OPEN LETTER FROM THE VIETNAMESE-AMERICAN COMMUNITY TO THE SAN FRANCISCO BOARD OF SUPERVISORS

Vietnamese-American Northern California ^ | July/ 26 / 2003 | Vietnamese-American In San Francisco

[cutiedieuvan]

OPEN LETTER FROM THE VIETNAMESE-AMERICAN COMMUNITY TO THE SAN FRANCISCO BOARD OF SUPERVISORS (The full text)

July 28th , 2003

Honorable Supervisor Matt Gonzalez, President of the Board Honorable Supervisor Jake McGoldrick Honorable Supervisor Gavin Newsom Honorable Supervisor Aaron Peskin Honorable Supervisor Fiona Ma Honorable Supervisor Chris Daly Honorable Supervisor Tony Hall Honorable Supervisor Bevan Dufty Honorable Supervisor Tom Ammiano Honorable Supervisor Sophie Maxwell Honorable Supervisor Gerardo Sandoval

Support for Vietnamese Heritage and Freedom Flag Resolution

Dear Mr. President and Members of the Board of Supervisors:

On behalf of the Vietnamese-American Community in the City and County of San Francisco, we write to urge you to overturn Mayor Willie Brown’s 25th hour veto of the Vietnamese Heritage and Freedom Flag Resolution (“Resolution”). On July 22, 2003, several hundred Vietnamese Americans and residents in San Francisco and beyond celebrated the Board’s uninanimous passage of the Resolution in front of City Hall.

We ask that you take this action on behalf of the 25,000 Vietnamese-Americans residing in San Francisco. The original flag, with three red stripes on a yellow background, was created in 1948, years prior to the establishment of the communist government in Hanoi and the Republic Government of Vietnam (South Viet Nam). To the Vietnamese-American community, the original flag is simply a symbol and an ideal representing the Vietnamese race with the yellow skin, red blood, and the 3 ethnic regions in Vietnam.

The Resolution, as authored by Supervisor Fiona Ma, does not impede or interfere with diplomatic relations between our country and Vietnam. The Resolution’s content merely reflects and recognizes an obvious fact: The Vietnamese-American community in San Francisco prefers the original banner as a true representation of our personal sentiments for our race and our proud ethnic dentity. Contrary to the emotional allegations of Vietnamese diplomatic officials, the Resolution does not create new war wounds and strained relations, but it only serves to preserve our heritage and to promote the Vietnamese-American community’s right to exercise its First Amendment right to association and _expression.

By introducing this resolution, Supervisor Ma is responding to the wishes of the Vietnamese-American community and her constituents. As with San Francisco, there have been dozens of local, county, and state jurisdictions that have passed similar resolutions throughout the country. These jurisdictions have also received vehement opposition, or even threats, from Vietnamese government officials. Still, they all recognize the fact that this issue, through the Resolution, is a local issue that does not affect foreign relations other than reflecting the wishes of their constituencies.

In the past week, the San Francisco Resolution has received national and international coverage from the overseas Vietnamese community, and over half a million of whom live in California. Vietnamese-American communities from throughout the U.S. are celebrating your city’s leadership in this important issue. To veto or tinker with the Resolution at this time, and especially due to threats and blusters from Hanoi, which does not represent the true Vietnamese Americans living in this country, is not politically or morally sound.

Again, we respectfully ask that you maintain and support the language of the Resolution by overtuning the Mayor’s veto. As the elected representatives of our great city, your leadership and friendship to the Vietnamese-American community has always been appreciated and recognized. As your constituents and fellow San Franciscans, we hope and expect that you will do the right and moral thing by giving us the right to our voice – our flag.

Your every favorable consideration of our request is very much appreciated.

Sincerely yours,

Mr. Nguyen, Thanh Tam Chairman of the Board Vietnamese Community Center of San Francisco

Mr. Nguyen, Phu Chairman Vietnamese Veterans Association of San Francisco

Mrs. Nguyen, Thuy Tien President Vietnamese Women Mutual Assistance of San Francisco

Mr. Tran, Ba Ngoan Vice President Vietnamese Elderly Mutual Assistance of San Francisco

Mr. Pham, Huu Son President Vietnamese American Community of Northern California

Mrs. Nguyen, Lan Hai Chairperson Federation of Vietnamese Americans of Northern California

Mr. Lai, Duc Hung Secretary General Coalition of Nationlist Vietnamese Organizations of Northern California

Mr. Vo, Binh President Vietnamese-American Public Affairs Committee

Mr. Huynh, Luong Thien President Mo Magazine of San Francisco

Nguyen, Trung Representative Vietnamese Media Association of Northern California

Nguyen, Vi President Viet Communications Group

Nguyen, Khoi General Manager Que Huong Vietnamese Radio & Newspaper, Inc.

