Camp Pendleton Hosts Vietnamese Refugee Reunion
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CAMP PENDLETON — A reunion and ceremony commemorating the 10th anniversary of the arrival of Vietnamese refugees at this U.S. Marine base will be held today at the site of their original “Tent City.”
The event was requested by the Orange County-based Vietnamese American Mutual Assn., which is coordinating the day’s activities.
The Marine Corps agreed to make available the same Camp Cristianitos where, in 1975, more than 1,000 tents were erected on five days’ notice to house 18,500 refugees.
In the following six months, about 50,000 Southeast Asian refugees lived in the complex. They waited there until American sponsors were found and then were processed through Camp Pendleton on their way to permanent homes elsewhere in the country.
Officials expect 3,000 to 5,000 former refugees to attend the day’s activities, which will be held from 11 a.m. through 7 p.m.
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