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Jerry Morin: Saigon 1956 to 1958

by Jerry Morin

My Mother and brother and I joined my father in Saigon in 1956 where he had been working for USOM since ’55. I lived there until 1958 when I returned to the States to complete high school.

A few months ago I came across this site and an attached film of Saigon during the time that I was there. The movie awakened sensual memories of climate, pulse and atmosphere that had been dormant or unfocused since that time in the late 50?s.

I subscribed to the site with the intention of “listening in” on any remembrances of things Saigonage and maybe contribute a drifting memory if it was relevant. I thought that I would dig out a family album from that time and see if that revealed anything worth sharing.

I intend to do this as it is convenient and a pleasure for me. I’m dropping this note as a response to your request for contributions to the site, and to let you know that there is someone out there who has something to say…in time.

The first thing that I’m curious about is that there were so many young US families in Saigon so late into the 60?s. Our family had been together there between the French and the American war. My father returned solo in the early 60?s, but was unable to carry out his work with co-ops of northern refugees in the South Vietnamese countryside. Things got heated up around Saigon and he was reassigned to Morocco.

Life between the wars for a 13 to 14 year old boy in Saigon was wonderful and steered me to a lifelong appreciation of globalism with it’s respect for differences and embrace of kinship’s.

I recall no contemporaries from this short time in Vietnam. Hopefully a review of the family photos will spur a memory.

More later.

Jerry

2 comments to Jerry Morin: Saigon 1956 to 1958

  • Jerry – Thank you for your contribution and sharing your memories of Saigon. I’d love to hear your stories of the time you spent in Saigon and see any photo’s you might have that were taken during that time frame. You are one of a handful of people who have surfaced so far that were in Saigon in the mid 1950s. You may have know Gene Taylor in Saigon as he was there about the same time as you.

    Again, thank you very much for your contribution to the site. Much appreciated! We look forward to hearing more from you in the future.

    Bob

  • Gene Taylor

    Jerry, we arrived in summer of 1955 and left in May of 1957. You may have known my older brother David who would have been 17 when we left in ’57. Drop me a private email at frogtaylor [@] aol.com if you want to discuss the childhood memories of half a century ago. Yes, we have photos that I have digitized from my dad’s slides. I have yet to share them and that is something I need to do. Most of the subscribers to Saigon Kids came much later than our time there.

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