PRSRT STD U.S. Postage Paid Permit No. 746 Seattle, WA
VOL 33 NO 10
MARCH 1 – MARCH 7, 2014
FREE
OLYMPICS Wrapping it up at Sochi » P. 9
32 YEARS YOUR VOICE
Last day ditch
Helicopter photos courtesy of Hugh Doyle/US Navy
Father and pilot remembered and honored for heroics during fall of Saigon
Crew members of the USS Kirk wave off the Chinook Ba Nguyen was flying on April 29, 1975, as it was too heavy to land on the Kirk.
By Stacy Nguyen Northwest Asian Weekly In 2009, retired U.S. Navy Commander Paul Jacobs and Navy historian Jan Herman went on a Vietnamese
After evacuating his family and crew members on board the Kirk, Nguyen ditched the helicopter into the sea and survived.
television show in Virginia. They explained that they were seeking out a South Vietnamese Air Force (VNAF) pilot who ditched a CH-47 Chinook and survived, after transporting and unloading his family, passengers, and crew members onto the USS Kirk on April 29, 1975.
Program boosts minorities’ careers By Nina Huang Northwest Asian Weekly
Photo courtesy of EDI
The Executive Development Institute (EDI) of Bellevue is preparing for the next class of minority leaders in the Pacific Northwest region. Since 1994, EDI has proven its ability to develop culturally diverse leadership essential to organizations competing in the global marketplace. Under the guidance and direction of the Japanese American Chamber of Commerce, EDI was created because Japanese Americans were underrepresented in
In 2009, Miki Nguyen was at work when an e-mail from his mom, Nho, came through. “The e-mail—it was forwarded on, forwarded on, {see NGUYEN cont’d on page 16}
REVIEW: ‘Tiger Mom’ & hubby discuss new book
{see EDI cont’d on page 15}
2013 Asian Leadership Discovery Class 1
Hirabayashi medal comes home Photo by Sue Misao/NWAW
By Sue Misao NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY
From left, Susan Carnahan, widow of Gordon Hirabayashi, along with his children Marion Oldenberg, Sharon Yuen, and Jay Hirabayashi, ceremoniously donate Hirabayashi’s Presidential Medal of Freedom to the University of Washington. Provost Ana Mari Cauce, Ph.D, right, accepted the medal for the university.
Alia Marsha NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY
Gordon Hirabayashi’s heroic journey began at the University of Washington, where he was attending classes when the U.S. government ordered him and thousands of other Americans, singled out for their Japanese heritage, to obey curfews and be imprisoned in internment camps during World War II. He refused. “Ancestry is not a crime,” he later explained in an oral history to Roger Daniels, Charles Phelps Taft Professor Emeritus of History at the University of Cincinnati. Daniels
“Tiger Mom” Amy Chua defended her parenting memoir Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother when it sparked off national and international debate in 2011, accusing readers of taking it too seriously and saying that it’s “supposed to be funny.” She’s come back roaring with a new book, co-written with her husband, Jed Rubenfeld, about the success of certain immigrant groups in the United States.
{see HIRABAYASHI cont’d on page 16}
{see CHUA cont’d on page 11}
The Inside Story NAMES IN THE NEWS Movers & shakers » P. 2
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ON THE SHELF ‘Life at War’ » P. 7
DANCE Cloud Gate’s Seattle debut » P. 8
EDITORIAL Ambassador Locke’s impact » P. 11
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