Sign-In
Cart
12 Elephants and a Dragon: A Memoir of Survival and the Kindness of Strangers
Paperback
Biographies GeneralImmigration & RefugeesVietnam War
Publisher Price: $22.99
ISBN13: 9781990688263
Publisher: Ingenium Books
Published: Oct 25 2024
Pages: 240
Weight: 0.68
Height: 0.55 Width: 5.50 Depth: 8.50
Language: English
The stories we're told about the Vietnam War tend to focus on the soldiers who fought it. But what about the ordinary people who lived through it? How did the war and its aftermath affect the course their lives would take? What risks would they have to take to build a new life?
12 Elephants and a Dragon isn't just another book on Vietnam War history. It's the story of one family's life after the war had ended. Vi Tu Banh, then still a child, and his family left their home country in a dangerously overcrowded and dilapidated boat, had to fend for themselves on Air Raya in Indonesia, and then made the journey from the Galang refugee camp to a new life in a house on a hilltop among the snowy fields outside Uxbridge, Ontario. They learned, one day at a time, how to build a new life in Canada.
Their story is one of struggle and strength, highlighting the profound effect that the kindness of others can have on a person's life. It speaks of gratitude and illustrates how each of us have the power to contribute to changing the world for the better.
This exceptional memoir reminds us that there are many nuances to the issue of emigration and immigration. After escaping Vietnam, Vi Tu's refugee family relied on charity and being sponsored by complete strangers to come to the safety of Canada. They then worked hard not only to survive, but on building a new life, and to help contribute and give back to the country that welcomed them:
Once they were Vietnamese boat people, but they became the new Canadians who have been helping to build the country that adopted them.
Today, Dr. Vi Tu Banh is an optometrist, providing comprehensive eye care to the residents of Uxbridge, Ontario and the surrounding areas, with a special interest in providing vision therapy to patients with concussion-like symptoms and visual-related learning problems. His work is a powerful piece of healing from trauma.
Also in
Vietnam War
Swift Sword: The True Story of the Marines of Mike 3/5 in Vietnam, 4 September 1967
Glass, Doyle
Paperback
The Unlikely War Hero: A Vietnam War POW's Story of Courage and Resilience in the Hanoi Hilton
Leepson, Marc
Hardcover
Healing Wounds: A Vietnam War Combat Nurse's 10-Year Fight to Win Women a Place of Honor in Washington, D.C.
Evans, Diane Carlson
Hardcover
Beyond the Call of Duty: The Life of Colonel Robert Howard, America's Most Decorated Green Beret
Moore, Stephen L.
Paperback
Drafted: An Illustrated Memoir of a Veteran's Service During the War in Vietnam
Parker, Rick
Hardcover
Always Resisting: Choosing Prison Over Vietnam and Awakening to American Racism
Newhall, Eric
Paperback
We Were Soldiers Once... and Young: Ia Drang - The Battle That Changed the War in Vietnam
Moore, General Ha
Galloway, Joseph
Paperback
Diplomats at War: Friendship and Betrayal on the Brink of the Vietnam Conflict
Trueheart, Charles
Hardcover
Dereliction of Duty: Johnson, McNamara, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the Lies That Led to Vietnam
McMaster, H. R.
Paperback
What Now, Lieutenant?: Leadership Forged from Events in Vietnam, Desert Storm and Beyond
Neal, Richard
Paperback
The Ballad of Roy Benavidez: The Life and Times of America's Most Famous Hispanic War Hero
Sturkey, William
Hardcover
In Love and War, Revised and Updated: The Story of a Family's Ordeal and Sacrifice During the Vietnam Years
Stockdale, Estate Of Sybil B.
Stockdale, James B.
Paperback
The Sniper: The Untold Story of the Marine Corps' Greatest Marksman of All Time
Lindsay, Jim
Paperback
The Broken Country: On Trauma, a Crime, and the Continuing Legacy of Vietnam
Rekdal, Paisley
Paperback
A Bright Shining Lie: John Paul Vann and America in Vietnam (Pulitzer Prize Winner)
Sheehan, Neil
Paperback
Fire Road: The Napalm Girl's Journey Through the Horrors of War to Faith, Forgiveness, and Peace
Thi, Kim Phuc Phan
Paperback
A Debt of Gratitude: How Jimmy Carter Put Vietnam Veteran's Issues on the National Agenda
Robins, Glenn
Hardcover
The League of Wives: The Untold Story of the Women Who Took on the U.S. Government to Bring Their Husbands Home
Lee, Heath Hardage
Paperback
Last Men Out: The True Story of America's Heroic Final Hours in Vietnam
Clavin, Tom
Drury, Bob
Paperback
LZ Sitting Duck: The Fight for FSB Argonne
Arsenault Ltcol Usmc (Ret), John
Gourneau Uscg, Thomas
Paperback
Lions of Medina: The True Story of the Marines of Charlie 1/1 in Vietnam, 11-12 October 1967
Glass, Doyle
Paperback
We Were Soldiers Once...and Young: Ia Drang - The Battle That Changed the War in Vietnam
Galloway, Joseph
Moore, General Ha
Paperback
A Brief History of Vietnam: Colonialism, War and Renewal: The Story of a Nation Transformed
Hayton, Bill
Paperback
Jersey Boy Takes Flight: One Man's Story of Life, Loss, and Love During the Vietnam Era
Fox, Frank
Paperback
If Not Now, When?: Duty and Sacrifice in America's Time of Need
Jacobs, Colonel Jack
Century, Douglas
Paperback
Sergeant Smack: The Legendary Lives and Times of Ike Atkinson, Kingpin, and His Band of Brothers
Chepesiuk, Ron
Paperback
Guts 'N Gunships: What it was Really Like to Fly Combat Helicopters in Vietnam
Garrison, Mark
Hardcover
Vietnam Stories I Never Told: Memoir of an Infantryman at the Cambodian Border, 1968-1969
Jansen, Herbert G.
