Founder, Chairman of The Board
Mr. Thanh D. Nguyen graduated from South Vietnam’s Thu Duc Military School, Class No. 12, in August 1962 and then completed a series of other military training for high ranking officers. His last ranking was Major (Thieu Ta) in charge Chief of Tactical Operation Center of Chau Doc, Southern Vietnam. After the Fall of Saigon (April 1975), Mr. Thanh Nguyen spent more than 9 years in prison camps in North Vietnam (from May 1975 to October 1984). He and his family arrived in New York in October 1990 through the U.S. government’s Humanitarian Order (H.O.) and then moved to Houston, Texas in July 1991. He and his family are currently living in Houston Texas, U.S.A.
Unlike most people at his age who accepted the fate of “too late to start it over” when it comes to education, he managed to earn his degree as a Legal Assistant from the Southwestern Legal Institute (Texas, U.S.A) while working full-time to support his family. He also received many scholarship offers to further his study in the legal field but he declined due to family responsibilities. After graduating, he then worked for the Brazos Law Office until 2008.
Mr. Thanh is the Founder and currently serving as the Chairman of the Board & President of the Vietnamese American Foundation. His unyielding passion, mission and purpose of his remaining days is to do everything he possibly can to promote, preserve and honor the legacy of the Fallen Heroes of the Republic of South Vietnam. “The promise that I made to my friends when I buried them (in prison camps) was that if I ever made it out alive, I will do everything I possibly can to bring them home to their families and that promise is still living inside of me each remaining days of my life.” , said Mr. Thanh Nguyen.
Board of Director, CEO
Đông-Châu always cherishes his childhood time visiting his father stationed at various army bases in South Vietnam. He feels fortunate and blessed that his father survived the war and subsequent years of imprisonment in the so called “re-education” camps after 1975. Many other children were not as lucky. Đông-Châu is determined to devote his best effort to help the younger generations of the fallen heroes of the Republic of Vietnam.
He is married and a proud father of four residing in Houston, Texas. He obtained his B.A. in Mathematicsfrom Wesleyan University (Middletown, Connecticut) and his Doctor of Medicine (MD, 1993) from Jefferson Medical College (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania). He completed his internship and residency in Internal Medicine (1993-1996) at Jefferson Medical College and Thomas Jefferson University Hospital (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania). He then completed his Fellowship in Cardiovascular Disease (1996-1999) and Fellowship in Interventional Cardiology (1998-2000) at Harvard Medical School and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (Boston, Massachusetts). He is a Diplomate of the American Board of Internal Medicine with double board certification in Cardiovascular Disease and in Interventional Cardiology. His father had served as Chief Medical Officer for the 25th Division of the Republic of Vietnam Armed Forces (SĐ25BB QLVNCH). After his release from the prison camps, his father had led his family to successfully escape from Vietnam by boat. They arrived in the USA as boat people and political refugees in 1980.
Vice CEO
Kevin and his family migrated to the United States from Vietnam in 1989 when he was ten years old. He received his Pharmacy Doctorate Degree from the University of Connecticut School Of Pharmacy in 2003 and earned his Master of Business Administration Degree from Grand Canyon University in 2017. Kevin is currently working as a Pharmacy Director at Dignity Health Arizona General Hospital and as a part-time adjunct faculty at Grand Canyon University.
Kevin firmly believes that volunteering work, activism, advocacy, and leadership are the essential elements for success in the community. He is committed to helping the indigent population and giving back to the community. To him, serving the community is rewarding and has enriched his life in many aspects. Kevin has served two terms as the President of the Vietnamese Community of Arizona, and is currently engaging in various community-related projects serving people from all communities in the Phoenix metropolitan area.
Kevin is a current member of City of Phoenix’s Licensing Appeal Board and is presently serving citizens of Arizona in his role as a member of the Arizona State Board of Pharmacy as well as the Arizona Regulatory Board of Physician Assistants. As a healthcare provider, Kevin is compassionate about patient’s wellbeing and always exhibits his alacrity and enthusiasm in exploring ways to make lasting contributions to the healthcare system at the local and state levels.
Board of Director
According to our founder Mr. Thanh D. Nguyen, “Mr. Nghi is one of the longest and steadfast serving staff for VAF. He doesn’t talk much. He just do it! When asked as to why he has such a commitment in serving VAF despites of all the ups and downs, he simply said “ Because VAF has helped find my uncle who died in a prison camp in North Vietnam and we never thought that we could find his remains. There are hundreds of others who ended up with the same unfortunate fate as my uncle are still languishing in the deep jungle and they deserve to come home.”
Mr. Pham is a graduate of the University of Houston, 2007, majoring in accounting. He currently lives in Houston Texas with his wife and two lovely kids.
Mr. Pham is currently serving as a Board member in charge of Finance for VAF and a member of the Core Leadership Team.
VAF helped his aunt to locate and brought back home his uncle in law, Airforce Captain Mr. Nguyen Vinh Thang’s remains. As result, He appreciated and joined VAF in 2007 as a member of the Casualty Family where his focus is on locating missing remains of those who died in the “Re-education Camps” and bringing them home to their family.
He also served as a webmaster for VAF and a communication liaison between VAF and the Casualty Family from 2008 – 2021.
Board of Director & Internal Legal Affairs Advisor
Dr. Cuong M. Nguyen has served as the President of VAF from [ ] to [ ] . Over the years, he worked alongside with our founder Mr. Thanh Dac Nguyen to fundraise for missions on finding the remains of our brothers and restoring projects for our national cemetery at Bien Hoa. He started his own private law practice 1995 and currently practices litigation and family law in Houston Texas. Besides helping VAF, he enjoys traveling with his wife.
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Board of Director & External Legal Affairs
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