Kaohsiung Fishermen 高 雄 漁 民

The story to be told after 40 years:

Humanity at its best!

Above photo is from the internet, showing a big Taiwanese fishing ship and a smaller fishing boat similar to mine.

Chapter I: An Unforgettable, Humble Journey across the South China Sea After living almost 38 years in the USA I moved to Brisbane, Queensland Australia at the end of December 2016. I was very much done with my 30-year engineering career and wanted to retire early so that I could enjoy my life a little bit. My Aussie-citizen wife and I finally got a nice waterfront apartment where we could see and visit the river or the beach every day.

Chevron Island, a view from our living room in Surfers Paradise, Queensland, Australia I am staying at the number-one tourist attraction in Australia: Surfers Paradise in the City of Gold Coast, not too far from Brisbane, State Capital. There are only 25 million Australians in the whole country but each year there are more than 12 million tourists that visit this wonderful city alone. What’s a lucky life you may say! I could have embraced the fresh air, great tropical fruits, beautiful view, warm sea water, and relaxing atmosphere for the rest of my life on this earthy Paradise. Seeing the river, ocean and ships perhaps made me think about the story of how I got here. I am a Vietnamese American, meaning a US citizen born in Vietnam; South Vietnam to be exact. Just a brief history lesson here, per the Geneva Agreement, Vietnam was divided into two halves on July 20th, 1954. The North was controlled by the Communist government, following Karl Max and Stalin’s ideology. The South was under the leadership of a Democratic government with its first elected president named Ngo Dinh Diem (Ngo is his last name). However, the civil war started shortly after the Geneva Agreement. When the Americans got involved, it was later called the Vietnam War.

President Diem and US President Johnson, photo from internet

Fast forwarding to April 30th, 1975: after over two million deaths from both sides and their allies, the North finally took over the South. The term “Fall of Saigon” was referred to the loss of our former Capital of South Vietnam, Saigon. None of the Vietnamese people from the South wanted to live under the new Communist government. By the time North Vietnam’s tanks reached Saigon, about a million civilians, mostly former government employees, soldiers and their family members had left the South either by ship or by aircraft. I was 20 years old at the time and did not have any clue of how to live my life. I had a chance to leave Vietnam before the Communists took over but I could not. I was living and studying in Saigon, 100 kilometers away from my parents. I had lost all contacts with them several weeks before the Fall of Saigon because my hometown had already been taken by the Communist troops a few months prior. There was no communication of any kind back then. I could not get on the plane and leave the country without knowing what happened to my mom, dad, and my siblings. My three older brothers had served in the South Vietnam Armed Forces, and the next to oldest brother was killed by the Communists in 1969. You could see why the new government was not kind to my parents and my former-soldier brothers. It did not take me long before I realized that I could not live under the iron first of the Communist regime. In 1976, a friend and I tried to escape Vietnam on foot; it was our only option because we did not have a boat. Going with someone else who had a boat required a hefty payment in advance, 5 to 10 ounces of pure gold, which was considerably more than all of the money our entire families possessed. We intended to walk westward across Central Vietnam through Cambodia (called Kampuchea back then), and then to Thailand. We quickly abandoned our risky plan just after one night in the jungle near the border. We almost got killed for walking into the base of the Communist Vietnamese troops. They themselves were planning to cross the border in the effort of invading Cambodia. Since my hometown was near the coast, a year later I made connections with a few wealthy folks in Saigon and they agreed to finance our escape plan by boat. They gave me money in advance for a wooden boat, a used diesel engine, fuel and food. Along with my older brother and several high school classmates, we decided to carry out a very risky journey. Our mission was to escape Vietnam along with the people who financed us.

Me, second from left and my high-school classmates in 1976 (all are living in Australia).

