She lived to talk about it:

PHOTO BY RICK WOOD Mary Pham, survivor and refugee of the Vietnam War, spoke at a Stanwood- Camano Rotary meeting Wednesday. The haunting image of a single helicopter atop the roof of the U.S. Embassy in Saigon, South Vietnam, surrounded by throngs of desperate families trying to escape the North Vietnamese onslaught, is an iconic reminder of America's longest war.

Mary Pham, a guest speaker at a Stanwood-Camano Island Rotary meeting Wednesday, said that being a child in wartime taught her enduring lessons of humanity and perseverance.

From a 10-year-old's point of view, the fall of Saigon in April of 1975 was very different from the frantic and horrific images that played out on network television.

Pham was born in 1964, just as U.S. involvement started to escalate in Vietnam.

"We learned to live with the war," Pham said.

Playing marbles in-between mortar attacks became no more unusual than watching water buffalo pass by in a rice field, she said.

"The ground would shake, and we knew somebody was getting bombed," said Pham. "When the shaking ended, we went back to our game."

Pham said the people in Vietnam became used to living with it as well.

Vietnam had been one of several French colonial possessions in Indochina since the late 1800s.

Because of French capitulation to the Axis powers during World War II, Vietnam was invaded and occupied by the Japanese until 1945. When the allied forces liberated Vietnam, the country reverted back to French control.

A socialist movement, led by Ho Chi Minh, began to rally against the French and sought to establish a free and independent Vietnam.

The Viet-Minh, as the insurgency was known, defeated the French forces, and a treaty divided the country at the 17th parallel, separating the communist run north from the pro-western regime in the south.

"The Vietnam War was a civil war," said Pham.

Even among her closest family, political divisions pit brother against brother, she said.

"My uncle was for the north, while my father was supportive of the south," said Pham.

Eventually, Pham's father became a spy for the south and would pass intelligence through secret channels while working as an optometrist.

After U.S. troops departed South Vietnam, the North Vietnamese army began offensive operations that seized control of the south and poised themselves to take the capitol city, Saigon, by spring of 1975.

Pham said because her mother worked at the U.S. Embassy, the family was told they would be evacuated, and they made their way to a rally point for evacuees.

As a somber plan "B," her parents each carried a pistol with them in case the family did not make it out, she said.

"If they got caught and couldn't leave, it (the pistols) was to finish off the family and themselves," she said.

Her parents faced certain death at the hands of the communists, said Pham.

She said families waiting for evacuation were given numbers that would be selected at random identifying those who would be airlifted out.

"It was a race," she said. "Families chose to leave some members behind."

Confusion, panic and circumstance prevented their departure several times, said Pham.

In one instance, their number was called, and another family of nine rushed in front of her family and took their place on the helicopter, she said.

"As that helicopter took off, we watched it explode," Pham said.

Her family, like many others, was separated during the chaos of the final flights.

"Mom, Dad and my youngest sister got caught behind," she said. "Eventually, the (military police) ushered them in."

Operation "Frequent Wind" remains the largest helicopter evacuation in history.

According to U.S. State Department records, more than 22,000 Vietnamese were evacuated before communists seized control on April 30, 1975.

As the helicopter lifted off, Pham looked down and saw the horde of people below clamoring to reach the salvation of the final airlift.

It would be her last vision of Vietnam for the next 20 years.

Her family immigrated to California, where she completed school and went on to college.

In 1995, Pham, then a reporter for the Orange County Register, revisited Vietnam.

"I didn't know how it would feel to go back," she said.

After 25 years of peace, Vietnam remains a war-torn and impoverished country, said Pham.

"As we drove past one rice field, the tail section of a military plane was still standing," she said.

During the trip, Pham reconnected with relatives and the memories of her childhood came flooding back.

"I remember being in a house where I grew up as a child — standing in the doorway — and shaking uncontrollably," said Pham.

Although Pham said she will always be linked to her Vietnamese roots and heritage, she has fully embraced life in America.

"I am an American citizen by choice," she said. "I do not take the freedoms we have for granted."

Reporter Rick Wood: 629- 8066 ext. 104 or rwood@scnews. com.