Remembering Saigon: Journeys through and from Guam
January 13, 2025 – May 30, 2025
Location: Orange County & Southeast Asian Archive Center
Lower Level of Gateway Study Center, see map
Hours: Note the OC& SEAA hours and if you'd like to schedule an appointment to view the exhibit outside of these hours or arrange a tour with a larger group, please email Julia Huỳnh, Curator for the Southeast Asian Archive: julia.huynh@uci.edu
About the exhibit:
2025 marks the 50th anniversary of the Fall of Saigon and the end of the Vietnam War. To commemorate the sacrifices of those who fought during the war on behalf of both the United States and South Vietnam, as well as the narratives of hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese refugees who fled the war’s aftermath, the UC Irvine Southeast Asian Archive, in collaboration with the UCLA Asian American Studies Department, has put together a public history exhibit at the Orange County & Southeast Asian Archive Center entitled “Remembering Saigon: Journeys through and from Guam.” This exhibit highlights how the stories of Vietnamese refugees, CHamorus, and non-native Guamanians became intertwined during the Vietnam War period and its aftermath.
During the Vietnam War, Andersen Air Force Base and Naval Base Guam played key roles during the US military offensive. CHamoru soldiers fought in the war in disproportionately high numbers. Of these, seventy-seven died in Vietnam. Then, from April to November 1975, Guam served as the first major US processing center for Vietnamese refugees fleeing the war and communist persecution during what became known as Operation New Life. Over 112,000 refugees were processed in Guam in camps on and off base, before resettling in the continental US and elsewhere or remaining in Guam.
This exhibit highlights the narratives of CHamoru Vietnam War veterans, Vietnamese refugees, and Guamanians who contributed to Operation New Life. It features photographs, historical artifacts, archival documents, and oral histories from the UC Irvine Southeast Asian Archive, the Vietnamese Heritage Museum in Garden Grove, the Micronesia Area Research Center at the University of Guam, the Memoirs Pasifika podcast, the National Archives and Records Administration, and personal collections. We invite participants to consider how war, empire, and humanitarianism facilitated memorable encounters and lasting connections between different communities. These are stories of great upheaval and resiliency, that continue to reverberate in the contemporary moment.
Exhibit team:
Evyn Lê Espiritu Gandhi, Associate Professor of Asian American Studies, UCLA
Trinh Dang, PhD Candidate in Global Studies, UC Irvine
Julia Huỳnh, Curator for the Southeast Asian Archive, UC Irvine
Audra Eagle Yun, Head of Special Collections & Archives, UC Irvine
Long T. Bui, Professor of Global and International Studies, UC Irvine
Tiara Na’puti, Associate Professor of Global and International Studies, UC Irvine
Dịu Hương Nguyễn, Assistant Professor of History, UC Irvine
Max Ronquillo, Jr., President & Board Secretary, Guam Philharmonic Foundation
Exhibit programming:
Opening Panel and Reception: January 30, 2025
5:00pm-6:00pm at Social Science Plaza A 1100, 6:00-7:30pm at the OC & SEAA
An opening panel featuring Thomas Perez, Bùi Văn Phú, and H. Bryant Nguyen at Social Science Plaza A 1100 (5pm-6pm), followed by a reception and exhibit viewing at UCI Libraries’ Orange County and Southeast Asian Archive. The panel was live-streamed and now available on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zj0ONOo4VK8).
Primary Materials Pop Up Workshop: February 21, 2025
1:45pm–3:15pm at the OC & SEAA
During this Primary Materials Pop Up Workshop, participants will have the opportunity to engage with original archival materials related to the exhibit. Hosted in conjunction with the UCI Global Asias Conference.
Operation New Life Symposium: April 2, 2025
1:15pm–5:30pm at the OC & SEAA
This half-day symposium on Operation New Life will feature research talks by Nam C. Kim, Jana K. Lipman, and Trần Hoài Bắc plus a poetry reading by Arielle Taitano Lowe. Please register to attend the symposium in-person or online here: https://spaces.lib.uci.edu/event/14128764.