Vietnamese Catholic community in the Archdiocese of Seattle begins with the communist takeover of South Vietnam in April 1975.
Waves of refugees began escaping Vietnam by boat that year and into the 1980s.
Their journey was dangerous and unpredictable.
Many paid for the privilege of being crowded into very small boats not meant for the open ocean. They faced bad weather, pirates and lack of food and water. Thousands died. Those who did make it to Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, Hong Kong, the Philippines and other shores still faced an uncertain fate.
Would they be sponsored by someone in a free country, or would they spend months or years in refugee-camp limbo?
Some found their new homes in Western Washington, in communities from Bellingham to Vancouver. This is where the refugees planted the seeds of the archdiocese’s Vietnamese Catholic community.