MEMORY OF TWENTY-NINE YEARS PAST

Situation: I'm a US Air Force Project Officer assisting Vietnamese refugees transition from their flight from Vietnam, to a temporary refugee shelter at Marine Camp Pendleton, California, to free and independent living in the United States. Year: October 1976. Place: March Air Force Base, Riverside, California.

I had been counseling a very nervous and insecure Vietnamese mother of a toddler, and her husband - a former Vietnamese Air Force pilot – on the wisdom of depositing their small nest egg of savings in a bank where it would be safe. They were understandably uneasy about the whole procedure, but I assured them that the people at the bank could be trusted, and were very dependable.

After much convincing, I drove the couple to a bank in Riverside, to help them establish a savings account. They entered the bank, clutching their savings, and walked up to the teller’s window to be greeted by a - - - a clown!

It was October 31, Halloween 1976. Twenty-nine years ago. All the bank employees were attired in outlandish costumes. I was flabbergasted, and tried to explain the Holiday to my equally flabbergasted Vietnamese friends.

I wish I had a photograph of the expression on the faces of this poor Vietnamese couple when they handed their money over to the “clown.” If anyone ever exhibited faith in me, these people did.