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Ha lived in Saigon. she was born there with three brothers and her mother. They don't know anything about their father since he never came back from the navy. Yet they hope for him to still be alive. They must flee Saigon to escape war and communism but there were disagreements whether to leave or not.

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The family has decided to leave Saigon for good. This means Ha had to leave her papaya tree which she loves & treasure a lot and brother Khôi had to leave his hens. They traveled on a navy ship with a lot more refugees. They were all placed in one place where they each got one mat. It was packed with people. Ha and her family barely had food, space, or water. Since brother Khôi did not want to leave his hens, he took a newborn chick with him. It wouldn't last so they threw it at the ocean.

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The Captain decided to take a river route. This meant that they missed the rescue ship and will be traveling for and even longer period of time. Because they missed the rescue ship, they had to eat smaller portions of food for more time.

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After a long period of time, Ha and her family finally landed on Guam, a U.S territory. People couldn't leave the island until they got a sponsor. They lived in green tents and slept on cots. They started eating everything with núóc mám since it reminded them of the food from home.

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Ha and her family were taken to another tent city, Florida. Families can't lave until they get a sponsor by an American. Everybody was getting sponsored except Ha and her family. People who came before them even got sponsors before they could. Her mother was desperate. She realized that most people who are getting sponsors said "Christians" in their applications. Because of this, Ha's mother amended their faith saying that they're basically all the same and claimed they were Christian.

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Ha's mother was loosing hope of getting a sponsor until a cowboy came ("tall, pig bellied, black cowboy hat, tan cowboy shoes. cigar smoking, teeth shining, red in face, golden in hair") and was looking for a boy to train him to be a mechanic. He chose Ha's family since her brother Quang impressed the cowboy for studying engineering. They finally got a sponsor to Alabama! Ha's famliy was taken with the cowboy in their house. They were finally able to start a new life in Alabama.