Jasmine in Gunsmoke

short story about Rajesh Patel in Saigon 1974, a tale of loneliness, desire, and loyalty in a city
on the brink of change.
Written by Huynh Tan Hung, April 2025. 50 years after the war's end.

It is a personal and honest story, born from my own life experience. I was adopted from Vietnam during the war in 1975, in connection with Operation Babylift, an American rescue mission during which over 3,000 children were flown out of the country. I was on the first plane that arrived in San Francisco on April 5, 1975, received by President Gerald Ford. I was named Bjorn (after Björn Borg the Swedish tennisplayer) as the only thing known at the time was that I was headed to Sweden.
I grew up there without placing much focus on my origins. But after my divorce in my 40s, a need to understand my past was awakened. I took a DNA test and traveled back to Vietnam. The test revealed that I am half Vietnamese and half Indian. Through DNA matches, I have connected with relatives of my biological mother who now live in the USA, second cousins and cousins but no direct information about my biological parents.
My short story is a way to reach out to them, to write myself back into something I never truly got to be a part of. To find threads to my origins, to process and create meaning. It is a form of therapy, but also a story I believe can touch more people than just myself.
Thank you for taking the time to read it. I look forward to hearing your thoughts and hope that my story can find its way to a wider audience.
Warm regards,

Huynh Tan Hung