Info.contact: 875 O’Farrell Street, Suite 101, San Francisco, CA 94109

[cutiedieuvan]

The Vietnamese Communist Party is trying to control the CityHall of San Francisco . Nguyen Manh Hung, Consul General of Vietnam has promised Mayor Willie L. Brown and some of SF Supervisors that they will help them do business with Vietnam if they overturn the Resolution 03-1220 (Support for Vietnamese Heritage and Freedom Flag Resolution).

Vietnamese communist party Opposes US War On Iraq , Vietnamese communist party Opposes US On North Korea nuclear incident . Now they are trying to buy off our Mayor and Supervisors in San Francisco to support their interests .

Vietnamese-American have sent their sons and daughters to the frontline to protect this beloved country , America. Vietnamese-American scientist DUONG NGUYET ANH who helped the Naval Surface Warfare Center at Indian Head, Maryland successfully produce the thermobaric bomb which effectively destroys the enemies who hide in the tunnels under the mountain.

Vietnamese-American Dr. DINH PHUNG VIET - law professor at Georgetown University, who was appointed by President Bush as Secretary of Justice .......

As Vietnamese-American Republican youth, we urge you to support us by sending your comments to the CityHall of San Francisco / Joining us rally at the SF CityHAll on the July 28th and 29th -2003 In order to Support Vietnamese-American Heritage and Freedom Flag Resolution .

Phone and Fax of Mayor and Supervisors of San Francisco

Willie L. Brown, Jr., Mayor City Hall, Room 2001 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett PlaceSan Francisco, CA 94102Tel. (415) 554-6141. Fax. (415) 554-6160 Jake McGoldrick - District 1 City Hall Room 2441 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place , San Francisco , CA 94102-4689 Tel. (415) 554-7410. Fax. (415) 554-7415Email: Jake.McGoldrick@sfgov.org Gavin Newsom - District 2 City Hall Room 2441 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place, San Francisco , CA 94102-4689 Tel. (415) 554-5942. Fax. (415) 554-5946Email: Gavin.Newsom@sfgov.org Aaron Peskin - District 3 City Hall Room 2441 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place , San Francisco , CA 94102-4689 Tel. (415) 554-7450. Fax. (415) 554-7454 Email: Aaron.Peskin@sfgov.org Fiona Ma- District 4 City Hall Room 2441 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place , San Francisco , CA 94102-4689 Tel. (415) 554-7460. Fax. (415) 554-7432 Email: Fiona.Ma@sfgov.org Matt Gonzalez - District 5 City Hall Room 2441 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place, San Francisco , CA 94102-4689 Tel. (415) 554-7630. Fax. (415) 554-7634Email: Matt.Gonzalez@sfgov.org Chris Daly - District 6 City Hall Room 244Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place , San Francisco , CA 94102-4689 Tel. (415) 554-7970. Fax. (415) 554-7974Email: chris.daly@sfgov.org Tony Hall - District 7 City Hall Room 2441 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place, San Francisco , CA 94102-4689 Tel. (415) 554-6516. Fax.(415) 554-6546Email: Tony.Hall@sfgov.org Bevan Dufty- District 8 City Hall Room 2441 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place, San Francisco , CA 94102-4689 Tel. (415) 554-6968. Fax. (415) 554-6909Email: Bevan.Dufty@sfgov.org Tom Ammiano - District 9 City Hall Room 2441 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place,San Francisco , CA 94102-4689 Tel. (415) 554-5144. Fax. (415) 554-6255Email: tom.ammiano@sfgov.org Sophie Maxwell - District 10 City Hall Room 2441 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place, San Francisco , CA 94102-4689 Tel. (415) 554-7670. Fax. (415) 554-7674 Email: Sophie.Maxwell@sfgov.org Gerardo Sandoval - District 11 City Hall Room 244Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place, San Francisco , CA 94102-4689 Tel. (415) 554-6975. Fax. (415) 554-6979Email: Gerardo.Sandoval@sfgov.org Matt Gonzalez - District 5 City Hall1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place , Room 244San Francisco , CA 94102-4689 Tel. (415) 554-7630. Fax. (415) 554-7634Email: Matt.Gonzalez@sfgov.org

[ThanhPhero]

Tot lam!

[ThanhPhero]

Tot lam!

