Forum Flashbacks: Aug. 14-20
MARYVILLE DAILY FORUM, AUG. 20, 2000
25 YEARS AGO: Preston Sherlock of Pickering, has fun playing in the Snail jungle gym located at Sisson-Eek Park, Wednesday. He was pretending to be a barking dog, while playing.
50 years ago
Maryville Daily Forum, Aug. 16, 1975
Refugees Progressing In Adaptation to U.S.
“The men have made marvelous progress in the less than two weeks they have been here in their adjustment to an entirely different culture, language and also learning their way around Maryville,” the Rev. Dale Pollock, associate pastor, Maryville First United Methodist Church, commented about the two Vietnamese refugees sponsored by the church.
Aug. 1, Truong Hong Hai (pronounced “hi”) and Le Thanh Nghigp (pronounced “nyip”) arrived in Maryville, after an unusual trip from Vietnam.
The two men, who are very good friends, were helicopter mechanics at a South Vietnamese base southwest of Saigon. As the North Vietnamese takeover of Saigon became apparent, the men took one of the helicopters and flew to the South China Sea, where they landed on an American aircraft carrier not knowing what their reception would be. The men were taken aboard, however, their helicopter was immediately pushed overboard to make room for the influx of other aircraft arriving.
From there they were transported to Subic Bay, Philippines, where their South Vietnamese uniforms were confiscated, leaving them only with the clothes they were issued there, some worthless Vietnamese money and their holy books. On an American ship they sailed to Guam and in June were flown to Ft. Chaffee, Ark., where they were issued entry visas, work permits and Social Security numbers.
Their processing was done through Church World Services and they were chosen to come to Maryville, because one of the men, Nghigp, is a watchmaker and there was a job available for him at Time and Gift Shop. Hai is currently working as a temporary custodian at the United Methodist Church.
Both employers and their co-workers are extremely satisfied with the men’s work. The jobs they hold were jobs the employers had not been able to find applicants for, however, the refugees are extremely happy to have them and are both very conscientious, industrious, happy workers. … The men are Buddhists and have set up an altar in their apartment for worship. Two hours each day are spent in Zen meditation and each Tuesday they fast. The Rev. Pollock mentioned there was no stipulation on their religion and there has been no pressure exerted to encourage them to attend the Methodist church; however, they have adopted it as their pagoda and have easily assimilated into the congregation. Both men play the guitar and Hai especially enjoys singing the hymns.
The Rev. Pollock commented, “The moral values of Buddhism are essentially the same as Christianity and they are more strict in some things than most Christians, such as, their religion does not allow them to smoke or drink alcoholic beverages.” …
There are so many new experiences for the men. They are learning to buy groceries. Someone from the church goes with them and follows along to answer questions but whenever possible they make their own decisions. Each of the men allows himself to spend $12 a week for groceries and they spend no money on even the most common luxuries. They have both opened checking accounts here, something else they had never experienced.
The men cook their meals on a vot, given them by a church member, which is similar to a Chinese wok. Before coming to the United States they had never eaten beef and still continue to eat meat, usually duck or chicken in only very small quantities about twice a week.
Bicycles, donated by church members, provide their transportation. Nghigp has a Vietnamese drivers license, but his English will have to improve before he can tackle the drivers examination.
Nghigp had one small problem at work. He did not understand he was to take a lunch hour and it was very hard to convince him to go home and eat.
The men are single, but do have parents in Vietnam. They have written home, however, they have not written directly to their families because of their great fear the Viet Cong or North Vietnamese will harm their fathers because their sons have fled the country. …
The men have never known life in a country that was not at war. “I always knew the war was a horror but the real terror of it has really come home to me from them,” the Rev. Pollock stated and added, “I never realized before how these people were caught between two forces, Viet Cong shooting at them from one side, South Vietnamese and Americans from the other and the threat of the North Vietnamese in the background.” …
“We who have dealt with them closely have probably benefited more from them than they have from us,” said the Rev. Pollock.
100 years ago
Maryville Daily Democrat-Forum, Aug. 17, 1925
STORM DOES SOME DAMAGE
Nodaway County was an unwilling hot last night to a rain, hail and wind storm which was accompanied by a generous amount of thunder and lightning interspersed to break the monotony of the evening. It was truly an all-night party. The residents of Nodaway County had an unpleasant a time as could be imagined.
The total contribution of rainfall was 3.94 inches, 3.9 of which fell, and fell rapidly, from 7:39 last night to 6 o’clock this morning. The moisture wasn’t exactly needed at this time and the hail and rain did considerable damage over the county. The lightning dipped in some places to do its share of damage. …
The lightning is reported to have struck a few places in the county doing some damage. A team of horses belonging to John Hovenkotter, near Parnell was struck by the lightning. Lightning struck a barn of D. A. Gelvin, southwest of Maitland burning it to the ground. In the barn was a mule, a horse and a quantity of hay which was burned.
EDITOR’S NOTE: The 50- and 100-year flashbacks are courtesy of the Missouri Digital Newspaper Project from the State Historical Society of Missouri, accessible at shsmo.newspapers.com.
