After 40 years, Vietnamese refugees return to Ringgold, Georgia

Ryan Nguyen, Cheryl Nguyen, Andy Addison and Karan Nguyen, from left, look through photos of Cheryl and Karan's time as children in Ringgold. / Staff photo by Sabrina Bodon
Ryan Nguyen, Cheryl Nguyen, Andy Addison and Karan Nguyen, from left, look through photos of Cheryl and Karan's time as children in Ringgold. / Staff photo by Sabrina Bodon
photo Tran Thi Lanh hugs Cathy Addison, who helped facilitate Lanh's family's reunion with Addison's husband Andy, who sponsored their move to the United States 40 years ago. / Staff photo by Sabrina Bodon

With the 40-year wait now down to mere minutes, Andy Addison couldn't sit still. He'd been anxious and excited all week. He'd barely slept the night before. Sitting in his dining room in Ringgold, he flipped through old photos, his leg bouncing up and down and shaking the large, family-sized table that presides over the room.

"It's been so long," said Addison, 70. "We wouldn't recognize each other if this wasn't prearranged."

Across from him sat a weekend itinerary for his 15 guests. On Saturday they'd meet for dinner, on Sunday they'd visit the church that brought them together decades ago, and on Monday his long-awaited visitors would fly home.

In 1979, Addison and his then-wife Cheryl attended an event at First Baptist Church Fort Oglethorpe to learn about the plight of Vietnamese citizens following the Fall of Saigon. They decided to sponsor a family to move to the United States, and with the help of the church, they chose a father, an expecting mother and their six children.

Addison and the church arranged for a rent-free house full of food, clothing and toys to be ready for the family's arrival. He remembers a donation drive and enlisting the help of church members Marlin Paulson and his wife Mary Anna to build the house.

photo Karan Nguyen and Andy Addison look through photos taken after Karan's family moved to Ringgold with the help of Addison and First Baptist Church Fort Oglethorpe 40 years ago. / Staff photo by Sabrina Bodon

On June 22, the three families met again for the first time since.

Karan Nguyen, her husband, Irwin Pamatmat, and their children were in the first of three cars to arrive. She hadn't seen Addison since she was 6, but as she walked through the door she fell into his arms as if no time had passed.

Three years ago, Nguyen reached out to a woman named Cathy Addison on Facebook to ask if she was married to Andy, whom she'd been searching for. She was, and his new wife said he'd love to talk to the family again. They remained in on-again-off-again contact, wishing well on birthdays and holidays, but not much more. The idea of visiting Georgia was thrown around for years, but life kept getting in the way.

Then, six months ago, the family booked their flights from California, where they'd eventually settled.

Nguyen said her only wish was that they'd done it sooner, when her father was alive and eldest siblings Pierre and Kristine could make the trip.

Many of the children were too young to remember their few months in Ringgold, but Nguyen's mother, Tran Thi Lanh, remembers the relocation.

Overwhelmed with emotion, Lanh couldn't speak as she walked through Addison's door. Immediately, she and Addison began to cry.

"You haven't changed a bit," he said, his voice cracking as they embraced.

Later that night, Lanh told how she and her husband had tried four times to move out of Vietnam before Addison sponsored them. "Who would take nine?" she said holding up her fingers to count her, her husband and their seven children.

Dianne Nguyen was 11 when the family moved to Georgia in 1979. The third oldest sibling, her eyes welled up as she thought of her parents' sacrifice and the support they were given when they moved here.

"We were given a second chance," she said. "It's a blessing that a family would open their home to us."

photo From left, Andy Addison, Steve Nguyen, Lahn Nguyen and Tran Thi Lanh relive memories after meeting for the first time in 40 years. / Staff photo by Sabrina Bodon

To help the family acclimate, First Baptist Church member Barbara Holland stopped by the house weekly to teach the children English. She'd bring over worksheets and try to find some commonalities.

Two months after the family arrived in Georgia, Lanh had the baby she'd carried over in her womb. She named her Cheryl, after Addison's first wife who died several years later at age 37. Making the motion of cradling a child, Holland taught her the word "baby."

Many of the Nguyen children now have kids of their own, whom they brought along on the trip.

"I wanted them to see," Dianne Nguyen said. She brought her 17-year-old son Ryan, who spent time taking pictures of the reunion.

Had they waited three more weeks, they would have met on the 40th anniversary of their landing in Georgia: July 12, 1979.

Saying grace before dinner, Addison thanked the circumstances that had brought the families together one more time.

"Trieu and Cheryl are looking down on us now," he said.

Email Sabrina Bodon at sboodn@timesfreepress.com.

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