[Commander8]

If this resolution is overturned, it will be an insult to the memory of the brave Vietnamese men who fought side by side with Americans against the communists!

[cutiedieuvan]

They did VETO :((


S.F. mayor vetoes resolution that honors Vietnam flag
By Mercury News Wire Services

San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown took the unusual step Friday of vetoing a controversial supervisors resolution honoring the flag of the former Republic of Vietnam.

The so-called ``Heritage and Freedom Flag'' resolution was sponsored by Supervisor Fiona Ma and unanimously passed last week at the end of a 10-hour meeting in a low-key process with implications several supervisors said afterward they did not understand. In fact, a majority of six board members on Tuesday introduced a new resolution seeking to rescind the first vote.

The week in between saw both a rousing, flag-waving crowd of Vietnamese-American residents cheering Ma on the steps of City Hall and equally dramatic exchanges behind the scenes between city leaders and the Consulate of Vietnam.

A July 17 letter voiced ``deepest concerns'' about the message sent and asked for a meeting to discuss the situation.

Brown's spokesman has said the resolution could jeopardize what had become a ``cutting edge'' economic and political relationship between San Francisco and the Southeast Asian nation, including establishing the first sister-city relationship with Ho Chi Minh City.

[skinner]

You are fighting a battle you don't understand. San Francisco in general, and the board of supervisors in particular, (except Gavin Newsome) are an outpost of extreme leftists and downright communists. They could change places with their "brothers and sisters" in Hanoi and nobody would be able to tell the difference. Might as well send letters to Hanoi. I've lived in or near S.F. for most of my life and have seen this nonsense get worse by the year. If the Mayor and most of the supervisors could make American foreign policy, it would mirror that of Hanoi.Ef 'em.

[Commander8]

There are so many things I feel like saying, but I want to keep this a family friendly site, so I'll hold my peace.

[cutiedieuvan]

By the law of San Francisco City , If a resolution is vetoed by the Mayor, the Resolution (031220) will be sent back to the Supervisors to reconsider and vote again within 30 days time frame .

But 6 out of 11 Supervisors, after consulted with Nguyen Manh Hung ,Consul General of the Consulate General of Vietnam , they together create another Resolution 031288 in order to rescind the 031220 (Vietnamese Heritage and Freedom Flag) and will be voted on July-29-2003.

This is painful to Vietnamese-Americans and insulting U.S.A . How a City Government can be easily controlled by the Vietnamese Communist Party ???

The following is the NEW RESOLUTION posted in the SF CityHall website :

031288 [Rescinding Board of Supervisors Resolution No. _____, File No. 031220] Resolution rescinding the resolution regarding the Vietnamese Heritage and Freedom Flag, Board of Supervisors File No. 031220. Supervisors Gonzalez, Ammiano, Hall, McGoldrick, Peskin, Dufty presented. REFERRED FOR ADOPTION WITHOUT COMMITTEE REFERENCE AGENDA AT THE NEXT BOARD MEETING

[cutiedieuvan]

The politics has many faces , we are new soldiers , we definitely need your help . Please assist us in fighting this battle .

Best regards

cutiedieuvan

[Tacis]

I'm sorry, but in San Francisco, only the faggots have the right to demand that the city fly their flag. To urge that a flag not sanctioned by a communist government be recognized by the city of San Francisco is absurd.

[cutiedieuvan]

Brown vetoes Ma's resolution on South Vietnamese flag

Patrick Hoge, Chronicle Staff Writer Saturday, July 26, 2003


San Francisco Supervisor Fiona Ma suffered added embarrassment Friday when Mayor Willie Brown vetoed a resolution she accidentally sponsored to recognize the former flag of South Vietnam as the symbol of the Vietnamese American community.

Brown's action followed the introduction of a measure to rescind Ma's resolution by six members of the Board of Supervisors, including the board's president, Matt Gonzalez.

In that resolution, which will be considered Tuesday, the supervisors acknowledged that, like Ma, they did not know that the yellow flag with three red stripes they had unanimously voted to honor on July 15 was that of the defeated government of South Vietnam.

"Recognizing a country's flag or something like that gets you dangerously close to foreign policy, something that I don't think a municipal legislature should be doing," Gonzalez said.

One supervisor who did know exactly what Ma's resolution did was her co- sponsor, Supervisor Chris Daly, who said Friday that he did not regret his vote. He said, "I stand by the resolution."

Brown had been lobbied heavily by the San Francisco consulate of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam to reject Ma's resolution.