Following are a few details of our faithful trip:

• July 7th, 1978: we left VN with 29 people on board in a small boat only 10 meters long and 3 meters wide. Due to the rush of getting out, we did not prepare properly: no oceanography map, a bad engine and transmission, and not enough fuel, food or water. All I had was a small compass and a tiny map that was ripped out of an elementary school geography book. The boat stopped every few hours because the propeller shaft disengaged from the engine flywheel (engine still running but not the propeller). (1)

• July 9th, 1978: late in the afternoon, we were down to the last two spare bolts that attached the propeller-shaft to the engine. The boat was still moving but we knew it would stop forever once the bolts broke. As the sky grew darker due to a coming storm, two big fishing ships suddenly appeared from nowhere. In brief, they allowed us to climb on one of the ships. I understood that the two ships were from the same company in Taiwan. They used a large fishing net that connected to both ships and dragged it along as the ships moved forward. All sea creatures between two ships would be caught.

The Taiwanese Captain only knew some English but thankfully one of the people on my boat spoke some Chinese. The Captain told us that he was on his way north back home to Kaohsiung City when he saw our dire situation and was certain we would die if he did not rescue us. Since he was not allowed to take us back with him to Taiwan he turned his ships around 180 degrees and brought us south to Singapore. Knowing that several children and women in our group would not be comfortable sleeping outside on an open deck, he asked his crew members to give up their cabins for us. Furthermore, the chef had to work overtime, doing his best to cook extra food for 29 additional people. Instead of going home as scheduled he and his shipmates had to spend an extra week at sea taking care of us!

On July 12th, 1978, still dark in the early morning, we arrived in the Singapore harbor-territory. We were put on a small life-raft (an emergency floating-device that was reserved for the fishermen in case something bad happened to their ship). They also gave us water and mi-bao (meat-filled buns). The Taiwanese Captain assured us that Singapore Coast Guard would pick us up when they saw the life-raft in their harbor. It was then the Captain and his crew waved good-bye as they turned their ships around and headed home to Taiwan. He left no name or address and ordered all his crew members to do the same. (2)

We were spotted, but sadly not rescued by the Singapore Coast Guard. After a full day of floating and drifting around we finally reached a small island belonging to Indonesia. According to the current laws in 2019, all 29 of us would have been arrested as illegal immigrants. Luckily back then we were accepted as refugees and later allowed to migrate to Australia, Canada, France, or the USA. I came to America on February 9th, 1979 in the middle of winter. Reminiscent of how I was welcomed by the crew on the Taiwanese fishing ships, I was met and helped by the kindest people of Duluth, Minnesota. They gave everything I needed to start a new life. Working during the day and going to school at night I finally got a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Minnesota on December 14, 1985.

From the late 70s to early 90s, there were approximately 1 million South Vietnamese people who escaped from the Communist regime either by boat or by foot (walking across the border). The term “Boat People” (3) was created to identify those that left Vietnam by boat or ship during this period of about 15 years. Roughly 250,000 Vietnamese refugees died on their way due to hostile weather or poor planning. Some were even raided and raped by pirates. Those who were lucky enough to

survive the journey would arrive to neighboring countries like the Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore, and Hong-Kong. A few good-seaworthy boats even made it all the way to Darwin, Australia.

None of those mentioned countries were wealthy back then yet they still opened their borders and took in hundred thousands of refugees, each! Perhaps the world was more compassionate back then and people had kinder hearts during the post-Vietnam-War. I wonder among a million Boat People including my wife and I, how many have come back to visit those un-prepared host countries, also known as Second Countries? The countries where the refugees would be living permanently were called Third Countries. Some of us looking back realize that living in the Second Countries or in refugee camps back in those days were actually the best times of our lives. No job, no responsibility, no money, no tax, no bills to pay, no car, no house, no country, no president: meaning there was nothing to worry about!

