The Vietnam War ended on April 30, 1975, with the fall of South Vietnam to North Vietnamese communist forces. In the immediate aftermath, many thousands of people from Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos fled violence and persecution in their home countries and sought refuge in the United States and elsewhere. Vietnamese refugees arriving to the West Coast in May 1975 were brought to the Marine Corps base at Camp Pendleton near San Diego, where “tent city” camps had been hastily set up. Washington state, under the leadership of Governor Dan Evans, developed a comprehensive resettlement program, and recruited refugees from Camp Pendleton to settle in Washington. Arriving refugees were temporarily housed at Camp Murray, a National Guard base near Fort Lewis, until they could be matched with sponsors to provide help with housing, employment, and skills needed to navigate their new home. The first refugees arrived at Camp Murray on May 20th, 1975.

Here, Nguyen Thi Noi sits on a bed in her family's barracks at Camp Murray. Nguyen's family spent a month living in tents at Camp Pendleton before transferring to Washington. Nguyen had worked at the Defense Attache Office at the US embassy in Saigon, and fled with her family after the takeover, in fear of being persecuted for working with Americans. Nguyen escaped with her parents, two brothers, two sisters, two nieces, a nephew, and a brother-in-law. An aunt and uncle did not make it onto the plane in Saigon and were feared dead. Five families in Puyallup were interested in sponsoring Nguyen's family, who were hoping to hear soon about housing and jobs.

Caption information source: “After the fall of Saigon: When Washington did the right thing for refugees,” Seattle Times, April 24, 2015. Retrieved at https://www.seattletimes.com/opinion/editorials/when-washington-did-the-right-thing-for-refugees/
Caption information source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer, June 7, 1975, p. 1.