Paperback
When I Die I'm Going to Heaven 'Cause I've Spent my Time in Hell: A memoir of my year as an Army Nurse in Vietnam
Kautz, Barbara
Paperback
Getting Out of Saigon: How a 27-Year-Old Banker Saved 113 Vietnamese Civilians
White, Ralph
Paperback
Uncommon Valor: The Recon Company That Earned Five Medals of Honor and Included the Most Decorated Green Beret
Moore, Stephen L.
Paperback
We Are Soldiers Still: A Journey Back to the Battlefields of Vietnam
Moore, Harold G.
Galloway, Joseph L.
Paperback
Steel My Soldiers' Hearts: The Hopeless to Hardcore Transformation of U.S. Army, 4th Battalion, 39th Infantry, Vietnam
Hackworth, David H.
Paperback
Medal of Honor: One Man's Journey from Poverty and Prejudice
Craig, John R.
Benavidez, Roy P.
Paperback
His Story, My Story, Our Story: Eternal Lessons of Fatherhood, Sacrifice, and Service
Ahearn, Brian
Paperback
Voices from Vietnam: Interviews, Letters, Vignettes, and Reflections, 1964-1982
Norton
Kantrovich, Harry J.
Hardcover
The Ultimate Protest: Malcolm W. Browne, Thich Quang Duc, and the News Photograph That Stunned the World
Boomhower, Ray E.
Hardcover
Perfect Spy: The Incredible Double Life of Pham Xuan An, Time Magazine Reporter and Vietnamese Communist Agent
Berman, Larry
Paperback
Sailors to the End: The Deadly Fire on the USS Forrestal and the Heroes Who Fought It
Freeman, Gregory A.
Paperback
Hell, No, We Didn't Go!: Firsthand Accounts of Vietnam War Protest and Resistance
Greenbaum, Eli
Paperback
Where We Were in Vietnam: A Comprehensive Guide to the Firebases, Military Installations and Naval Vessels of the Vietnam War - 1945-75
Kelley, Michael P.
Paperback
On the Gunline: U.S. Navy and Royal Australian Navy Warships Off Vietnam, 1965-1973
Bruhn, David D.
Mathews, Richard S.
Paperback
An Army Afire: How the US Army Confronted Its Racial Crisis in the Vietnam Era
Bailey, Beth
Hardcover
Bare Feet, Iron Will Stories from the Other Side of Vietnam's Battlefields
Zumwalt, James G.
Paperback
When Heaven and Earth Changed Places: A Vietnamese Woman's Journey from War to Peace
Hayslip, Le Ly
Wurts, Jay
Paperback
100 Days in Vietnam: A Memoir of Love, War, and Survival
Tallon, Lt Col Joseph F.
Tallon, Matthew A.
Paperback
Tiger Men: A young Australian soldier among the Rhade Montagnard of Vietnam
Petersen, Barry
Paperback
The Hope of War: A Chaplain's Journey to Abiding Faith, Enduring Hope and Love Under Fire
Cripps, Larry D.
Paperback
The Odyssey of Echo Company: The 1968 Tet Offensive and the Epic Battle to Survive the Vietnam War
Stanton, Doug
Paperback
Victory Stolen: The Perspectives of a Helicopter Pilot on the Tet Offensive and Its Aftermath
Henard, David Earl
Paperback
A Displaced Nation: The 1954 Evacuation and Its Political Impact on the Vietnam Wars
Nguyen, Phi-Van
Paperback
Lions of Medina: The Marines of Charlie Company and Their Brotherhood of Valor
Glass, Doyle D.
Paperback
We Gotta Get Out of This Place: The Soundtrack of the Vietnam War
Werner, Craig
Bradley, Doug
Paperback
Hognose Silent Warrior: The USAF's Airborne Intelligence War in the Final Air Campaigns of Vietnam
Schreader, G. F.
Paperback
Unlikely Warriors: The Army Security Agency's Secret War in Vietnam 1961-1973d
Blackburn, Gary B.
Long, Lonnie M.
Hardcover
Vikings in Vietnam: Norwegian Patrol Boat Captains in CIA Clandestine Operations
Giorgi, Alessandro
Hardcover
Tap Code: The Epic Survival Tale of a Vietnam POW and the Secret Code That Changed Everything
Harris, Carlyle S.
Berry, Sara W.
Paperback
Water on the Moon: A Physician's Memoir of Service from the Vietnam War to Humanitarian Crises Worldwide
Burkle, Frederick M.
Paperback
This is Minuteman: Two-Three... Go!: Memoirs of a Helicopter Pilot in Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan
Chasson, Wayne
Paperback
Sog Kontum: Top Secret Missions in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia, 1968-1969
Dumont, Robert
Parnar, Joe
Hardcover
Stuttering Through Life With a Stop in Vietnam: A Journey to Becoming Myself
Sacks, Charles
Paperback