PHOTO ESSAY: For the Vietnamese diaspora, Saigon's fall 50 years ago evokes mixed emotions

WESTMINSTER, Calif. (AP) — When the South Vietnamese capital of Saigon fell to the North Vietnamese forces 50 years ago this week, it prompted a mass exodus of some 2 million people — hundreds of thousands fleeing perilously on small boats across open water to escape the communist regime.

Many ultimately settled in Southern California’s Orange County in an area now known as “Little Saigon,” not far from Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, where the first refugees were airlifted upon reaching the U.S. The diaspora now also has significant populations in Virginia, Texas and Washington state, as well as in countries including France and Australia. Still, the community in Southern California comprises the largest and most well-established Vietnamese population anywhere outside Vietnam.

Memories of Wednesday’s anniversary of the fall of Saigon — the South Vietnamese city renamed Ho Chi Minh City by the communists — has conjured up mixed feelings from grief and resentment to honor and pride in the diaspora here.

For those who lived through the war, the 50th anniversary marks a time of mourning as they remember what they lost — their homeland, their past lives, even their identity. Five decades later, the pain is still raw. One man still can’t bring himself to say much about the family he had to leave behind. Others were barely toddlers when they arrived in a foreign land.

The day Saigon fell — April 30, 1975 — is referred to by the older generation as “Black April” or “National Day of Resentment.”

But for their children and grandchildren, many with scant knowledge of the war, the anniversary is a time to honor the resiliency of an immigrant community and to celebrate the accomplishments of a population that started as refugees and now has become an influential part of California and U.S. society.

“I don’t really think about it in a negative light,” said Linda Nguyen, a local business leader whose parents were refugees. “For my generation, it’s about honoring what happened, but also celebrating our future and our current successes.”

Little Saigon in Orange County has evolved from a commercial district contained within a few city blocks in Westminster in the late 1980s to a sprawling region spanning several cities. It’s also now considered the cultural capital for the Vietnamese diaspora around the world.

“We were looking for a freedom to prosper,” said Trí Trần, a University of California, Irvine professor who left Vietnam by sea on a boat in 1986.

Today, thousands of restaurants, shops and offices bear Vietnamese names.

Little Saigon is not only home to Asian Garden Mall, the largest Vietnamese shopping mall in the U.S., but it also hosts the world’s largest international Vietnamese film festival.

The population has become a powerful voting bloc in Orange County, elevating some of the first Vietnamese-Americans to elected office. For the first time last year, Orange County elected a Vietnamese-American to Congress. Derek Tran, a Democrat whose parents were refugees, triumphed in a district historically favorable to Republicans.

“We’re very much a young community in this country,” Tran said. “We’re finding our place, but we’re also figuring out how to consolidate our voice and our culture and our history.”

Marking the anniversary that ultimately led to the war’s end, many Little Saigon businesses and storefronts are adorned with South Vietnam flags. Even the Asian Garden Mall has a prominent 1975 sign, bearing both the U.S. and the South Vietnam flags.

Hưng Vũ, a member of the South Vietnamese military who arrived in 1975, plans to reunite with old friends and share stories at a community event Wednesday about how daily life was reshaped by life in the U.S.

“This is no festive occasion,” said Vũ, who owns a uniform store that specializes in recreating the South Vietnamese military’s uniforms, ribbons and medals. “It’s a day of mourning.”

He recalled feeling overwhelmed in a new country where he couldn’t speak the language and didn’t understand social norms. He didn’t even know how to get around or make a living.

“The knowledge gap was tremendous,” Vũ said in Vietnamese. “But we were hungry, so we went out and found a way to feed ourselves.”

Many, including former members of wealthy South Vietnamese families, were forced to take on low-paid jobs in their new country, such as cleaning houses and working at nail salons, to survive. Some worked multiple jobs while going to school to send money back to relatives in Vietnam.

They included teenagers who arrived in the U.S. alone, said Tram Le, who studied the experience of the first generation of Vietnamese Americans after the war.

“They lost their childhood,” she said. “Their whole lives, they’re just sacrificing.”

Those born and raised in the U.S. often were shielded by their parents from learning about the horrors of the war and the divisions in their homeland that erupted into civil conflict between North and South Vietnam.

The younger generations no longer carry the fervor of anti-communist sentiment that was once a big part of life in Little Saigon, where a portrait of the late North Vietnamese leader Ho Chi Minh in 1999 prompted a 53-day protest.

