Nam Loc Nguyen, 77, the former director of the immigration and refugee department of Catholic Charities at the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, helped organize a live telethon fund-raiser that aired on a Vietnamese-language channel last month. The concert, which featured performances from Afghan and Vietnamese singers, raised more than $160,000, he said. The money will be split between the Afghan Literacy Foundation and the Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service.
Mr. Nguyen, a well-known M.C. in Huntington Beach, Calif., said the American withdrawal in Afghanistan reminded him of the anguish he felt in 1975 after leaving behind his family in Vietnam, days before Saigon fell.
His sister, who had worked for the U.S. government, was supposed to be evacuated along with their parents and nine other siblings. Mr. Nguyen, a war correspondent for the South Vietnamese military, was meant to stay.
On April 25, Mr. Nguyen’s friend, a high-ranking government official, persuaded Mr. Nguyen to accompany him to Tan Son Nhat airport. Mr. Nguyen initially protested. He had no documents, he said, and he probably would not be allowed through. His friend insisted he come anyway. Mr. Nguyen did get into the airport, and his friend told him to stay so he could reunite with his family.
Mr. Nguyen waited for his family to arrive, scanning bus after bus carrying evacuees. Days later, a U.S. Marine warned that the Communists would soon attack and that he should take the next flight out. Although his family had yet to appear, Mr. Nguyen boarded a plane at midnight on April 28. He stayed at a refugee camp in Guam before moving to California.