Song of Saigon: One Woman's Journey to Freedom

I received this book in audiotape form. I expected a tale of harrowing bravery of Ahn and her family's escape from war-torn Vietnam, but was unprepared for it to be so spiritually uplifting at the same time. While I realized that many churches had sponsored Vietnamese into their communities I never thought much about how the families came to be in the U.S. or that they might have been raised Christian in Vietnam. This book was a history lesson and inspirational at the same time.

As I read Song of Saigon, I felt very privileged to be able to share Anh Vu Sawyer's life story of her adventurous spirit and tenacity in face of many obstacles and hardships. Her life is a definite testimony to what God can do - and in a mighty way. While this book recounts many of her personal difficulties in Viet Nam and in America, the title is aptly chosen: Anh Vu Sawyer's life is a song of joy, a refining through adversity. This is a book that is compelling in such a way that it cannot be easily put down; it will probably be a book that I will not soon forget. What an inspiration she is for all of the rest of us! (And the writing is beautiful as well.)

Song of Saigon is vivid and thrilling. I was concerned that it would be yet another "success" story about how a young woman deals with adversity and "makes good." Anh Vu comes alive on these pages and is a very human and wonderful person, who is not afraid to admit and confront her own failings. I couldn't put the book down at all and read it in two sittings. She finds strength in her faith. And in these days of fear and stress about the situation of world affairs, I found great comfort in her strength during her adversity, and found myself inspired.

This book from the very first three chapters misled me. This book started when Anh Vu was a twenty-year old medical school student in Saigon in 1975. The situation of Vietnam became worse and worse. She found that her life at the medical school became very uneasy. Her classmates disappeared or left the country one by one. So, I thought it is another book, which depicts how the Vietnamese escaped from Vietnam when Saigon was fallen to Viet Con in 1975. However, I read further, I discover that it is not only a war-time memoir, it is also about how Anh Vu and her family discovered of, and relationships with God. Vu's grandfather is an opium addict who finds his way to redemption with the help of missionaries. The family believes that they won't be able to escape from Saigon without the help of God. It is definitely a good book. I enjoy it.

SONG OF SAIGON is Anh Vu Sawyer's incredible story and song of war, peace, survival, adventure, love, faith, legacy, and miracles. As a young girl, Sawyer and her family manage to narrowly escape from Saigon to the United States during the Vietnam War. The story continues with her life in the U.S. to the present day. Sawyer's narrative includes fascinating stories of relatives and other people instrumental in her family's history. There are special people like her grandfather Tieu. He overcomes an opium addiction to become a man of strong Christian faith, high respect within his community, and a loving father, husband, and family relative. Grandfather Tieu leaves a legacy of faith to his children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren. This legacy sustains Sawyer and her family in their most trying times.Authors Sawyer and Pam Proctor skillfully take you to the vivid locales of Vietnam, the Philippines, and the U.S. With each chapter, I felt as if I were living in the moment and time of the story. While reading SONG OF SAIGON, I started to make a mental list of friends with whom to share this special story. You'll find yourself doing the same.Fafa Demasio