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(Music Playing)

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(Applause)

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Hello, from Vietnam to the world, and to

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the University of the Pacific,

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here at Stockton, California.

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I was born in Vietnam, and grew up in

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Vietnam, and I lived many years in Europe.

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I came back home during the war. I've been

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a teacher, a diplomat, an elected

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representative, and today, I'm a

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social, cultural, and educational

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entrepreneur. I define myself as

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passionately Vietnamese, creatively

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individual, and thoughtfully global.

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In a sense, Vietnam's journey is my

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journey. Its striving to its place

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into the sun, and how I relate to it.

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How I contribute and impact on it

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moves me and makes me.

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In this intertwined journey, I have

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come to the conclusion that the more

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globalised our world becomes, the more we

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need to be anchored in our nationhood,

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our culture, and our specific, individual

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identity. We need to navigate this

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triangle of self, nation, and the world,

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creatively, in our own specific way,

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if we are to find peace and fulfillment.

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Personally, I don't believe in the notion

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of the "pure" global citizen; one who

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would drift about, breeze in and out

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and above nations and communities,

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not belonging anywhere. Not- not

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committed to any constituency

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smaller than the broader world.

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But you and me know that for the

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foreseeable future, people will keep

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asking, "Where are you from?" Now,

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let's ask ourselves, "What are Vietnam

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and the Vietnamese known for?"

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I believe that the defining strength of

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the Vietnamese nation is our enduring

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humanity and identity through the worst

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ordeals and trials.

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Wars tend to dehumanise. Vietnam has

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suffered massive physical destruction

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and immense loss of life. Successive

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wars, however, have failed to dehumanise

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the Vietnamese.

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The Vietnamese Nation emerged from

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wars, retaining their humanity, unshackled

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by resentment and hatred, bent on

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moving on. You just have to look at faces

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of Vietnamese, old and young, soon after

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the war. Many visitors to Vietnam,

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including U.S. veterans who were stationed

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in Vietnam before, cannot feel but be

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surprised at the lack of resentment

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towards Americans, including from our own

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veterans. And the same attitude applied

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to French veterans. And this is the

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natural disposition of the Vietnamese

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people that could never be detected by any

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government. The Vietnamese fight hard for

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what they treasure above all. Which is

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their independence and identity. But once

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the fight is over, they look forward, and

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don't let resentment drive them.

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A Korean-American professor once observed

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to me: "I don't know how you, the

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Vietnamese do it - to reconcile so fast

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with the Americans. We - the Koreans,

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and the Chinese on the one hand, and

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the Japanese on the other - at times,

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the hurt and the anger of the past still

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haunts us. Those of you old enough may

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remember the tragedy of Mỹ Lai,

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a village in central Vietnam where, back

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in 1968, a U.S. platoon killed more

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than 500 unarmed villagers -

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all of them women,

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children, and old men. But on that fateful

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day, three U.S. soldiers on a helicopter

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happened to fly into the area, and they

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took it upon themselves to save two young

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villagers - two young women - by whisking

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them away to safety. There is a

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documentary by filmmaker

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Trần Văn Thủy, called "The Sound of Violin

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in Mỹ Lai". It shows the return to Mỹ Lai

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several decades later by captain Thompson,

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one of the three soldiers on that heli-

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copter. And the deeply emotional moment

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when he meets again the two women he had

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saved. The women, now in middle-age,

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weep, and embrace him in gratitude for

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having saved their lives. The meaningful-

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ness of this moment is that the horror and

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grief of Mỹ Lai did not totally engulf

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these women. There was enough emotional

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empathy and maturity for them to make the

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distinction between those who had killed

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the innocents and the defenseless, and

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those brave men of conscience who did the

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right thing, during the-

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amidst the madness of that

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darkest day. Captain Thompson and his

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comrades did not let war dehumanise them.

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And the two women villagers emerged from

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the tragedy still able to discern right

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from wrong. To remain unembedded,

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unhateful in a world still humane. It is

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the singular legacy of openness of heart

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and soul that we Vietnamese, from inside

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and outside Vietnam, must treasure and

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uphold. I'd like now to ask, "what is it

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that the Vietnamese are known for?"

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I would say: their fortitude, their

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resilience, their

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resourcefulness, their adaptability.

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"Tomorrow is another day." These words of

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Scarlet O'Hara in "Gone with the Wind"

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hold particular resonance

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with the Vietnamese psyche. Post-war

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Vietnam is a living testimony to this. Let

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me tell you the story of Jerry Sternin.

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Jerry Sternin was the country director of

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Save the Children U.S. in Vietnam. One

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day, he said something puzzling to me. He

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said, "I've never had to feel pity for

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anyone in Vietnam." Of course, I asked

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him, "What do you mean?" And here is his

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answer: "I've worked in many poor

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countries of the developing world. There

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still are, in Vietnam, pockets of poverty

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comparable to, say, Bangladesh. But in

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the most destitute corners of Vietnam,

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I've never had to feel pity for the old

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villagers that I met because, looking at

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them, there was no sense of despair, of

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fatalistic resignation of the sense of

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giving up. Instead, you could read the

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quiet resolve that they would continue

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to strive for a better future - if not

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for themselves, then for their children

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and grandchildren." This is the fortitude,

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the resilience, the ability to look ahead

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and adapt. In other words, the indomitable

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character that I've been speaking of. The

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Vietnamese diaspora on all continents

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equally show this remarkable ability to

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overcome, rise, and excel, in different

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places, in diverse circumstances,

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particularly the power of education.

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Now, what lies ahead? What challenges lie

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ahead for Vietnam and the Vietnamese?

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During the war, greed - this basic human

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instinct - was naturally muted by deeper

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and more powerful drivers of our actions.

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Today, in peace and plenty, we are faced-

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we, the Vietnamese, we are faced with a

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threat of greed, unleashed, shameless. And

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this is an extential threat to our legacy

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and identity. During the war, we were

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grounded in our local and national

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reality, no matter how harsh. Today, as we

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move into the world, as we are more of

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the world, we still need, in fact, more

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than ever, to nurture our roots; our sense

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of belonging to specific place, community,

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nation. Culture dies hard. "Culture is

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what is left when you have

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lost everything," as the French writer

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says. Culture makes us human.

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The Vietnamese culture and

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character has enabled us to absorb, to

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assimilate, and to turn into our own the

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changes that we face through the centuries

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and today, it enables us to live with the

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paradox of reconciling globalism and

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individuality. Those of you who belong to

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the worldwide Vietnamese diaspora do

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embrace the richness of biculturalism. The

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culture of the society you live in, of the

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country you're a citizen of, and the

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culture of your origins. Nurture your

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biculturalism, or cross-culturalism, and

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then you can confidently move back to the

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world, secure, knowing who you are, where

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you belong, and what you can offer to the

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world. And remember: in this day and age,

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you can belong to more than one place.

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The global and the local are in you.

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Vietnam, and the Vietnamese, come to the

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world with a message of hope, fortitude,

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and compassion. Thank you.

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(Applause)

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(Music Playing)

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(Music Fades)