Spirit of 'living thankfully'

This Vietnamese refugee has spent years helping other Vietnamese learn English and to become citizens. It was a vow he made 30 years ago - if he survived. DP

Heartfelt prayer » A small man with a big heart helps other Vietnamese learn the language and become American citizens.

By Kristen Moulton, The Salt Lake Tribune

His poisoned body swollen and death a real possibility, Son Xuan Nguyen uttered the prayer that was often on his lips as a prisoner in a North Vietnamese re-education camp.

"God," Nguyen said. "If I survive, I will repay your kindness."
Nguyen did survive that poisoning from scavenged roots as well as two other brushes with death in eight years in the camp, punishment for having been a major in the South Vietnamese army, an ally of the Americans when Saigon fell in 1975.

Three decades later, Nguyen is still repaying his debt.

The 75-year-old Nguyen, who now lives in Salt Lake City, is essentially a father to Utah's Vietnamese community.

From helping fellow refugees learn enough English and civics to become U.S. citizens to hosting services for the Cao Dai religion in his living room to leading bus trips to see autumn colors in the Uintas, Nguyen lives to serve.

His gift, says Layton resident Valeen Sullivan, who co-taught a citizenship class for eight years with Nguyen, is that he is a born organizer, a natural leader.

"He knows how to navigate the system, and he helps the others do so," Sullivan says. "When somebody is in the hospital or somebody dies, everybody turns to him. 'What do we do? How do we do it ?'"

A slight man with high cheekbones, a smile playing in his eyes, Nguyen says his life is guided by faith.

"Living thankfully is part of what he's doing, but it's more like he's representing God," says Phil Nguyen, who was 13 in 1991 when his father brought him and his older brother and sister from Vietnam, a whopping $50 in his pocket.

Son's wife, Nhung Vu, remained working in Vietnam for a more than a year before rejoining her family in Utah's capital.
Be sure to read the rest of this story! This is only a small part of it.