Veteran's Mother Denied Access into US for Son's Funeral

Last Friday, there was a lot of good discussion on immigrant experiences. I brought up how sad and disgusting it is that our current government has been deporting veterans. My grandfather was a Korean War veteran, though he was an American citizen. I could only imagine what he would say or how he would feel if he were alive to see veterans who put their lives on the line to protect this country, being deported. These men proudly wear our flag on their uniforms, only to be deported to a place they don't consider home.

I will be writing a brief synopsis about a mother of a US Navy veteran. Ngoc Truong was a 22 year old US Navy veteran. He served our country for 4 years and then was diagnosed with leukemia. After he was diagnosed, he died from his battle. His mother and father are divorced, so his mother has been living in Vietnam while his father still lives here in the United States. His mother tried TWO times to obtain a visa to attend her son's funeral and I'm sure to help his father make the arrangements. The U.S State Department denied both of her requests. She missed her own son's funeral, the last time she was ever able to see him, the last time she was able to talk to him, the last time she was ever able to say goodbye.

No statements were made by the U.S. State Department officials, just that visa records are confidential. Though this happened in January, my thoughts are with Ngoc's family.

Here are links to read more about this tragedy:

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/navy-soldier-mother-denied-visa-veteran-funeral-vietnam-a8162711.html

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/us-navy-veteran-mom-denied-visa-attend-funeral-arkansas/