A typical small wooden boat that Vietnamese Boat People used in escaping from Vietnam

Chapter II: Signs of the past

Now back to March 2018, many signs began reminding me that I was here in “Paradise” only because of the Taiwanese Captain and his two fishing ships. The water view surrounding our place and the many ships docked in front of us remind me of them. My building manager, Ken, and his wife are both from Taiwan and that made me think very hard about finding my saviors, the heroic Taiwanese Captain and his crew members. I thought of that Captain more and more. I realized that he had to make a very difficult decision, against his fishing-company policy and his government in order to rescue us. His heroic and kind acts were the symbols of humanity at its best. He had a strong compassion for us because he told us that as a young man he had to make a similar journey escaping from the Communists in mainland China to Taiwan in 1949.

Time was running out and I needed to find him quickly. I figured he would be in his late 70s or early 80s by now. I remembered hearing the name “Cao-Xung” as where the ships were from. His ships had two Chinese characters for the name but I could only read and remember the first character (大 meaning “big”). Through music my wife and I met and became good friends with Dr. Ke-Hoa Nguyen of Darra, Queensland. He has a very good singing voice and also happened to be our family doctor. He and his wife, had a son who was about to marry a Taiwanese girl in late April of 2018.

The wedding reception was planned on April 28th, 2018 in Taipei, Taiwan. We decided to attend the wedding there because we did not want to miss an opportunity to look for our Taiwanese Captain. I started googling and searched for the best location to stay near the Kaohsiung harbor (only port

sounds like “Cao-Xung”). Ken, the Taiwanese born manager of our apartment, was nice enough to help me with some translation work. I made a simple sheet with several bilingual phrases describing my mission. I was hoping the elderly folks who lived near the harbor might be able to help me (see below).

Well, we are now in the 21st century so there are several websites that I can check out, especially the ones relating to Marine, Fishing Association, Coast Guard, or Harbor Authority. I managed to find one website with English pages that belongs to the City of Kaohsiung so I wrote a brief email explaining my intention of finding the heroic Captain. I was doing that out of desperation, and did not expect any reply from the city officials. Turns out I had underestimated the level of care the Kaohsiung people and their government had. A few weeks later I got a call from a young lady named Pearl who worked for the City of Kaohsiung. I did not pick up the phone quick enough so she left me a voicemail. I cried when I heard her message.

Just when I was about to return her call, she suddenly called me again. I could not hold my composure so I cried like a baby on the phone. I began to feel a connection with someone from the homeland of my Captain. Furthermore, Pearl also insisted that officials in her City would be helping me find our true hero. We exchanged contact details like emails, phone numbers and the arrangements of our upcoming trip to Taiwan. She quickly sent me the first of several emails assuring me of her commitment to help me find the Captain. Included is the original email below:

From: Pearl Chou [mailto:pearlsmail5858@gmail.com] Sent: Thursday, March 15, 2018 8:31 PM To: tai.dbn@gmail.com; Dang, Thai Subject: Welcome to Kaohsiung and Please Let us Assist You

Dear Mr. Dang,

I am Pearl from Secretariat, Kaohsiung City Government.

I am writing to express our sincere welcome and appreciation for your upcoming to Kaohsiung. As you mentioned on the phone, you will be in Kaohsiung during 4/29-4/30. May we arrange a meeting on 4/30 for you and the representative of Marine Bureau, Kaohsiung in the administration center to discuss more the social project you may be interested in participating in?

More important, your kindness and character showed in the story is influential. May we have some more information and details about your story, and we hope that by revealing to the public the story full of courage and compassion for each other, we can express a very positive message to the public as well.

We look forward to hearing from you and your visit here.

