Friends reunited after more than 30-year separation

By NOREEN HYSLOP

Managing Editor

Quoc Chau was a young man in his twenties when he escaped the political unrest in Vietnam in the late 1970s, along with his wife, My, and young son, Tuyen. After three failed attempts at leaving the country, they successfully boarded a boat, and after three days on choppy seas, they disembarked in Malaysia. There, the family remained for nearly two years in a Red Cross refugee camp before they received word that they were being sponsored by a church group to come to the U.S.

Between 1975 and 1995, nearly 800,000 Vietnamese would flee their homeland when Communist rule came into play. Many of the refugees failed to survive the passage, facing the threat of pirates, overcrowding on the boats, and violent storms at sea. The first destinations for those in the mass exodus were the Southeast Asian countries of Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines, and Singapore plus the British colony of Hong Kong.

Prior to their escape from Vietnam, the Chau family was a prominent name in their hometown. When they escaped Vietnam, they left with only the clothes on their backs and no concept of what life in America would offer or how they would support themselves.

The Chaus' journey to the U.S. was made possible through the efforts of a church congregation located in Neosho, Mo. Instrumental in bringing the Chau family to the U.S. was another young couple at the time, the pastor of the church and his wife.

Rev. Vaughn and Nancy Wright were in their twenties themselves in the late 1970s. Their names would become familiar to many in the Dexter community years later after they were commissioned to Dexter, where Vaughn Wright would serve as pastor of the First Christian Church Disciples of Christ for nearly two decades until the reverend's death in 2010 after a five-year long battle with ALS.

The Chau family arrived in Neosho without any knowledge of American culture and with no English skills. It would be the task of the Wrights and their church congregation to help them settle into their new surroundings. My was pregnant with their second child when they arrived, and Nancy Wright helped them find a doctor to see her through the pregnancy.

"They were so grateful for what the church had done for them," Wright recalled recently, "that they gave me the honor of naming their second child, a girl."

"I always loved the name of 'Angie,' and I knew if I ever had a girl of my own, that's what I'd name her. So, I named her Angie."

Angie Chau was born in 1980, a beautiful, healthy girl. The couple still spoke very little English, and Nancy Wright served as a translator to the doctor through a sometimes confused series of motions.

The Wrights had an 11-month-old son, Shawn, when the Chaus arrived, and would later have a second son, Shannon. The families quickly grew close to one another. But before Angie would turn one year old, her family would make a decision to move westward to California to an area where several other Vietnamese families had settled and were working. Quoc had been laid off from his factory job in Neosho, and the time seemed right to move on.

"We hated to see the family leave us," Nancy explained recently. "But we also understood their reasons. They went on to have a good life in California. It was a good decision for them."

The Chau family saw a multitude of changes in their lives over the next 35 years. They would Americanize their names. Quoc Chau would become Daniel Chau. Although My would maintain her name, their son, Tuyen would become Richard. They would have a second daughter and name her Annie.

The Vaughns and the Chau family would stay in touch for many years, but correspondence eventually slowed during the time that Vaughn Wright was battling ALS. Nancy Wright learned that Daniel and My eventually divorced, though neither ever remarried. Daniel moved back to his homeland, and his son, Richard, would spend most of his time in Vietnam as well.

Then came a phone call in early October.

"I received a call from Daniel saying that he and Angie were coming to the area and wanted to meet with me. I was thrilled. I had not seen them since Angie was an infant, and that was nearly 35 years ago ."

Plans were set in motion. The two would be flying from separate points, Daniel from Vietnam and Angie from her home in Portland. Angie would arrive first, flying from St. Louis to the Cape Girardeau Airport, where she and Nancy would wait for her father, Daniel, to arrive a short time later.

But plans did not materialize on Monday, Oct. 20, 2014, exactly as planned. Through a misunderstanding, Angie thought her Portland flight was taking off at 12 p.m. instead of 12 a.m., and missed her flight. Her father learned en-route that she would not be joining him in Cape Girardeau.

Nancy Wright received a call while en-route to Cape that Angie would not be arriving. Her visibly disappointed father, however, landed safely and quickly spotted his old friend as he walked from the shuttle plane. Although for a moment it was as if no time had passed, they had some catching up to do.

Asked why he chose to move back to Vietnam after 20 years in the U.S., Daniel was quick to respond, "To help people -- the poor people."

And help, he has. Chau and his son operate two furniture manufacturing plants -- one in Binh Duong, Vietnam and the other in Guang Dong, China. The combined plants employ nearly 1,000 people and provide employees with living quarters, two meals each day, schooling for their children (school fees, transportation, and meals), a daycare facility for infants and toddlers, and an after-school tutoring service. All these amenities are free of charge to their employees.

"We make quality furniture. Our wood primarily comes from North Carolina," Daniel explained.

The company name is Gloryhouse Co., Ltd., and they cater primarily to American and Canadian markets.

Their U.S. markets include Pottery Barn and Macy's.

At 60 years old, Daniel is still heavily involved with the company that he established in 2005, but his son, Richard, heads up the China operation and with an engineering background, plays a major role in the company.

The conversation between Nancy and Daniel eventually turned to Angie and her life as a Portland, Ore. resident.

"Angie is a pharmacist," Daniel explained with modesty and pride combined. "Annie is an attorney."

Daniel visits the U.S. as many as three times each year, to conduct business in North Carolina and to visit with his daughters and their families. His grandchildren are the children of his son, Richard in Vietnam. Daniel and My remain close friends and visit in Orange County, Calif., where My remained.

There was a lot of catching up in the few hours that were spent in Cape Girardeau -- a lot of photos were brought out and the two shared stories of the time when Daniel and his young wife and son first came to America with little more than hope of a brighter future. That future was hard earned, but its success was evident in smiles of his three grown children -- an engineer, a pharmacist and an attorney.

"When we boarded that boat, we had no idea where we would land," Daniel explained during his recent visit. "The language was the hardest part. And it was very cold."

The Chau family had never experienced cold. They would soon learn how quickly Missouri weather could turn. But in spite of all the obstacles -- the language barrier, the weather, the daily challenges of adapting to a foreign land, the Chau family not only survived, but thrived in the land of opportunity.