Leaving Asia Behind

When our time came to leave, we had to get up in the wee hours of

the morning to get to the airport and go through all the paper

work. I remember seeing the sun coming up when the plane

lifted off into the eastern sky. I didn't really care where we were

going at the moment. Sorry Cambodia, I didn't shed a tear for

you when I left you behind, but I have shed tears for you

since then.

The flight would have taken 20 hours or more across the ocean.

I don't know where we stopped. Anchorage, Alaska, could have been

one stopping point. Our destination was Little Rock, Arkansas.

We were placed at a military base. Yep, they enlisted us into

the military armed forces to fight for Mr. Bill Clinton so he could be

our next president in the coming years. I know that he has denied

that we did such thing for him back then, but we were happy for

him when he became our 42nd president of the United States

of America.

From there, every family awaited sponsorships from one of the

48 states. While waiting, we boys played soccer against the

Vietnamese boys that were among us. The Khmer against the

Viet. When there was a dispute, there could have been fights

to settle the score. To get the litter picked up, guards

paid us a quarter per person.

I was sick when we arrived in Arkansas. I think I was sick before

we left Asia. Salt water must have got the best of me, especially when

there was no fresh water to rinse off the salt.