Ma, meanwhile, had tried to appease consular officials by crafting a second resolution that would have stated that San Francisco recognizes only one flag for the country of Vietnam: the red flag with the golden star.

Ma said Friday that she did not intend for her original resolution -- which called the flag the "Vietnamese Heritage and Freedom Flag" -- to be "political, " but rather to honor the contributions of Vietnamese Americans to San Francisco.

Phu Nguyen, a key organizer of the campaign for the resolution, said he was "disappointed."

Nguyen and the leaders of numerous Vietnamese American organizations in San Francisco and Northern California issued an open letter imploring the Board of Supervisors to overturn Brown's veto.

"To the Vietnamese American community, the original flag is simply a symbol and an ideal representing the Vietnamese race with the yellow skin, red blood, and the three ethnic regions in Vietnam," the letter states.

Like Ma, he insisted that the resolution was not meant as an attack on the current Vietnamese government.

A former captain in the South Vietnamese army who is now a property manager in San Francisco, Nguyen pointed out that the yellow flag actually predates the 1954 partitioning of Vietnam, and thus the existence of South Vietnam. North Vietnam adopted the country's current red flag with a golden star.

Many of the nearly 300 supporters of the yellow flag who demonstrated outside City Hall in support of Ma's resolution on Tuesday apparently did equate the flag with anti-communism.

Demonstrators carried signs that read, "We do not recognize the communist red flag," "The blood flag with yellow star doesn't represent Vietnamese community," and "Please side with the victim."

E-mail Patrick Hoge at phoge@sfchronicle.com

[ALOHA RONNIE]

NEVER FORGET


..GARDEN GROVE votes South Vietnam Flag -IN-, who's next..?

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/863430/posts


Signed:..ALOHA RONNIE Guyer / Vet-U.S. 7th Cavalry's Openind Days of the Vietnam War 1965-66

http://www.lzxray.com/guyer_collection.htm
(Photos)


NEVER FORGET

[ALOHA RONNIE]

NEVER FORGET


S. Vietnamese flag will fly in Milpitas

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/907906/posts


NEVER FORGET

[MissAmericanPie]

Are they nutz? They are only living in Amerika, they act as if they think they're living in the land of the free and the brave.

[ALOHA RONNIE]

...On the Day Commander-in-Chief BUSH declared from the Deck of a returning USS Abraham Lincoln Aircraft Carrier...

...America's committment to bringing FREEDOM to the oppressed peoples & cultures of the world as our own best Self-Defense against future Terrorist Attacks:


~FREEPER Alert: Demo's kill Free Vietnam Flag usage by Calif Viet-Americans~

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/904152/posts?page37


DEMOCRATS did it again just days later as President BUSH declared his being so proud of an America that is not afraid to take risks on behalf of the FREEDOM of Others at the end of his speech before the National Chamber of Commerce in Washington, D.C.


NEVER FORGET

[ALOHA RONNIE]

NEVER FORGET


...On the day SADDAM's Statue fell for FREEDOM in Bagdhad...

...persecuted Communist Vietnam "WE WERE SOLDIERS" Actor DON DOUNG landed in San Francisco, California a Free Man forever.


~Vietnam Brands War Film Actor 'National Traitor~

http://www.TheAlamoFILM.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=196


Signed:..ALOHA RONNIE Guyer / Vet-"WE WERE SOLDIERS" Battle of IA DRANG-1965

http://www.WeWereSoldiers.com
http://www.lzxray.com


NEVER FORGET

[headsonpikes]

At the Nov. 11 Remembrance Day service at the Cenotaph in Vancouver, the South Vietnamese flag is carried by Vietnamese vets.

I doubt that we'll ever see the red commie flag there.

Leave that one to the 'peace' marchers.

[Lancey Howard]

Yes, San Fransicko is a hopeless sewer. The streets seem to cascade with homeless urine. I maintain that anybody who deliberately takes children into San Fransicko should be jailed for child abuse. Let the Vietnamese communists have the place. Who cares?

[ALOHA RONNIE]

NEVER FORGET


Thank You, Westminster, California:


~HEALING = 1st Amer & Viet War Memorial~

http://www.TheAlamoFILM.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=15968


NEVER FORGET

[Ragtime Cowgirl]

Good for you! Don't give up. Heck, the left rewrites history to fit their latest fad.

We are free to associate with and support people of our choosing. Now that we have the internet, we have both access to - and control of the information, too.

Is there a way around this law until you eventually get it changed - to fly the flag on private property, place them in windows, etc.?

Ann Coulter's book "Treason" was a NY Times bestseller. Never give up.