From Vietnam to America: Airman fulfilling dream

Published Dec. 16, 2009
By Steve Pivnick
81st Medical Group Public Affairs

KEESLER AIR FORCE BASE, Ms. -- Senior Airman An Phan, 81st Medical Operations Squadron, has been selected for commissioning as a second lieutenant in the Medical Service Corps.

Her squadron commander, Lt. Col. Jane Denton, surprised her with the news Nov. 30 in her duty section, Keesler Medical Center Emergency Department.

Airman Phan, who marked four years of Air Force service in August, was among 70 Airmen selected from 150 applicants. She applied for the MSC program in September and now awaits a date to attend commissioned officer training at Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala. Following completion of COT, she'll attend health services administration training at Sheppard AFB, Texas, before heading to her first permanent assignment as an MSC officer.

Airman Phan, who works in Keesler Medical Center's emergency department, was born in Vietnam and came to the U.S. with her family in 1990 at age 8. The family settled in Tacoma, Wash., where she was the only girl among six children.

"My dad fought for the South Vietnamese Army with U.S. troops during the Vietnam War and lost his right leg in combat," Airman Phan recalled. "After the war, because of my father's involvement with South Vietnam and U.S. military, we were exiled from our home near Da Nang (in what had been northern South Vietnam) to a village south of Saigon. The local residents taught my parents how to construct a home out of tree limbs and how to grow crops.

"I remember we grew coffee, papaya, jack fruit, rice, soy beans, corn and cashews. We grew cotton one year but our hands were so torn up from picking it, we decided we wouldn't do it again."

The family's move to America is also a story of its own.

"Before the war, mom and dad were given an abandoned Amerasian baby who had been found by a friend," she explained. "She gave them the baby -- my brother -- because she already had children. Under The Homecoming Act, any children who were a 'product of the war' and their family could emigrate to America. My parents completed the required paperwork and we were sent to a refugee camp in the Philippines, where we stayed for six months.

"During that time, we underwent physical assessments until we were cleared and sponsored by my father's friends to come to the United States. We arrived in Tacoma speaking no English and knowing very little of the culture. We learned English at the local schools, while my parents took classes at a nearby community college."

"Because my dad was in the army, our home life was very structured," she continued. "We weren't allowed to watch much TV. Education was very important to them. If we didn't get good grades, we'd be punished. They expected us to get A's. B's were acceptable, but not C's. In fact, we couldn't play sports unless we got A's."

When Airman Phan was 12, the family moved to the Denver area, where she completed high school. She received academic and soccer scholarships to attend Bethany College in Lindsborg, Kan., where she met college football player Marlon Lauriston, who eventually became her husband.

Although she graduated with a bachelor's degree in economics with a concentration in finance and management, she had a difficult time finding work. Since he had been in the army, her father suggested she join the military.

"I visited the Air Force recruiter who encouraged me to enlist," Airman Phan said. "I went to basic training Aug. 23, 2005, which was my husband's birthday."

She and her husband married in 2006 and have a 3-year-old daughter, Phantasia. Lauriston is a security officer at Keesler, where they reside in base housing. Airman Phan's advice for other aspiring enlisted commissioning applicants is, "Always be proud of who you are and where you came from. Never lose hope or lose sight of your dreams.

"Being an MSC officer was once a dream and goal, but now it's reality."

From Vietnam to America: Airman fulfilling dream of becoming Air Force officer