Bisexual cadet faces discharge
Journey from Vietnam, immigration to U.S. mold cadet’s
character
By Elizabeth Ashford
Daily Bruin Contributor
"The magnitude of her accomplishments clearly place her above
and beyond her peers. Pfc. Nguyen brings credit to herself … the
California Army National Guard and the United States Armed
Forces"
– Text of Cadet Huong Nguyen’s Army Commendation Medal
reccomendation.
The Army Commendation Medal was the most important – and the
last – military recognition awarded to Huong Nguyen, a fourth-year
UCLA student. If there is one award among the many she received
that summarizes her accomplishments as a soldier and an ROTC cadet,
it is this last one.
Citing her academic excellence, "diligence and devotion to
duty," and outstanding work as a medic, the commendation medal
documented Nguyen’s military abilities.
What it did not document was the passion she had for the
service, or her deep commitment to honesty and military codes of
honor. Ironically, these very things led Nguyen to disclose her
bisexuality to a commanding officer, a revelation that rendered all
prior accomplishments null and void.
But long before she became an ROTC cadet, the U.S. Army played a
pivotal role in Nguyen’s life.
She was born on Dec. 28, 1973 in Saigon, two years before the
end of the Vietnam War. After the fall of Saigon in 1975, her
family was to be on one of the last U.S. airlifts out of the city.
But the night of their departure, Nguyen’s father returned home
late and the family missed their flight.
Her father and two sisters escaped to the United States in 1978,
but Huong, her brother and mother remained trapped in the country
for a year.
They made several attempts to escape by boat, but as Nguyen
recalled, "We would float out onto the ocean, and the Thai pirates
would rob us and send us back to refugee camps."
The family eventually made it to Singapore, and in 1980, Nguyen
joined her father in Green Bay, Wis.
The entire family was not reunited until 1987, when Nguyen’s
mother and brother immigrated to the United States. After a year in
Chicago, the family settled in San Jose, Calif., where Huong
attended high school..
After she graduated in 1992, Nguyen joined the National Guard
and spent a summer at boot camp before her first year at UCLA. She
said she initially looked upon the military as a means to pay for
college, where she began as a pre-med student with a double major
in microbiology and molecular genetics.
Once at UCLA, she saw greater opportunities available through
ROTC. "When I arrived, I found out I could become an officer, that
I could be a leader, so I joined (ROTC) in addition to drilling
every month with the National Guard," Nguyen recalled.
After a yearlong fight with the Immigration and Naturalization
Service, she became a citizen in August 1994, allowing her to train
as a lieutenant and receive a two-year ROTC scholarship.
With her tuition paid and citizenship in place, Nguyen began her
third year at UCLA. In ROTC, she explained, "your third year is the
most important because you train to become a second lieutenant …
you have to learn operations; you have to learn leadership
skills."
After third year, cadets attend Advanced Camp, where their
performance determines the level of service they access after
graduation.
"All I needed to do was graduate and get my butterbar for second
lieutenant," she said, but "at that moment, I’d also become aware
of my sexual identity and I fell in love, so there was a
dilemma."
Under the "Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell" policy, cadets are disenrolled
from ROTC if they make "a statement that demonstrates a propensity
or intent to engage in homosexual acts."
Nguyen knew this when she came out to her commanding
officer.
Two days after presenting a letter to Lt. Col. Michael Graves,
Nguyen was placed on a leave of absence pending disenrollment,
which prevented her participation in most ROTC activities and
suspended her scholarship. A hearing by a board of officers
followed in late May.
Since then, Huong Nguyen has been waiting. Until final word from
the Secretary of the Army, her official disenrollment from ROTC
remains pending.
If she’s disenrolled, ROTC will notify Nguyen’s Army Reserve
Unit, and her discharge procedures from the U.S. Army will
begin.
The form her discharge takes will have long term ramifications.
A dishonorable discharge would adversely effect both her medical
school applications and future employment. Most importantly, she
said, it would give an incorrect impression of her abilities and
work as a soldier.
"It’s a character description of me, and how I served," Nguyen
explained. "I want an honorable discharge because I feel that I
served honorably."
Nguyen is now reconstructing her goals around a civilian future.
She still plans to pursue a medical degree and hopes to specialize
in pediatric surgery. She loves children, and wants to have a big
family.
For now, Nguyen is preparing to weather the storm her story will
undoubtedly create. Rather than fueling the ROTC-on-campus debate,
she said she hopes her experience will rally students to oppose the
national ban on gays in the military.
"A lot of times you hear stories about (gay) people serving
actively in the military who are discharged, and it’s far away from
a lot of students," Nguyen said. "And me, coming out, as a student,
would really hit it home for a lot of people."
Daily Bruin file photo
ROTC Cadet Huong Nguyen proudly trained to be an officer in the
Armed Forces, before being placed on leave.
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