Colorado to honor Vietnamese resilience April 30
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DENVER — Nga Vương-Sandoval isn’t a stranger to the Colorado Capitol.
In June 2023, Vương-Sandoval, along with members of the Lunar New Year Allies Advisory Group, celebrated the official designation of Lunar New Year as a state holiday. On that day, Chinese battle drums were heard throughout the building as dancing lions paraded around the grand rotunda.
On Tuesday, April 15, Vương-Sandoval, dressed in a long cherry blossom áo dài, a traditional Vietnamese garment, returned to the rotunda — this time taking steps to reshape the narrative of the fall of Saigon.
The state of Colorado officially recognized April 30, 2025, as the 50th Anniversary of Vietnamese Remembrance and Resilience Day.
“I feel that this recognition is the first step forward to recognizing those who have lost so much, and those who continue to sacrifice and push forward,” said Vương-Sandoval, executive director and founder of Refugees + Immigrants United, a Colorado-based nonprofit.
Vương-Sandoval drafted the proclamation just less than two weeks ago in hopes of painting the historic fall of Saigon in a different light for the Vietnamese community living in Colorado.
The fall of Saigon on April 30, 1975, signified the collapse of the southern Vietnamese government and the end of the war. Approximately 125,000 Vietnamese refugees evacuated and resettled in the United States that year. Vương-Sandoval arrived in Colorado as a Vietnamese refugee with her family in the 1980s.
Today, more than 35,000 Vietnamese people live in Colorado.
“After the war, 50 years later, there are so many survivors, their kids and their grandkids who are a part of our community across Colorado,” said Gov. Jared Polis, who signed the proclamation.
Vương-Sandoval said that the term “fall of Saigon” didn’t come from the immigrants and refugees directly displaced by the event. She said that framing comes from Western accounts.
“The [fall of Saigon] puts us at a disadvantage when you hear that,” said Vương-Sandoval. “It makes us seem like we were waiting to be saved, so I wanted to shift that onto our resilience and our will to survive.”
The draft for the proclamation came back with no edits, much to Vương-Sandoval’s surprise.
“I’m pleased that this process progressed forward in a way that is meaningful to us and that the language was in alignment with what we feel is important,” said Vương-Sandoval.
Type of story: News
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.
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