It seems like every other Vietnam vet I meet or run into is married to an asian woman. Have any statistics been gathered on this? Is there any explanation?
I always wonder if it’s some sort of strange atonement impulse on their part.
Proximity would be my leading guess, from the soldier’s part. They’re young, far from home, lonely for family, and more than a little horny. Then along comes this exotic woman who wants you, is willing to put up with you, and would like to make that a long term arangement. What’s a red-blooded boy gonna do?
For the women, I suspect that security and a future for their children had an awful lot to do with it. I suspect that the ‘exotic foreigners’ has a little bit to do with it, and maybe even a sense of adventure, but mostly I suspect the impulse was largely economic, at least at first.
When I was in the Nav, in the Pacific fleet, a huge number of squids had Filipina wives. Why? 'Cause there was a naval base at Subic. The lot of a sailor’s wife looked pretty attractive to many of the girls and women there. The sailors were pleased to have a wife that was pleased to have them. I doubt that the soldier’s situation was much different.
When I shifted over to the Atlantic fleet, I saw a fair number of Italian, English, Irish, and French wives, but a much smaller overall percentage. My guess there is that it was simple old-fashioned biology, without any economic incentives thrown in. Likewise, the nearby Army base has a fair number of German wives, likely for similar reasons.
I don’t think you have met enough Vietnam vets because there are a very large number and not that many of such pairings in any place that I have lived. I don’t know any personally even though family members went to Vietnam although I have met some and read about some. There are probably way more Vietnam wets than you think and you are just getting a confirmation bias from noticing the mixed pairing and then hearing what led to it. It did happen of course but so did GI’s just sleeping with them while they were there and leaving genetic offspring behind which sometimes crops up much later.
Well, for what it’s worth, my Dad is a Vietnam vet, as are most of the members of his peer group. In addition, he’s in charge of a community group of Vietnam Vets, and frequently (as well as throughout my entire childhood) takes part in big picnics and events. Likewise, he’s involved at his church with a specific group for Vietnam Vets, and I was privy to its members.
Out of all of these people, I’ve probably interacted with or observed a few thousand Vietnam Vets in an area of the country with a huge military presence, and I’d say a good 3/4 of those guys had asian wives.
I am not trying to refute your experiences. I am sure they are accurate for what you see personally. However, there are about 8.2 million Vietnam era veterans in the U.S. although I am sure that many never saw actual duty in Vietnam itself.
However, the numbers you are reporting seem bizarre for the population as a whole. If I had to guess, the groups that you are familiar with are centered around people with a special affinity for the Vietnam era and Vietnam itself. Take a personal look at those and then think about the millions of Vietnam era vets walking around who just think it was just a sucky period in their youth. Only you will know but I am sure that there will be some significant differences between them and the groups you know that try to maintain such an affiliation.
The numbers don’t even come close to adding up even though it is hard to find exact figures of American servicemen that brought Vietnam wives home after the war.
From here:
“The history of Vietnamese Americans is a fairly recent one. Prior to 1975, most Vietnamese residing in the United States were wives and children of American servicemen in Vietnam or academia, and their number was insignificant. According to the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization services, only 650 Vietnamese arrived from 1950 to 1974. The Fall of Saigon on April 30, 1975—which ended the Vietnam War—prompted the first large-scale wave of immigration from Vietnam. Many people who had close ties with the Americans or with the then Republic of Vietnam government feared promised communist reprisals. So, 125,000 of them left Vietnam during the spring of 1975. This group was generally highly-skilled and educated. They were airlifted by the U.S. government to bases in the Philippines and Guam, and were subsequently transferred to various refugee centers in the United States.”
To be fair, the OP did not specify Vietnamese women; he asked about Asian women. I have no idea if there is any truth to his observations, beyond his own circle, but “Asian women” could include US citizens or residents the vets met here at home.
Your comparing male vets of Vietnam to men that didn’t met Asian women or what? What other group that was or is exposed to many Asians are you using to make a comparison? They did spend a lot of their first part of adult life surrounded by Asians, so no surprise when they married Asian women.