I started doing some research last week so I could put together this RP Repository ‘book’ when I decided my heritage might make an interesting story, though not at all unique. Throughout history, heritage has melded and mixed with travels, migration, and conquests, and my story is filled with this mixing.
I have been digging into some family books and querying my paternal grandparents about their lives. My grandfather is from Austin Texas and has Mexican and French heritage through people who came to Mexico in the mid-1800’s.
My grandfather was drafted into the U.S. Army and he wouldn’t want to ever talk about his Vietnam war experiences, but that experience had him meet my grandmother who is Vietnamese. She was just a little tiny bit more open about her life in Vietnam.
Well, when I asked about their heritage for my genealogy research, something must have clicked in grandpa as he, with the encouragement of my grandmother, decided to open up some about it. I talked with them for quite a while, and they shared some pictures and stories with me, and I learned that my grandmother had French heritage from her maternal grandfather (my great-great grandfather) who was from Strasbourg (Vietnam was part of the French Indochina colony).
The two spoke in Vietnamese which sadly I know only bits of, and they decided to talk about how they met. I could tell when they would look at each other and converse in Vietnamese that they were filtering and choosing carefully what they would share, but it was the most open they had ever been with me about it.
My grandfather became a medic and was assigned to an Army platoon on his first tour when he met my Vietnamese grandmother in Saigon. Apparently they started ‘dating’ and my grandfather was quite adept at learning the language and so when his tour was over, he signed up for a 2nd tour and was assigned to intelligence as an interpreter. They spent a lot of time together that year, but with the American withdrawal starting, my grandfather was reassigned to Korea for the rest of his enlistment. He then came back to the United States and was discharged.
He stayed in touch with my grandmother with letters (which I hope one day to read) and some phone calls, but when things started falling apart in South Vietnam he quit getting letters and her phone was disconnected, so in late 1974 he bought a ticket to Saigon to try and find her. He found her at her sisters house and they got married and he went to work getting her and her family visas. Fortunately he managed to do that before things really fell apart. They have been married 46 years now! Grampa is 73 and Gramma is 67.
An interesting thing is both my grandfather and grandmother have French heritage from the Strasbourg/Alsace area and from what I have been able to determine left the area roughly at the same time heading in two different directions in the world.
On my mother’s side, my grandparents are Chilean and Irish. The Irish line goes back to Boston but is a bit hard to follow, The Chilean line is an intermingled mix of Mapuche and Spanish back through the centuries. Again, hard to follow. I have queries out to my known relatives for any information they wish to share.
So I’m Chilean/Irish/French/Mexican/Vietnamese.
I don’t know what questions anybody would have, but I think genealogy is an interesting pursuit!
I have been digging into some family books and querying my paternal grandparents about their lives. My grandfather is from Austin Texas and has Mexican and French heritage through people who came to Mexico in the mid-1800’s.
My grandfather was drafted into the U.S. Army and he wouldn’t want to ever talk about his Vietnam war experiences, but that experience had him meet my grandmother who is Vietnamese. She was just a little tiny bit more open about her life in Vietnam.
Well, when I asked about their heritage for my genealogy research, something must have clicked in grandpa as he, with the encouragement of my grandmother, decided to open up some about it. I talked with them for quite a while, and they shared some pictures and stories with me, and I learned that my grandmother had French heritage from her maternal grandfather (my great-great grandfather) who was from Strasbourg (Vietnam was part of the French Indochina colony).
The two spoke in Vietnamese which sadly I know only bits of, and they decided to talk about how they met. I could tell when they would look at each other and converse in Vietnamese that they were filtering and choosing carefully what they would share, but it was the most open they had ever been with me about it.
My grandfather became a medic and was assigned to an Army platoon on his first tour when he met my Vietnamese grandmother in Saigon. Apparently they started ‘dating’ and my grandfather was quite adept at learning the language and so when his tour was over, he signed up for a 2nd tour and was assigned to intelligence as an interpreter. They spent a lot of time together that year, but with the American withdrawal starting, my grandfather was reassigned to Korea for the rest of his enlistment. He then came back to the United States and was discharged.
He stayed in touch with my grandmother with letters (which I hope one day to read) and some phone calls, but when things started falling apart in South Vietnam he quit getting letters and her phone was disconnected, so in late 1974 he bought a ticket to Saigon to try and find her. He found her at her sisters house and they got married and he went to work getting her and her family visas. Fortunately he managed to do that before things really fell apart. They have been married 46 years now! Grampa is 73 and Gramma is 67.
An interesting thing is both my grandfather and grandmother have French heritage from the Strasbourg/Alsace area and from what I have been able to determine left the area roughly at the same time heading in two different directions in the world.
On my mother’s side, my grandparents are Chilean and Irish. The Irish line goes back to Boston but is a bit hard to follow, The Chilean line is an intermingled mix of Mapuche and Spanish back through the centuries. Again, hard to follow. I have queries out to my known relatives for any information they wish to share.
So I’m Chilean/Irish/French/Mexican/Vietnamese.
I don’t know what questions anybody would have, but I think genealogy is an interesting pursuit!
Hi Dawnia, thank-you for sharing. I think geology is fascinating having a mixed ancestry as well. 
Knowing your various geology, are there specific countries you’d like to travel to know to learn more?
Knowing your various geology, are there specific countries you’d like to travel to know to learn more?
I’ve been to Mexico and Chile, so would love to go to France and Vietnam. I hope to accompany my grandparents as they both said they would like to go back to Vietnam again someday while they can still get around. Here’s to hoping this pandemic runs its course and travel is possible again.
I hope you get to visit France and that you get to accompany your grandparents on their return trip to Vietnam.
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