Airman inspired by father’s service

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Joe Lacdan
  • 509th Bomb Wing Public Affairs
WHITEMAN AIR FORCE BASE, Mo. (AFPN) --  In her homeland, Airman 1st Class Duong Ngo looked over countless rows of rice crops while growing up on the south Vietnamese countryside in rural Ben Tre.

Today, she looks over rows of deployment equipment at the 509th Logistics Readiness Squadron mobility warehouse here.

The mobility flight technician tracks the shelf life of items such as gas masks, gloves and mask canisters for more than 2,000 mobility bags. She is the liaison for the mobility inventory control and accountability system, a position normally filled by a seasoned noncommissioned officer. Airman Ngo also trains her peers on the system.

“She is tasked with more work than anyone in (the) mobility (flight),” said Staff Sgt. Cheron Nieves, her supervisor. “She’s the best Airman I’ve ever worked for or worked with. She’s mature for her age.”

Part of her maturity and work ethic comes from her father, 63-year-old Xe Ngo, who served as a captain in the South Vietnamese army 1968 to 1975, she said. Her father led a South Vietnamese infantry company against the North Viet Cong communist armies during the Vietnam War.

“That’s part of why I’m in the service right now,” said the 20-year-old.

After the war, North Vietnamese troops put Airman Ngo’s father along with thousands of South Vietnamese soldiers in concentration camps. He was not released from the camp until six years later. Stripped of his military rank and with only a few belongings, Mr. Ngo started a rice farm, where the family lived until 1993.

Airman Ngo said her father told her stories about families of South Vietnamese soldiers who were slain only because the soldiers served the South Vietnamese army. She said hearing about her father’s experiences helps her appreciate her life in America.

“I just value things more in life,” she said. “I’m lucky I didn’t go through what he did in his generation. It makes me see things in a different way. I don’t take things for granted.”

Airman Ngo said her last memories of her home in Vietnam were chasing crabs that crept onto the family farm with friends and fishing on a stream in her front yard. She lived in Ben Tre until she was 8 years old.

In 1993, the U.S. government awarded Mr. Ngo and his family passage to the United States for his military service during the war and his time in the camp. So, Mr. Ngo, his wife, Mai Bui, and their six children left Vietnam for Amarillo, Texas.

As an elementary student in a new country, Airman Ngo said she had trouble making friends. She knew only a few English words.

“It was kind of hard just trying to communicate with other people at school,” Airman Ngo said.

But a year later, she said English began to come easily to her.

“I like learning new things and meeting new people,” she said.

Her ability to learn new skills quickly carried over to her duties in the mobility flight section, she said.

“Airman Ngo is really focused on everything she does,” Sergeant Nieves said. “She’s an inspiration for everyone.”

Airman Ngo set her goals high not only in the work place, but the classroom. She said she plans to major in biology after graduating from a community college, with dreams of attending medical school.

In 2001, her father suffered damage to his hearing after bumping his head in a traffic accident. Unable to continue his job at a meat packing plant in Amarillo, her mother had to shoulder the workload, raising Airman Ngo’s three younger siblings.

“He’s never been the same,” Airman Ngo said. “(My father’s illness) is very hard on the family.”

Because of this, Airman Ngo sends her mother $200 a month. She said if her parents had not make the sacrifice of leaving their home, she would not enjoy the freedoms and quality of life she does today.

“I would probably still be working on the farm,” she said.

And, probably still standing amid rows of rice crops.