Vietnamese Refugees Mark 50 Years Since Arriving at Loma Linda

Loma Linda University (LLU) and Medical Center welcomed 410 Vietnamese refugees to campus on May 2, 1975, the end of a long journey for a group of health workers evacuated from Saigon Adventist Hospital and others from their positions as Adventist pastors and church leadership in South Vietnam. Fifty years later dozens of members from that group gathered at the Loma Linda Chinese Adventist Church to recall the circumstances surrounding this pivotal moment in their lives, and to say a public thank-you to Loma Linda University Health (LLUH) and the community that welcomed them with open arms.

Richard Hart, president of Loma Linda University Health, represented the university, medical center, and community during the May 3 ceremony, accepting a plaque from the group that recognized the ways the Loma Linda community did more than respond to a crisis, and embraced the 410 refugees with grace and kindness.

Fifty years ago Ralph Watts, Jr., at the time the president of the Seventh-day Adventist Church’s Southeast Asia Union Mission and chair of the Saigon Adventist Hospital board, recognized that the lives of these Vietnam citizens would be at risk after the North Vietnamese takeover of the city, and spearheaded negotiations with U.S. military officials for the group’s evacuation. Leaving Vietnam on military evacuation planes April 24 and 25, 1975, the 410-member group was first taken to Guam. While being processed there, U.S. immigration policy would not allow any Vietnamese refugee to leave the island without a sponsor. But none in the group had a sponsor to continue to the United States.

Watts sought help from David Hinshaw, dean of the LLU School of Medicine and director of the Medical Center. Several phone calls later Hinshaw confirmed that LLU would sponsor all 410 group members. Hinshaw went on to officially notify immigration officials in Guam of Loma Linda’s intent, and within days the refugees flew from Guam to Camp Pendleton near San Diego, California, then by bus for the final leg of their journey to Loma Linda.

While the refugees were traveling, Loma Linda University and Medical Center, the community, and local businesses quickly prepared to welcome the group to their new country with open arms and open hearts. Rows of donated Army cots filled the floor of the Gentry Gym, the gymnasium on campus at the time. Businesses and community members donated thousands of clothing items, toys, blankets, and other supplies. Doctors and other medical staff offered their time to provide needed physical examinations and other health-care services.

While Gentry Gym served as the group’s home, Loma Linda University was partnering with the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists to identify locations that could offer resettlement options and opportunities to rebuild their lives. Some already had family living in the United States. Others were physicians, nurses, laboratory technicians and other skilled medical workers, pastors, teachers, and other office workers. Many of these professionals quickly found employment and other assistance from Adventist organizations across the country. Student-age refugees received intense English language instruction at La Sierra University, then went on to become professionals in various business and health care-related fields.

Loma Linda University’s enthusiastic support opened opportunities for the refugee group that shaped entire families and generations to come. As small groups found new homes across the country, they formed new Adventist congregations that ministered to other Vietnamese refugees in their areas.

Within two weeks the operations at Gentry Gym ended, but the legacy of these 410 lives continues to tell a story of God’s miraculous leading through moments of incredible difficulty, LLUH leaders emphasized. “Loma Linda University and the surrounding community stepped up without hesitation, providing a place of healing and hope to 410 Vietnamese nationals displaced to a new country. And 50 years later those acts of generosity continue to be remembered,” they said.

The original version of this story was posted on the Loma Linda University Health news site.