Best regards,

Pearl 周佩蓉 Pearl Chou 高雄市政府秘書處 股長 Section Head | International Affairs Division Secretariat of Kaohsiung City Government Tel: +886-7-3373029 | +886-7-3368333 ext:3029 Fax: +886-7-3353132 Email: pearlsmail5858@gmail.com Chapter III: first official meeting with City of Kaohsiung Several emails later we finally got a date set up when we would meet Pearl and other city officials in Kaohsiung. The wedding reception in Taipei was on Saturday April 28th, and we would then take the HSR (High-Speed Rail) train down south to Kaohsiung on Sunday April 29th. The meeting was scheduled for Monday April 30th, 2018. What’s a coincidence! Nobody from Kaohsiung City government knew about the meaning of that date to us: it was exactly 43 years since the Fall of Saigon. Twenty nine of us and a million Boat People left our homeland of Vietnam because of what happened on April 30, 1975, also referred as “Black April”. At first I was planning to have a meeting at a restaurant nearby where I could buy lunch for Pearl along with her city hall co-workers but she had a better idea. Four of us (including Dr. Ke-Hoa and his wife) were welcomed like high-level dignitaries at the City Hall, with the national flags of Taiwan, Australia, and USA. We were so honored and shocked! (4)

First meeting in City Hall with Deputy Mayor Tsai on April 30th, 2018 (coincidently exactly 43 years after the Fall of Saigon)

Before leaving Brisbane I made six T-shirts with the English phrase “Kaohsiung Fishermen” and matching Chinese characters. I was planning to give them to the City officials who would be helping me find the Captain and his crew. Everyone, especially the folks from the Marine Bureau loved its simple-but-meaningful design. It was also the heading of this writing, as you might have noticed.

Besides the T-shirt my wife and I also donated AUD 10,000 to the Marine Bureau. They quickly put that money into the Marine Emergency Assistance Fund so that it could be used to rescue fishing boats or ships that are in danger at sea. The Bureau as well as the City of Kaohsiung made a big deal about our small donation. I knew that amount was not even enough to pay for the diesel fuel used by the two fishing ships when they took us south to Singapore harbor, not even for just one-way!

Not the amount but this is the biggest check I have ever written.

I’m not sure who got the idea of having me on the live-broadcast show at the Fishery Radio Station(5) so that other fishermen and fishing-industry folks in Kaohsiung City could hear my survival story and my search for the Taiwanese Captain. It was another surprise event, but I did my best to tell people how grateful I was for being rescued by a real hero of Kaohsiung. “Please help me to find him,” I begged.

Left to right: Dr. Ke-Hoa Nguyen and his wife, me and my wife at the Fishery Radio Station in Kaohsiung Harbor

My first Taiwanese Live Radio Show!

We were also offered a walking-tour along the harbor. Seeing those giant fishing ships with many fishermen onboard I could not help but think back to the day when my tiny boat met two Taiwanese fishing ships. I waved to the fishermen who looked down at me and my “entourage”. I also said “thank you” to them but I’m pretty sure they had no idea why I thanked them. With the TV camera and media staff tagging along with me they might have thought I was on a campaign tour, running for a public office position or something.

Chapter IV: meeting the first-found crew member, Mr. Huang

黃宗

舜

Huang

Tsung-

Shun

As scheduled, Tuesday, May 1st was our last day in Kaohsiung before we headed back to Australia. Our HSR train back to Taipei airport did not start until 5:30 pm so we decided to visit a very famous Buddhist temple in Kaohsiung, the Fou Guang San, where the biggest statue of Buddha in Taiwan is placed. Regardless of your religion, if you come to Kaohsiung you must visit this place. It is a huge but calm monastery where you can relax, pray and find your inner peace.

Perhaps our prayers were answered, or maybe because of the people of Kaohsiung have strong compassion in helping me. I got a surprise call from Rita Li, an official interpreter for the City. She told me the City has been contacted by a young man who said his father, Mr. Huang, was one of the crew members on the ships that I have been searching for. My body was shaking when I heard that!

