Children of the Dust

Dust is often thought of as unwanted, of no value, and often thrown aside because it has no purpose.

“Children of the Dust” are the unwanted children of American servicemen and Vietnamese women born during the war. Such children were left behind to face discrimination, poverty, and the shame of the communist government all alone. The mothers of these children were often not present in their lives because they were either in prison, killed, or raped, losing everything. They were shunned along with their children. In all of this devastation, the poor children were left motherless, directionless, and without much hope. HEARTBREAKING, isn’t it!!!!!

Oh, but there is hope. Through the work and dedication of volunteers of Humanitarian organizations worldwide, these children can get help finding their paternal relatives. How??? Through a wonderful and powerful tool called DNA. I took an Ancestry DNA test in 2013 and just a few days ago was contacted stating that I was matched with a man in Vietnam as a second cousin. He was born during the Vietnam War and his father may be my maternal great uncle. Although my great uncle never spoke about this child with his family, it might be that he had no knowledge of the birth of this child. Thus my DNA journey began. Although I am not directly related to him, I knew who to contact. Now it is up to the family to decide to take a DNA test for varification to prove the parentage of this “child of the dust”.

Furthermore, it is very important and with a sense of urgency that I write about this matter because families need to understand how needful it is for these children to find their families. Hopefully, embracing the newly found relatives will bring healing to their broken hearts.