San Jose unveils war memorial in Vietnamese Heritage Garden

San José’s Vietnamese community is celebrating the construction of a long-awaited monument symbolizing their post-war roots in the city, after years of delays to the project.

The statue, unveiled Saturday at the Vietnamese Heritage Garden, depicts a Vietnamese and an American soldier, both armed, standing side by side on rocky terrain in front of the flags of both countries. 7th District Councilmember Bien Doan, who represents the Kelley Park neighborhood where the garden was created, stood alongside other elected officials who helped bring the memorial to life. Doan said he wanted it to be a place of reflection, education and inspiration for future generations.

“As the largest Vietnamese (urban) population outside of Vietnam, I see our memorial as a living, breathing part of the Vietnamese American community. A place to remember the hardships of war, celebrate the freedom they found in the U.S., and honor the strength and contribution to their new home,” Doan told San José Spotlight.

The unveiling ceremony included a flag salute of the U.S. and Vietnamese flags, a memorial ceremony for fallen soldiers, and a traditional ritual led by Thích Pháp Hạnh and Father Lê Trung Tướng. Participants included men in their fully decorated Vietnam War military uniforms and others young enough not to have experienced the war nearly 50 years ago. They all gathered under large canopies surrounded by flowers and old pictures of Vietnamese soldiers overseas.

Peter Vu, a representative of the Vietnamese American Roundtable, said his parents were among the many who immigrated to the United States after the war, helping to make San Jose by far the city with the largest Vietnamese population in the country.

“A statue like this is so important to the Vietnamese people living here. They just know that the city notices them and their life journey is honored,” he told San José Spotlight.

The city government allocated $150,000 in the 2023-24 budget to prepare for the statue’s installation and begin leveling, drainage, creating a marked walkway, planting trees, installing benches, irrigation and landscaping. But plans for the memorial date back to 2011, when community leaders began discussing ideas for a memorial honoring American and South Vietnamese soldiers who fought in the Vietnam War. Former San Jose City Councilor Tam Nguyen, State Senator Dave Cortese and Santa Clara County Councilwoman Cindy Chavez are among the elected officials who have pushed for funding to build the memorial over the years.

Officials hope the monument will become the centerpiece of the Vietnamese Heritage Garden and represent the contributions of San Jose’s nearly 130,000 Vietnamese residents.

“This marks the beginning of a new era for a place that pays tribute to the journey thousands of families have taken in search of a better life here in America,” San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan said in a statement.

Community members wanted a statue that symbolized the alliance between the United States and South Vietnam during the struggle for independence and the war against communism in the 1960s and 1970s. But beyond the military partnership, the two men depicted in the statue also reflect the bonds between Vietnamese and Americans that continue to this day.

“This is just the tip of the iceberg and I am so excited about the future of this site,” Doan told San José Spotlight.