Phuc Tong, 13, of Westminster watches Vietnamese demonstrators in Little Saigon wave flags during a Sunday protest attacking the Communist government of Vietnam.

September 8, 1997

LITTLE SAIGON SENDS A MESSAGE

PROTEST: Thousands turn out to show solidarity for oppressed Vietnamese people.

By MARY ANN MILBOURN
The Orange County Register

WESTMINSTER — Tran Buc Xuan left his native Vietnam in 1975, a 23-year Navy veteran forced out in the Communist takeover.

He adapted well to life in the United States — next year he will celebrate 20 years with the Orange County Transportation Authority — but still there's that lingering worry about the homeland the Anaheim resident, 64, knows he will never see again.

So Xuan went to Little Saigon on Sunday, joining more than 1,000 Vietnamese-Americans in a protest against the Communist government and to show support for those left behind.

''We are very, very happy to live here and thank the American people for helping the Vietnamese,'' Xuan said. ''But I wanted to demonstrate for the independence of Vietnam and for human rights for my people.''

Demonstrators, many waving the yellow and red flag of the Republic of Vietnam and carrying colorful umbrellas to protect against the glaring sun, lined both sides of a mile-long stretch of Bolsa Avenue between Magnolia Avenue and Brookhurst Street.

Organizers said more than 5,000 attended. Westminster police estimated the crowd at 1,000 to 2,000 people.

Some carried signs that read: ''It's better to die on your feet than live on your knees'' and ''Freedom and human rights for Vietnam.''

Many of the marchers yelled ''Down with the Communists'' in Vietnamese over a cacophony of car horns drivers honked in support.

A single-engine plane flew overhead trailing a South Vietnamese flag.

Leaders of the Committee for Supporting People in Vietnam helped organize the march in part to show support for farmers in the North Vietnam province of Thai Binh.

The government reportedly sent 1,200 members of a special police force to quell an uprising by farmers who were angry because they are being forced off their land.

''We want to send the message back to Vietnam so that they know we support them even though we're not there with them and to let the Communists know that we know if something happens to those people, we know who did it,'' said Thang Ngoc Tran, chairman of the Free Vietnam Support Committee, which was formed three weeks ago.

Several Buddhist monks, clad in distinctive saffron robes, joined other religious leaders at the Little Saigon demonstration to protest reports that the Vietnamese government is trying to suppress the Catholic church in the southern province of Xuan Loc.

''I'm here in support of people in Vietnam fighting for religious freedom,'' the Most Venerable Thich Giac Nhien of the Minh Dang Quang Temple in Westminster said through an interpreter.

The demonstration, which lasted more than three hours, went off without incident.