Viet Heritage Garden unveils statue honoring lives lost during the Vietnam War

After 20 years of advocacy and multiple delays, the "Thank You, America" monument is finally unveiled at the Vietnamese Heritage Garden.

SAN JOSE — A new monument to honor lives lost during the Vietnam War is finally up and standing tall at San Jose’s Vietnamese Heritage Garden in Kelley Park after years of advocacy and obstacles.

The new monument, titled “Thank You, America,” was finally unveiled to members of the city’s Vietnamese community last weekend.

Under a hot, bright sun, several government officials, including San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan and District 7 Councilmember Bien Doan, ripped away a pale yellow cloth to reveal the work — a tall bronze-colored statue of two soldiers, one South Vietnamese, one American.

At the front entrance of Heritage Garden at Kelley Park, men and women in uniform faced the statue and saluted.

Toan Van Nguyen, who was a paratrooper for South Vietnam in 1963 during the war, said the event was touching and powerful.

“(This statue) represents the people who lost their lives for our country,” Nguyen said in Vietnamese.

Christina Ma, a legislature and policy intern for Councilmember Doan’s office, hosted the event; she wore a pink ao dai, a Vietnamese long dress traditionally worn during ceremonies.

Ma said the monument holds a deep significance for Vietnamese Americans in San Jose, especially those who resettled in the U.S. after the Vietnam War.

“The monument represents not only an appreciation for the United States humanitarian efforts during the war, but also acknowledges the sacrifices of American soldiers and Vietnamese soldiers alike,” she said. “It (also) symbolizes the gratitude towards America for providing refuge and opportunities to Vietnamese refugees and immigrants.”

The architect for the project, Nguyễn Phúc Quỳnh Thuyên, created the two soldiers in the statue from a previous drawing done by artist Tuấn Nguyên.

Ma said she hopes the monument can serve as a focal point to celebrate the freedoms many Vietnamese immigrants found after moving to the U.S., and as a symbol of the immigrants’ resilience and the contributions they have made to their current home country.

She said the monument is the result of 20 years of work from community leaders to fund, build and erect the monument.

“The project (has) faced a lot of delays over the years, and the residents felt kind of frustrated,” Ma said.

The idea for the project was first proposed to San Jose city councilmembers in 2011.

After city officials approved the project and agreed to fund the monument’s construction, the “Thank You, America” committee was formed.

Over the years, there were multiple discussions on where the monument should be placed and whether the city should be in charge of maintaining the garden. The city finally took over the project in 2016.

Ma said she is grateful that then-supervisor Dave Cortese (now a state senator), supervisor Cindy Chavez and former councilmember Maya Esparza were able to raise $274,000 for the project from the city of San Jose and Santa Clara County in 2019.

“Thanks to their efforts the project exists today,” Ma said.

Councilmember Doan said the community has been waiting too long for this project.

“It’s incredible to see the community come together to see this monument that represent the two worlds coming together …  to dedicate of the loss of their lives and their sacrifice for us to be here in United States to live in a country that is free,” Doan said.

Ma said the Vietnamese Heritage Garden was chosen as the monument’s final location because it is a significant historical site for the Vietnamese American community, as a place within San Jose that is enshrined for the culture, remembrance and celebration of the Vietnamese heritage,” she said. Like the statue, the park took years of work and planning before being realized, she said.

Ma said the monument depicts an American and South Vietnamese soldier standing side by side to represent an alliance and mutual respect between two nations.

She said there are multiple themes that the statue represents, including honoring the sacrifice and loss of many lives during the war, and a theme of two cultures bonding.

“We also believe that establishing such a statue is a way to preserve and pass on the legacy of the Vietnam War to future generations, and prompting reflection from across all generations about the complexities of international relations and the enduring impact on both nations involved,” Ma said.

Queenie Ngo, an aide to Doan and member of the “Thank You, America” project committee, said her father was a member of the same committee before he passed away in 2023.

“(My father) didn’t get to see the monument,” she said. “But we still have a lot of dedicated community members out there (who) work tirelessly for this project, and so we want to make sure that it happened,” she said.