Out of the blue she also texted me a copy of the letter that I wrote to Mr. Huang in 1999, 19 years ago. Although the Captain had ordered his crew members not to give out name and address, several years later we found out one fisherman did not listen to his Captain. He gave his name and address, all in Chinese to one of the girls on our boat. That infraction turned out to be a very critical missing piece of puzzle. She had kept his address secretly until 1999, the same year when a powerful earthquake struck Taiwan and caused many deaths. She was actually the younger sister of my former partner. With help from a Taiwanese co-worker (to put Chinese name and address on the envelope) I wrote a letter in English asking about his wellbeing along with info of the Captain. I did not get the reply so I assumed he had moved and then completely forgot about that letter as time went by.

Right away I confirmed to Rita that it was indeed me who wrote the letter so she quickly sent Mr. Huang and his wife up to Fou Guang San Temple to meet me. Through a few exchanged questions and answers he knew I indeed was on the tiny boat and in turn I knew he was on the big ship. The City then requested that me and my group going back to City Hall so that they could have a briefing. I was so nervous and concerned because no one said anything about the Captain, even Mr. Huang. He kept mentioning that he had lost all contact with the other crew members.

Mr. Hsie, the Honorable Acting Mayor of Kaohsiung, was there to greet my group and Mr. Huang’s family. He first thanked the media for their help in telling the public about my search. He then looked at me, and in a soft voice began telling me something in Chinese that sounded quite sad. Rita quickly translated to me that the Captain, named Mr. Song, the hero that I had been looking for, already passed away 9 years ago in 2009. I sat still for a few seconds and then looked up to the ceiling. I said quietly: “Sorry for taking too long in finding you, Mr. Song”. With too many coincidences and miracles that just happened within the last three days, I knew for sure the spirit of Mr. Song was in the room with us. He knew I had tried very hard to find him and I did the best I could.

Mr. Huang, former crew member and me, 40 years later

With Mr. Huang and his wife

I quickly told the Acting Mayor and everyone in attendance that I would do my best to make sure his widow, Mrs. Song, would be have a comfortable life until the end. In a brief moment, I kneeled down and bowed at the Taiwanese flag and to Mr. Huang. Everyone in the room was even quicker in stopping and lifting me up. They were too humble to receive my respect and appreciation. Several media outlets captured that stunning moment and broadcasted it with the Chinese phrase: “Quy-Xa-Lai” (Kneeling/Bowing/Head touching the floor). That Chinese phrase sounded exactly the same in Vietnamese. Not sure if they borrowed ours or we borrowed theirs.

Acting Mayor Hsie was telling the sad news about Captain Song.

The Acting Mayor also mentioned that although the City has contacted Mrs. Song but she declined to join us at the meeting. She was not ready to be in the spotlight with all the attention. She would be happy to welcome my visit at a later day in a calmer fashion without the big crown of media and press.

Mrs. Song (Captain’s wife) in the Kaohsiung Fishermen T-shirt that I designed

Mrs. Song (Captain’s wife) and Ms. Chen, Pearl’s boss who first read my email to the city

Chapter V: meeting the Song family and other crew members

We had to catch the train back to Taipei so we sadly said goodbye to Mr. Huang, his wife, and all city staff including the acting Mayor. My wife, Diamond, quickly promised to everyone at the meeting that we will be back around first week of July, just two months after our recent trip. As I later started searching for flights, I then realized July 7th was the 40th Anniversary of my departure from Vietnam and July 9th would be exactly 40 years since our first meeting with the two Dah Chuan ships (6). My wife did not know all details of my escape trip since she left Vietnam 3 years later, also by boat. Someone from above has made her to promise that. How magical!

We informed the city officials about our second trip back to Kaohsiung. We would be in Taipei on Saturday July 7th and in Kaohsiung on Sunday July 8th, staying until Friday July 13th. Therefore, any day during this time period would be perfectly fine for our reunion-lunch. They picked Monday, July 9th without knowing that that would be exactly 40 years since we first met Captain Song. The Kaohsiung Fishermen Association even rescheduled their Fishermen Festival so that we could attend.