“The political theme that was once significant to our parents did not carry on to us,” Linda Nguyen said. “To us, Vietnam is Vietnam.”

The focus for the younger generations is on today and what lies ahead.

Young Vietnamese American entrepreneurs no longer shun Vietnam and are working directly with businesses in Vietnam with much success, said Tim Nguyễn, the head of the Vietnamese American Chamber of Commerce.

They are also talking about their mental health needs, a topic once taboo among Vietnamese. Traditional names, food and áo dài dresses — once considered embarrassing — are now points of pride, while artists and filmmakers are exploring ways to expand the Vietnamese-American narrative beyond the war, said Tram Le.

Tâm Nguyễn, the former head of the chamber of commerce, is among a growing number of Vietnamese-Americans who are choosing to return to Little Saigon to preserve their families’ business legacies. He took over his parents’ cosmetology school in Little Saigon, which has trained more than 50,000 students over four decades.

“We’re the cultural bridges between generations,” he said. “We’re very proud to be Vietnamese, while we’re also proud that we’re contributing greatly to the American society.”

This is a documentary photo story curated by AP photo editors. For more coverage of the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam War’s end, visit https://apnews.com/hub/vietnam-war.

Customers chat while waiting for their orders at a cafe in the Little Saigon neighborhood of Westminster, Calif., Tuesday, April 22, 2025.(AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Hoang Le, a Vietnamese student at Advance Beauty College who moved to the U.S. in 2022, practices hair washing on a mannequin in the Little Saigon neighborhood of Garden Grove, Calif., Wednesday, April 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Tam Nguyen, chairman and co-owner of Advance Beauty College, pays his respects in front of a portrait of his late father in his office in the Little Saigon neighborhood of Garden Grove, Calif., Wednesday, April 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

A woman walks past a "1975" installation in the parking lot of Asian Garden Mall as the sun sets behind it in the Little Saigon neighborhood of Westminster, Calif., Monday, April 21, 2025. The display marks the year of the fall of Saigon. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

The flag of former South Vietnam flies above statues of two soldiers at the Vietnam War Memorial in the Little Saigon neighborhood of Westminster, Calif., Friday, April 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

A woman pushes a shopping cart past rows of American flags and banners advertising U.S. citizenship and immigration services in the Little Saigon neighborhood of Garden Grove, Calif., Wednesday, April 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

A woman wearing a traditional Vietnamese conical hat waits for a bus in the Little Saigon neighborhood of Westminster, Calif., Tuesday, April 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Fresh flowers are left at the Vietnam War Memorial honoring South Vietnamese military officers in the Little Saigon neighborhood of Westminster, Calif., Wednesday, April 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

U.S. and POW/MIA flags fly at half-staff outside a post office in the Little Saigon neighborhood of Westminster, Calif., Monday, April 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Vietnamese monk Tu Truong, 52, who said he came to the U.S. in 1993 through the Humanitarian Operation program, sits for a photo at his Buddhist temple in the Little Saigon neighborhood of Westminster, Calif., Tuesday, April 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

A group of Vietnamese men play cards outside a cafe in the Little Saigon neighborhood of Westminster, Calif., Tuesday, April 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

A visitor poses for a photo in front of the Asian Garden Mall, which displays "1975" to mark the year of the fall of Saigon, in the Little Saigon neighborhood of Westminster, Calif., Friday, April 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Two Vietnamese women shop for fruit at a market in the Little Saigon neighborhood of Westminster, Calif., Friday, April 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Three Vietnamese women work in a traditional dress shop in the Little Saigon neighborhood of Westminster, Calif., Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Kien Tam Nguyen, center, founder of Advance Beauty College, is introduced to a group of student visitors alongside her son and chairman of the school, Tam Nguyen, left, and Ted Nguyen of the Orange County Transportation Authority, right, during an event at the school in the Little Saigon neighborhood of Garden Grove, Calif., Wednesday, April 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Erik Nguyen, a volunteer and UCLA student, holds a vision chart for a participant during a Vietnamese Community Health Project event at Asian Garden Mall in the Little Saigon neighborhood of Westminster, Calif., Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Anton Le, who was 5 years old when he and his family arrived in the U.S. from Vietnam via the Philippines, plays with his son, Kevin, while waiting for his order outside a café in the Little Saigon neighborhood of Westminster, Calif., Monday, April 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Large U.S. and former South Vietnamese flags fly in the wind in the parking lot of Asian Garden Mall in the Little Saigon neighborhood of Westminster, Calif., Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Hung Vu, 73, a former South Vietnamese army officer who left the country in 1975, works at his army surplus store in the Little Saigon neighborhood of Westminster, Calif., Tuesday, April 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Hung Vu, 73, a former South Vietnamese army officer who left the country in 1975, poses with a photo of himself taken during the Vietnam War at his army surplus store in the Little Saigon neighborhood of Westminster, Calif., Tuesday, April 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump said Iran wants to negotiate with Washington after his threat to strike the Islamic Republic over its bloody crackdown on protesters, a move coming as activists said Monday the death toll in the nationwide demonstrations rose to at least 544.

