Richard

Did they have connections with the regime or was it just through, I don't know, paying off soldiers or how did it work?

And in that countryside, you're in one of the most beautiful places in the world too, aren't you, with all that color and scent and all those other things that are going on.

It is so beautiful, Vietnam, isn't it?

What do you mean?

You mean from your childhood?

Like I say, there was a lot of turmoil in Vietnam at this time in the late 70s.

Did you still manage to have a happy childhood nonetheless in the midst of all this?

How would you tie strings to a bee?

That sounds wonderful.

What do you tell your own son about all that stuff?

It sounds idyllic, this childhood, in a funny way.

So you say you had family that had gone to America.

Were they able to make contact with your family in Vietnam?

How were they getting on in America?

Were they able to send you presents from America?

So meanwhile, your parents were planning to escape and get away.

You were little.

Did you have any idea that there were plans afoot to leave?

To buy and build their own boat?

Under the nose of the authorities.