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- Served for 41 years as the Director of the Immigration and Refugee Department of Catholic Charities, of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.
- Born in South Vietnam.
- Drafted into the South Vietnamese Armed Forces and became a war correspondent for almost three years.
- Fled to the United States in 1975 and became a political refugee.
- Traveled to numerous refugee camps worldwide and helped resettle hundreds of thousands of refugees.
- Helped hundreds of thousands of family members reunite in the United States.
- Became a well-known advocate and activist in the Vietnamese communities, both in the United States and worldwide.
- Received recognition and awards from US Senators John McCain, US Representatives Howard L. Berman, Xavier Becerra, Adam Schiff, David Dreier, Lucille Roybal-Allard, Zoe Lofgren, California Governors Pete Wilson and Gray Davis, California Senate Resolution #341, CA Senators John Nell Soto, Joe Dunn, John Seymour, Lou Correa, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio R. Villaraigosa, Cardinal Roger M. Mahony, Asian Pacific Family Center, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Services, County of Los Angeles, City of Westminster, Vietnamese American Heritage Foundation, Los Angeles and Orange County Board of Supervisors.
- Organized fundraising activities and important gatherings such as Rock the Vote, and musical concerts to raise funds to build the Vietnamese and American Veterans Memorial in California, Texas, Florida, etc.
- Promoted and helped with fundraising activities throughout the USA, Canada, and Australia to help Syrian, Afghanistan, Ukraine as well as Vietnamese refugees.
- Assisted Disabled Veterans of the former Republic of Vietnam, who still suffer in Vietnam, and to build a Memorial for Victims of Communism in Washington DC.
- Selected by The Orange County Register in 2005 as one of the 'Thirty to Watch – Leaders of the Future.'
- Life was the subject of an independent film, 'Green Dragon,' based on his experiences as a refugee more than 40 years ago.
- Received the 'Immigrant Family Advocate Award' from the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles (CHIRLA) in 2007, along with actress Salma Hayek.
- Honored with the 'Excellence in Leadership Award' by the Office of Refugee Resettlement / U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in 2010 for significant contributions and services to the refugee communities worldwide.
- Uses innate abilities to assist fellow countrymen in numerous weekly Radio talk shows and Television programs on Immigration / Refugee and Social Services for the past 20 years.
About U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants
The U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants has been advocating for and providing services to refugees and immigrants worldwide for over 110 years.
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