Iran had no immediate reaction to the news, which came after the foreign minister of Oman — long an interlocutor between Washington and Tehran — traveled to Iran this weekend. It also remains unclear just what Iran could promise, particularly as Trump has set strict demands over its nuclear program and its ballistic missile arsenal, which Tehran insists is crucial for its national defense.

Meanwhile Monday, Iran called for pro-government demonstrators to head to the streets in support of the theocracy, a show of force after days of protests directly challenging the rule of 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Iranian state television aired chants from the crowd, who shouted “Death to America!” and “Death to Israel!”

Trump and his national security team have been weighing a range of potential responses against Iran including cyberattacks and direct strikes by the U.S. or Israel, according to two people familiar with internal White House discussions who were not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

“The military is looking at it, and we’re looking at some very strong options,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Sunday night. Asked about Iran’s threats of retaliation, he said: “If they do that, we will hit them at levels that they’ve never been hit before.”

Trump said that his administration was in talks to set up a meeting with Tehran, but cautioned that he may have to act first as reports of the death toll in Iran mount and the government continues to arrest protesters.

“I think they’re tired of being beat up by the United States,” Trump said. “Iran wants to negotiate.”

He added: “The meeting is being set up, but we may have to act because of what’s happening before the meeting. But a meeting is being set up. Iran called, they want to negotiate.”

Iran through country's parliamentary speaker warned Sunday that the U.S. military and Israel would be “legitimate targets” if America uses force to protect demonstrators.

More than 10,600 people also have been detained over the two weeks of protests, said the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, which has been accurate in previous unrest in recent years and gave the death toll. It relies on supporters in Iran crosschecking information. It said 496 of the dead were protesters and 48 were with security forces.

With the internet down in Iran and phone lines cut off, gauging the demonstrations from abroad has grown more difficult. The Associated Press has been unable to independently assess the toll. Iran’s government has not offered overall casualty figures.

Those abroad fear the information blackout is emboldening hard-liners within Iran’s security services to launch a bloody crackdown. Protesters flooded the streets in the country’s capital and its second-largest city on Saturday night into Sunday morning. Online videos purported to show more demonstrations Sunday night into Monday, with a Tehran official acknowledging them in state media.

In Tehran, a witness told the AP that the streets of the capital empty at the sunset call to prayers each night. By the Isha, or nighttime prayer, the streets are deserted.

Part of that stems from the fear of getting caught in the crackdown. Police sent the public a text message that warned: “Given the presence of terrorist groups and armed individuals in some gatherings last night and their plans to cause death, and the firm decision to not tolerate any appeasement and to deal decisively with the rioters, families are strongly advised to take care of their youth and teenagers.”

Another text, which claimed to come from the intelligence arm of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, also directly warned people not to take part in demonstrations.

“Dear parents, in view of the enemy’s plan to increase the level of naked violence and the decision to kill people, ... refrain from being on the streets and gathering in places involved in violence, and inform your children about the consequences of cooperating with terrorist mercenaries, which is an example of treason against the country,” the text warned.

The witness spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity due to the ongoing crackdown.

The demonstrations began Dec. 28 over the collapse of the Iranian rial currency, which trades at over 1.4 million to $1, as the country’s economy is squeezed by international sanctions in part levied over its nuclear program. The protests intensified and grew into calls directly challenging Iran’s theocracy.

Nikhinson reported from aboard Air Force One.

In this frame grab from video obtained by the AP outside Iran, a masked demonstrator holds a picture of Iran's Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi during a protest in Tehran, Iran, Friday, January. 9, 2026. (UGC via AP)

In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran shows protesters taking to the streets despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026.(UGC via AP)

In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran showed protesters once again taking to the streets of Tehran despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Saturday Jan. 10, 2026. (UGC via AP)