Vietnamerica: A Family's Journey

The narrative returns to the family’s time living in Arizona and focuses on the tensions in Dzung Chung and Tri Huu’s relationship after 20 years of marriage, as the opening panels depict the two arguing with each other. Dzung Chung often threatens divorce and complains of Tri Huu’s selfishness.

In the days leading up to Tet, or Vietnamese New Year, Dzung Chung follows the tradition of cleaning the home and clearing out old and unfinished items. She sorts through Tri Huu’s belongings, wishing he’d throw away the clutter of blank canvases, comic books, and an old coat she finds in storage boxes. She laments that a collage photo frame that has hung in their home for 15 years still has only one photograph in it.

GB shows more curiosity rummaging through his father’s boxes. He finds a military canteen that belonged to his grandfather, Huu Nghiep. From an old photograph, he learns that Tri Huu befriended an American named Leonard, who helped the family flee Vietnam. GB laughs at another photograph, one showing his brother, Manny, kneeling in a corner as punishment—but Dzung Chung tells him that Tri Huu often hit Manny and suggests that she too was struck by her husband.