Trưừng Xuân's Last Voyage

It was 2:30 in the afternoon on May 2, 1975. After all the refugees had been evacuated to the Clara Maersk, the crew members and I remained behind to say a final farewell to our ship, Truong Xuan. The crew consisted of the second mate Tran Van Chat, telecommunications officer Nguyen Ngoc Thanh, chief engineer Le Hong Phi, mechanic Ton Hoa, cook Chung A Can and myself, the captain.
I handed to Thanh my communiqué to leaders and the presses of the free world:
“Truong Xuan ship carried more than 3,000 Vietnamese fleeing Saigon after the Communists invasion. The engine room is deep in water. The ship will likely sink. We were lucky to be rescued by the Clara Maersk ship, of Denmark. On behalf of all the refugees on board, I hereby appeal to all the countries of the free world to accept and save my fellow refugees.”


Signed: Captain Pham Ngoc Luy 


Truong-Xuan.pdf