Our life is a reflection of the times we lived in. "The Vietnamese Mayflowers" is about growing up within a culturally and spiritually vibrant South Vietnamese society, about a uniquely challenging and enriching wartime medical education, about losing the only world and life that one ever knew, about surviving the rigors and humiliation of reeducation camps, about embarking onto dangerous and unpredictable odysseys, and most importantly about the poignant rebuilding of personal and professional lives. Humbled by chains of events beyond human comprehension, many referred to fate, providence, luck, karma, destiny, fortune, miracle, grace or God in their accounts. This endeavor is designed to provide a historic document written by people who actually lived the events for future reference. Included are reviews of Vietnamese history and culture, descriptions of a peaceful way of life in the South before the winds of war, recollections of an American Professor assisting medical education in Saigon, as well as emotional accounts of the younger generations to define and preserve their roots. The Editors attempted to maintain the book's uniqueness and preserve its veracity by using a trilingual approach and avoiding strong political overtones. The Editors hope that the book will entertain, inform and inspire, and that it will grow to become a written memorial to the largest maritime diaspora to occur in human history.

For English readers wishing to learn more about Vietnamese history and culture, the choices are abundant. However, while countless memoirs have been written by Americans about their unique experiences during the Vietnam War, an informative English text about the History of Vietnam written by Vietnamese-Americans is still a rare encounter. Able to peruse French, English, and Vietnamese writings, the authors have committed themselves to produce a book with abundant illustrations that addresses select aspects of Vietnamese history and culture for the new generations. There is no intent to refight old battles or to appeal to cultural pride, just stories, as unbiased and documented as possible, about a country and its people that deeply impacted America. Each of the authors may have shown a certain professional bias. The surgeon (Dang) uses a more dissecting and analytical approach in his treatment of complex topics (e.g. reviewing the whole Vietnam history in one chapter and analyzing the Viet identity in another) or national heroes (e.g. General Ly Thuong Kiet, author of the first Vietnamese Declaration of Independence; General Tran Hung Dao, who vanquished the Mongols; Le Loi in his 10-year struggle against the Ming occupation army). On the other hand, the pediatrician (Ho) tends to choose younger, lesser heroes (e.g. Lady Trieu instead of the famous Trung Sisters), notable either for their precocity (e.g. Ky Dong who became Gauguin's friend; Cao Thang who manufactured firearms; Le Quy Don with his presence of mind and erudition) or their exceptional position at a turning point of history (e.g. Little Prince Canh who met Thomas Jefferson and Queen Marie Antoinette in Paris at a period when revolutions occurred in the US, France and Vietnam; exiled King Duy Tan who supported Charles de Gaulle and fought as a Major in the Free French navy during World War II). A few chapters use original sources: old French documents pertaining to the conditions of Vietnam when first exposed to the West and the Christian religion in the 17th century, and when falling prey to French colonialism in the second half of the 19th century. The book also includes reviews of Vietnamese Buddhism, traditional medicine, firearms, and astronomy in the Middle Age. It concludes with an assessment of the recent adaptation of the Vietnamese diaspora to its new life in America.

For English readers wishing to learn more about Vietnamese history and culture, the choices are abundant. However, while countless memoirs have been written by American combatants or civil participants about their unique experiences during the Vietnam War, an informative, enjoyable English text about the History of Vietnam is still a rare encounter. Able to peruse French, English, and Vietnamese writings, the authors have committed themselves to produce a book with abundant illustrations that addresses select aspects of Vietnamese history and culture for the new generations. There is no intent to refight old battles or to appeal to cultural pride, just eye-opening, entertaining pieces of knowledge about a country that deeply impacted America. Each of the authors may have shown a certain professional bias. The surgeon (Dang) uses a more dissecting and analytical approach in his treatment of complex topics (e.g. reviewing the whole Vietnam history in the first chapter) or national heroes (e.g. General Tran Hung Dao, who vanquished the Mongols). On the other hand, the pediatrician (Ho) tends to choose younger, lesser heroes (e.g. Lady Trieu instead of the famous Trung Sisters), notable either for their precocity (e.g. Ky Dong who became Gauguin's friend) or their exceptional position at a turning point of history (e.g. Little Prince Canh who met Thomas Jefferson and Queen Marie Antoinette in Paris at a period when revolutions occurred in the US, France and Vietnam). A few chapters use original sources: old French documents pertaining to the conditions of Vietnam in the 17th century when the country was first exposed to the West and particularly to the Christian religion, and in the second half of the 19th century when Vietnam was falling prey to French colonialism. The book concludes with an assessment of the recent adaptation of the Vietnamese diaspora to its new life in America.