Life is full of coincidences: on July 7th we arrived in Taipei, Taiwan’s capital and largest city. The hotel we booked, named Santos, had 16 levels (stories). Somehow the hotel clerk gave us the room number 709, which represented the American date of July 09, the day that was chosen by City of Kaohsiung to meet with the crew members and their relatives, 40 years after my first meeting with Captain Song and his crew.

Per our request, the City and Marine Bureau arranged a trip to Kaohsiung National Cemetery where Captain Song’s ash is kept. We would then meet members of Captain Song’s family for the first time there. From the picture below, you can see Mrs. Song, her eldest son Lucas, and her grandson Brian.

Dang’s family meeting Song’s family for the first time

We did not know Captain Song was also a Captain of Taiwanese Armed Forces, which entitled him to be buried in the National Cemetery. Along with our son Andy who flew from California we came and paid our respects. Brian Song, the grandson of our beloved Captain, surprised us with his excellent English skills and maturity. After 40 years of separation, I finally met the Captain, at least spiritually. Everything I have now, from family members to my nice home in Australia, would not exist without his kind and heroic action. I wished I could kneel forever in front of his altar where his ash was kept. The connection between he and I was incredible strong. For a couple hours, even in suit I did not feel the heat or aware of the surrounding. I totally concentrated in paying respect to him, and his family members.

The saga of coincidences continued: during the introduction prior to our anniversary lunch-banquet, the lady Deputy Mayor named Shih-Fang shook my hand and gave me her business card. I’m not sure why, but I looked right at her name and email address: “fanney0927.” The combination of letters and numbers stood out vividly! That number must be her birthday, I assumed. When I asked if this was the case, she confirmed, so I quickly told her that was my birthday too. How was that for a coincidence? Why did I even look at her email address on her business card? It’s not like I needed to email her something right away at that moment. (7)

After visiting the shrine, we were greeted by Deputy Mayor Shih-Fang, my twin sister

During the rescue mission, our group from the small boat had to climb over the big ship to get onboard. One of my friend’s hands slipped but he was quickly caught by the Taiwanese ship’s Chief Engineer. Without that quick reaction my friend would have been crushed to death from falling between our small boat and their big ship. The engineer later took off his jacket and gave it to my friend.

I remembered that incident and decided to bring a nice Australian-themed jacket and gave it to Ms. Chou, daughter of the Chief Engineer. It was a gesture to honor the great man who saved my friend, the Chief Engineer who is no longer with us.

Picture of me and Chou I-Chun, daughter of the Chief Engineer

Another crew member that we met at our 40th anniversary party is Mr. Hsiulan Chen-Fang. He and his wife happened to be Taiwanese indigenous people. His community was very proud of him for being part of the heroic act that saved 29 boat people. After the party, he and his wife wrote us a very nice letter, see below.

Mr. Hsiulan Chen-Fang is in blue shirt. The representative for Taiwanese Indigenous is on the right.

Our big group, including city official and crew members, just before our 40th Anniversary lunch

Chapter VI: Fishermen Festival Banquet

The Acting Mayor, Mr. Hsie, gave me the Honorable Citizen of Kaohsiung City Award

The big group Marine Festival celebrated Kaohsiung heroes who save 29 of us 40 years ago

American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) as known as US De Facto Embassy in Taiwan

At the Fishermen Festival Banquet, we were surprise by the attendance of Mr. Peter McSharry, a representative from American Institute in Taiwan. Due to sensitive relation with mainland China, US did not want to call it as an Embassy but everyone knew AIT is the US De Facto Embassy in Taiwan. My wife and I were planning to come to his table and greet him but he beat us by coming to our table and shaking our hands instead. He even thanked us for doing a special mission that made him and his Institute staff proud of being Americans.

