Journey of survival

His story begins on a crowded fishing boat on the shore of Vietnam’s Cam Ranh Bay.

At 2 a.m. on Oct. 12, 1979, Lien “Sam” Le and his family prepared to flee toward freedom. But between their war-torn country and the prospects of safety in the Philippines stretched a vast and dangerous sea.

“The load on this fishing craft was enormous for I was able to reach down to touch the water with my hands,” recalled Le, 63, now a resident and business owner in Spokane. “I did not want to think about the situation where we would encounter bad weather. It would be very scary and I doubted that it would stand a chance.”

After Saigon fell to the Communist North in 1975, more than 1 million South Vietnamese refugees fled poverty and persecution to seek asylum in other parts of the world. For many, the only means of escape was by boat – a long, arduous journey through unknown and perilous waters.

Some were attacked by Thai pirates. Others starved to death. Many drowned at sea.

According to the United Nations High Commissioner on Refugees, at least 250,000 boat people never made it.

Along with his wife, Tammy, and their two sons – 7-year-old Lam and 5-year-old Tuan – Le risked his life on that crowded fishing boat 30 years ago. It was his fourth and final attempt at escape. After already being caught three times and thrown into labor camps, he would have been put to death by the communist government if he had been captured again.

To share his story with his four grandchildren and to celebrate his nearly three decades of freedom in the United States, Le recently chronicled his life in a book, “The Spirit Stills the Storms.”

After working long days at his home décor and furniture business, Madison Home in north Spokane, Le spent at least two hours every night at the computer. Although he started working on the book about four years ago, it took the encouragement of friends and customers for Le to finish.

He decided to write the story in English – his third language and one that he learned as a teen from a U.S. combat pilot in Vietnam. Since the book was published three months ago, Le said he has sold about 600 copies.

“The rainwater coming down from above, the water from the sea and the strong wind could not help but to worsen the feeling of the already soaked people packed like sardines at the bottom of the boat,” he wrote, describing how the men used buckets to empty water from the boat as they journeyed across the South China Sea.

“All this compounded to heighten their worries of their fate. The chill from the cold weather and the chilling thoughts of becoming food for sharks bound them tighter for physical warmth and comfort.”

A total of 105 people survived that epic journey, including two infants who were born along the way.

The book, which Le dedicates to his family, tells the story of his life as well as Vietnam’s recent history – from the time he was 7 years old and forced to flee North Vietnam for the South, to his family’s new life as immigrants in the United States and their decision to start a silk floral business in Spokane.

Many Americans can easily recall photographs and videos from the ’70s and ’80s of Vietnamese boat people who eventually sought asylum in the United States, Canada, Australia and other countries.

But for the most part, their stories have remained untold, according to Spokane author Linda Hunt, who wrote the award-winning “Bold Spirit: Helga Estby’s Forgotten Walk Across Victorian America.”

“Often the immigrant story stays silent – even their own children know little of what motivated such significant upheaval and great loss, which provided new opportunities for their families,” Hunt wrote in the introduction to Le’s book.

“To help fill this historical gap, Lien Le offers his story with immense detail of the courage, tenacity, creativity and cunning that it took to reach his goal of giving his children a chance for freedom.”

Washington state is home to more than 50,000 Vietnamese Americans, according to 2003 statistics from the Southeast Asian Resource Action Center. While most have settled on the west side of the state, hundreds of families have made Spokane their home.

Spokane’s Vietnamese population is estimated at about 2,500 to 3,000. Among Asians in Spokane County, Vietnamese Americans are the fastest growing group, according to a 2004 study conducted by Eastern Washington University’s Institute for Public Policy and Economic Analysis.

Many Vietnamese-owned businesses can be found along East Sprague Avenue and, like Le’s store, in north Spokane.

Before settling down in Spokane, the Les spent six years in Mountain View, Calif. They arrived by Greyhound bus, after spending almost two weeks with relatives in Chicago.

For several months, they lived with friends – two other Vietnamese families – in a two-bedroom, one-bath home. Eventually, they found another home, which they rented with other families from time to time until they saved up enough money to buy their own house.

To make ends meet, Le held down two jobs: as a handyman for a family who also hired his wife to take care of their son, and as a dishwasher at the El Camino Hospital. At the same time, he took classes at the local community college, where he earned an associate’s degree in accounting.

In 1984, Tammy Le gave birth to their third son, Jonathan. During those years in California, the family worked hard, saved their money and made many friends.

They also started spending their evenings creating flowers and plants out of silk, which they then sold at flea markets on weekends. People were impressed by the quality of their work and the orders quickly piled up.

“If this business of artificial trees and flowers was this good in this part of California, where real fresh plants and flowers and trees were ample, I wondered if I could start a business for ourselves somewhere else where the weather was different, where the weather allowed only white snow on the ground in the winter time and bare trees in the autumn,” Le wrote in his book.

That’s when his family came up with the idea to move to Spokane. A friend who had lived there told them about the Eastern Washington community where life was a lot less hectic and the cost of living was more affordable.

In June 1987, the Les made the 13-hour drive to Spokane in their 1978 Ford Econoline van, which they had purchased for $300 and nearly broke down on the way.

During their visit, Le was amazed at how friendly people were and how many Vietnamese families were able to thrive here and send their children to quality schools and eventually universities.

“Education for our children was all we would strive for and was the highest priority of our lives,” he said.

Seven years after emigrating to the United States, the Les made Spokane their home. During their first year here, Le worked as a social worker serving the refugee community in Spokane through the Department of Social and Health Services.

When he wasn’t at work, he and Tammy spent their free time establishing their business, Amazing Silks, in a Spokane Valley garage. In 1999, they moved to their location on Ruby Street in north Spokane.

Two years later, Amazing Silks became Madison Home, which the couple named after their oldest grandchild. Besides silk flowers, the Les also began selling lamps, mirrors, furniture and home décor.

The family bought property on Ruby and Madelia in 2005, and opened another home furnishing store in 2007 called Madison Country. Le now has 12 employees.

“I never imagined all this would happen,” said Le.

He is humbled, he said, by the support he has received from friends and customers – especially as he looks back on his experiences in Vietnam, his escape into the unknown and the blessings he says he has received all his life.

“God helped me through it all,” he said. “I was never alone.”