Melissa Armstrong, lives in the state of Oklahoma, USA, raised by her father, Howard D Aliff, who served in Bien Hoa, Vietnam during the Vietnam conflict. He came back from the war as a different person and lived with post-traumatic stress disorder. He also kept a secret, an Amerasian son named "John" that he fathered during his time overseas. The Vietnamese mother, he met in Bien Hoa. After Howard died away in 2018, Melissa discovered old photographs of her father with a Vietnamese woman and their child along with a doctor or caretaker. Stunned Melissa realized the secret her father took to the grave, a half-brother who would be over 50 years old now. She also realized how the internet and an organization called Father Founded might be able to help solve the mystery and help her find her him. So, she began the search for the child left behind with just a few clues…her father’s full name: Howard D Aliff II who served in the United State Air Force as a Technical Sergeant, Sgt ( E-4 ), at Bien Hoa Air Base in 1970 and 1971. I hope you enjoy Melissa’s story. Remember to share, comment, like and if you have any information that might help with Melissa’s search, please contact Father Founded at the fatherfounded.org website.
Edmund or just Ed, was born in the Bronx, New York City, NY and is of Puerto Rican heritage. Here's his own words... I was assigned to Tan Son Nhut Air Base in July 1971 and later that month I was introduced to a young lady nicknamed "Phin" by a coworker. A month had gone by and we had signed cohabitation papers which allowed us to go out together in Saigon. That is when I learned her real name was Tran Thi Bong. I also found out that she was a mother of 3 children Ha (born 1968), Phuong (born 1970), and Hong (born 1971). Their family surname was Chu. Phin was never married. Even so we stayed together.
In February 1972 we found out that she was 6 weeks pregnant and was expecting her 4th child, my 1st. As luck would have it my extension request was denied and in July 1972 I left Vietnam.
In October 1972 I received a letter from Phin saying that I had a son born on 22 September 1972 with a picture of him being held by his sister Ha. I acknowledged receipt of her letter and asked for one more picture. This was a test to make sure my mail was received by her before I would send funds to support them. Instead I never received a reply. Making me believe that she never received my letter. Phin gave our son the name Correa Mother TRAN THI BONG Place of birth Giha Dhin Saigon 22 September 1972
In 1984 National Geographic Magazine had a picture of an Amerasian boy. When I saw the picture he looked just like me when I was his age.
In 2001 I returned to Vietnam in hopes of trying to find them. On a hunch I was able to locate my son's brother, Hong Chu, through the help of the Korean Vocational Training Center which also had his mother's information. It was a hunch that paid off. Hong and I met but when we arranged to meet again on the following day he did not return. Instead he called my hotel, told them he was sorry and that he was afraid possibly because he was in the process of registering with the U.S. Amerasian Relocation Program. All contact was lost afterwards. Edmund Correa's DNA is in Ancestry, FamilyTreeDNA, 23andMe, and MyHeritage in the hopes of finding his son.
John Caputo, is a dear old friend of Father Founded. He first contacted Father Founded in 2016, asking us for help in locating his lost ones. Like other veterans he did what he could to locate them but all in vain. Here´s John story : John served in Vietnam from 1969 to October 1970, he spend 17 months there. Most of the time in Long Binh, during his time in Vietnam he often went to Saigon, were he had briefings to attend. In Saigon he spent his evening on the famous street Tu Do, where bars and restaurants for the GIs could be found. In one bar he met "Mia", she was a Vietnamese women who was working in the bar, she probably used to work in the famous "Rose bar" before. They got into a relationship, and she got pregnant. The Amerasian daughter may have ended up in an orphanage, ran by Canadians, and might have ended up in Canada. John lost contact with Mia, after he went back to USA in 1970, he wrote her several times and to the orphanages too, but there was no response. He believes Mia might have been killed in the end of the war, but he never gave up on the search for his daughter. John is hopeful that one day his DNA test will show a match to his daughter or her children.
Steven DeBonis, author of the book " Children of the enemy: Oral Histories of Vietnamese Amerasians and their mothers " Steven worked in refugee camps in Thailand, and later in the Philipine Refugee Processing Center, Bataan, Philipines and he also spend a year in Vietnam too. During hes time in the Philipines, he met many amerasians and their mothers , and he decided to make a book about those people he met and interviewed. Steven had many wonderfull stories to share, and I am glad he did it with me. Anyone can buy hes book online and on amazon.com
Arthur served in Vietnam during the war. He went to places like Bien Hoa, Saigon ( Tan Son Nhut Ab ) and Hue, during hes time in Vietnam, he met Kim. They felt in love, and he later found she were pregnent and he lost contact with her , after end duty. Like many other servicement, Arthur cam back to USA as a changed man, dealing with Vietnam and what happend to him overthere. Art and painting became whats save him. It gave him peace and a living too. It also made him able to help other dealing with their past too. Arthur went back to Vietnam in 2000, assisting in rebuilding projects created by Vietnam veterans. This interview had been the longest I made sofar, but it gave me so much when it comes to understand what happend to a person that went to war and came back after Should anyone knows the where about of Arthurs love ones , please contact me
I had the pleasure in interview the known American war journalist Jim Laurie. Jim went to Cambodia and Vietnam, during the Vietnam war. He was in Phnom Penh on the 12th april 1975, when the last American helicopters took off from the US Embassy ( Operation Eagle Pull ), and he stayed behind in Saigon when it felt on the 30th april 1975 ( Operation Frequent Wind ). Later he came back to Vietnam and Cambodia in 1979, and saw what the Khemer Rouge did to its own people. In 1982, he was among the first journalist that met the amerasians in the streets of Saigon, now renamed Ho Chi Minh city.. Jim footages of the amerasians from that time, are unique and mindblowing for people like me that had been part of the amerasian issue since 1992, and a window to the past. Me and Jim could talk for hours, he´s such a amazing storyteller and I hope we had time for a future interview. Corrections: The film with Saigon amerasians are from 1985, when Jim met them again. I mention Jim left Saigon on the 30th april 1975, it was a mistake, he left 26 may 1975. For more informations about Jim and hes life: http://www.jimlaurie.com
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/vietnam-a-tale-of-miss-sa_b_9203926
nterview with Vietnam veteran Jim Reischl. Jim is a old friend of mine and he had a story to tell. Jim served in Tan Son Nhut Ab, during the time there he met a women and they felt in love. Later jim went back to USA and hes life moved on. But Jim never forgot Vietnam and the women. He contacted us in Father Founded , and we help of Hung in Vietnam, he went back for the first time after the war. By fortune from outside he found the women, he had a relationsship with, and they met again Jim now lives in Vietnam
Frank G Schafer served in Phu Hiep , Vietnam during the Vietnam conflict. There he met a Vietnamese women "Bonnie" in a village close the military base. They felt in love and before he left back to USA, she told him she was pregnent. They only had little contact after that and he never knew what happend to her Frank went back to Vietnam in 2012, looking for her, but it was in vain. So he decided to share hes amazing story with me on our Vietnam talk. He´s the first veteran I met that had used a super 8mm camera to film hes women, and had a very rare piece of history Should anyone knows about the where about of " Bonnie " or want to help in the search, then please contact me
Interview with Vietnam veteran Robert Elliot. He served in Danang during the war, and left behind a daugther in Vietnam Hear Roberts emotional story for search of hes lost child If you like to reach out to Robert, any ideas about the where about of hes love on or just want to talk to me then feel free to contact me