Picture of me and Peter McSharry, a presentative from American Institute in Taiwan (AIT), Kaohsiung Office

Chapter VII: Captain Song Brief Biography

宋謹安 Jin-An Song

Mr. Song was born in 1931 in San-Dong province. His hometown was a very small village at sea shore called Horse-raising Island (養馬島). Since Chin Dynasty, this place had been known for raising great horses for over 2000 years.

He came to Keelung Harbor Taiwan in 1948, along with the KMT or Kuomintang. KMT is a Chinese political party that ruled China 1927–48 by general Chiang Kai-shek (31 October 1887 – 5 April 1975). Chiang Kai-shek and his KMT move to Taiwan after the raise of Communist party of Mao Zedong Mr. Song became an officer in the KMT Army. His last rank was Captain in the Army. He has three children, the oldest son named Lucas that we have met. He also has a daughter and the youngest son. All are living in Taiwan. He retired from the Armed Forces in 1952 and began his fishing careen. After 40 years zig-zagging the South China Sea, he finally retired from the fishing industry in 1992. His sons and grandson are working on a full biography that will be updated in this Section. For now, that is all we knew about thisremarkable human being. A true hero of Kaohsiung and of the free country of Taiwan, the oldest democratic society of Asia.

Captain Song, his wife, and his three children

Chapter VIII: Captain Song’s Outstanding Fisherman Award

To prepare for the 40th reunion day, my two sons from America each wrote a letter to thank Captain Song’s family and his crew members. Our son also put USD 40 in each envelope as a symbolic gift, one dollar for each year that has passed. We also added AUD 1,000 each to the crew members and an additional AUD 3,000 for Mrs. Song.

The crew members accepted our gifts with grace but Mrs. Song returned the envelope without checking its content. I told her to keep the letter and promised to use that gift amount to honor Captain Song somehow down the road. I also proposed to build a statue of him but she shyly refused. What a humble and kind family!

I quickly talked to the Marine Bureau and Fishermen Association about establishing an annual award that would be given to an outstanding fisherman, nominated by a fishing-ship Captains and selected by the Song Family along with the two agencies mentioned above. It would be a great way to honor Captain Song, not to mention providing hard-working fishermen with an opportunity to shine. I will fund the first two years of course, donating about AUD 3,000 each.

With Mrs. Song at her humble home in Kaohsiung. She collected news clips of me searching for her husband.

Humanity-at-its-best Website

How do I tell this story to the world, especially to younger generations who have never met a true hero besides their mom and dad? As a witness of humanity at its best I must do something to spread this wonderful story about this heroic and kind man. Besides Captain Song, over the course of my lifetime I have received many blessings that kept me alive or steered my life onto a smoother path. I hope our readers like you can share your own miracles or blessings that had made your life better.

Like an exclusive library filled with only good books, this website is all about humanity at its best. If you want to see and hear sad news or horrible things about humanity at its worst then may I suggest you turn your TV on during dinner time? Checking other news websites is an alternative way to get depressed and uninspired.

My goal is to have this website in three languages: English, Taiwanese, and Vietnamese. There will be no advertising or fund raising effort of any kind. Please read at your leisure time and pass it on to the ones who care.

Besides saving my life 40 years ago, thank you Captain Song for inspiring me to write this story! I will see you someday soon in another world. Hopefully your English or my Chinese skill will be better by then so that I can tell you this: “you had made this world a better place”!

Brisbane, Queensland Australia February 24, 2019.

The connection of First-Second-Third Generation has been established!

