Tales of the city

Former refugee describes flight from Vietnam with 6 children

Jaclyn Jackson and her mother, Bong Dunn, talk about their escape from Vietnam in 1975 in Dunn's Java King coffee shop on Fireweed Lane. "I thought, even if I don't make it they'll get their freedom and a good life," she said of her six children. They eventually made their home in Alaska.

Beginning in 2009, in stolen moments between lattes and Americanos, Bong Dunn wrote by hand, in her native Vietnamese, a 271-page account of her escape, along with six small children, from the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Army.

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Archive by category ''Tales of the city

TALES OF THE CITY

UAA student helps Tonga gain a library

For Kato Ha'unga, too many books is not enough. The woman's a little obsessed. But then these are books with a purpose. If she can make it happen -- and she's confident she can -- these are books bound for Tonga. A tsunami of books inspired by a tsunami.
TALES OF THE CITY

UAA students rally for right to carry guns on campus

George Hines, a UAA student in his 40s, gets nervous sitting in class without his .45-caliber semi-automatic pistol. He thinks everyone would be safer if more people were carrying guns.
TALES OF THE CITY

Bingo makes even strange places feel like home

After long days at AFN meetings about politics and fuel shortages, the city's bingo halls are busy stages for reunions.
TALES OF THE CITY

Spenard garden has roots in Korean community

Behind the Spenard Motel and the Adults Only store, where four-plexes sag and magpies feast from trash bins, Sun-Ok and Kyong-Ye Yun have teased a weedy lot into a hidden green oasis.