Brian Song and Andrew Dang, photo taken in California on September 2018

Notes:

1. My older brother was not known for working hard or planning in advance. He would relax or have a good time while I prepared for our escape trip. The engine of our boat was a chief concern of mine. While I worked on repairing the engine, my brother noticed a broken transmission that I just discarded laying around in the yard of the shop. He got up from his comfortable chair and picked-up a wrench, deciding to remove all visible bolts from the transmission. He put them all in a jar and said: “Just in case, we might need these”. I already had two spare bolts that I needed for the propeller shaft and was very sure I would not need anything else. I was thinking the ones in the jar would not even be any good. As it turned out, the two spare bolts that I saved were used up right after the first four hours of operation, just right after we left the shore of Vietnam. I was stunned. My “lazy angel” brother then suggested to me that we try the ones he had saved in a jar. Guess what? God answered our prayers: they fit perfectly, even better than my spare bolts that I had to pay a good chunk of money for. My brother’s seemingly pointless act of initiative have saved all of our lives. By the time we met the Taiwanese fishing ships, I had used up every bolt he saved in the jar.

Without his miracle bolts we would be caught and put in jail by the Communist Coast Guard. What is the explanation for his psychic act? His bigger heroic act was to dive under the boat and push the propeller shaft back for re-engagement each time the bolts broke. An action that none of the men in out boat wanted to do, especially at night time.

2. There are several reasons why the Captain did not want to give us his name or address. The main reason was about his true good heart. He did not want to be recognized or paid back in the future. Also during the “Boat People” exodus saga, per international law if you pick up or save someone from drowning then you must be responsible for that person. Liability was a big concern for the Captain and ship owners. He also ordered his crew not to giving out name and address as well. All crew members obeyed the Captain’s order except one. Several years later we found out that one crew member managed to give his name and address to one of the girls in our boat. That infraction became a critical connection during my search for the Captain forty years later.

3. Coincidently there were many Chinese people who left China when Mao Tse Dong took over the mainland in 1949. Perhaps around a hundred thousand Chinese come to Vietnam and were resettled in an area called Cho-Lon (meaning Big-Market, an adjacent suburb next to Saigon. Since these people arriving Vietnam by boat, the Vietnamese people would call them as “Nguoi Tau”, meaning “Boat People” in Vietnamese. These folks worked hard and with their good technical skills they had turned Cho-Lon into a very high industrial district. You could almost get anything there from utensils to furniture to bicycles to construction hardware. In fact during the time I was planning to escape from Vietnam I would come to Cho-Lon and get several critical engine parts for my boat, including piston rings, propeller and its shaft. Personally I think they have done a wonderful job of helping to build up the economy of my former homeland, the South Vietnam.

4. The meeting organizers at Kaohsiung city hall knew four of us were from Vietnam originally so they decided to put a Vietnamese flag there to honor us but they picked the wrong one. None of us wanted to be associated with the Communist red-base and yellow-star flag. Our South Vietnam flag should be yellow-base with three red stripes. I politely asked Pearl to take the North Vietnam Communist flag out and just leave Taiwan, Australia, and USA flags only. Later on when we told the Deputy Mayor Ms. Tsai about that incident she apologized and explained to me that the Taiwanese people have the same problem. Most other countries only recognize the mainland China flag: red-base and yellow-stars. We like the Taiwanese flag better: red-base and blue-block at top corner with a bright white-sun.

5. The Fishery Radio Station turned out to be very important entity in how I was rescued and how I found the Captain. The Captain heard its warning broadcast back on July 9th, 1978 and knew how big the storm would be so he decided to rescue my boat. Also through this radio station the son of a crew member heard my appeals for help in finding the Captain and crew members, including his dad. How magical is that?

6. Turns out my memory of the ship name was not too bad. The exact name in Chinese characters: 大川. Once the found Mr. Huang, other details turned up, including names of other crew members.

7. For years I have referred to those unexplained coincidences as the work of an unknown or a hidden force called The Arranger or TA. My TA has arranged all my events in life, including my meeting with Captain Song. The ocean is so vast and we did not know where we were headed to. Of all the unknown ships out there, good or bad (meaning the Thai pirates), why did we happen to meet the good ships of Captain Song? The same birthday coincidence was just a proof of my TA’s existence. I am sure whoever reads this paragraph will agree with me that he or she also has had such a similar experience. Life is more than just a random combination of natural events.