When Thanh Boyer arrived in North Alabama after escaping Vietnam, families in Athens helped her learn English, get to school and begin a new life.

“I’ve always said we were raised by the community of Athens,” Boyer said.

Years later, she began thanking the American veterans who had served in her homeland. One of them was Theron “TC” Dawson, a North Alabama veteran who had carried difficult feelings about Vietnam for decades.

“I was drafted. I didn’t join the Army to go, but I wouldn’t change anything. I’m proud I went now,” Dawson said.

The friends shared their experiences during StoryCorps’ 2025 visit to Madison in a conversation published by WLRH on Oct. 30. Their memories stretch from a farm in Muscle Shoals to a crowded refugee boat in the South China Sea, eventually bringing them together through a shared appreciation for the lives they were able to build.

Boyer grew up in a loving family in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta, where her parents were successful businesspeople. But war was part of her childhood.

She recalled a bomb striking a home across from her school, killing a family. Her father came for her on his motorcycle through the smoke and dust.

Years later, after the communist takeover, he took Boyer and her sister to the coast to escape by boat. She was 12.

“My parents sacrificed so much for us,” Boyer said. “I mean, they paid for my sister and I to escape.”

Her parents and four other siblings remained behind. Even as a child, Boyer understood that surviving might give her a chance to help them leave, too.

The boat carried roughly 400 refugees and was headed toward Australia when pirates intercepted it. Boyer recalled that they robbed the passengers, disabled the engine and threw supplies overboard as a storm approached.

What followed were days and nights when she thought they would not survive.

“I believe that storm is the grace of God,” Boyer said.

She said the storm carried the disabled boat toward Indonesia, where the refugees were rescued and brought to an island. There, survival remained a daily struggle.

“And I remember eating things like grubs and leaves,” she said.

She recalled drinking water collected from streams and boiled before use. Refugees became ill, and some died of dysentery. Eventually, aid organizations brought food and medical supplies, and the Catholic Church helped find sponsors.

For Boyer and the relatives traveling with her, that help came from a family in Athens, Alabama.

An apartment was furnished and waiting when they arrived. Then the community went to work helping them settle in.

Families taught them English, took them to medical appointments and the grocery store, enrolled the children in school and helped her uncles find jobs.

“Honestly, we would not be a successful family if it wasn’t for them,” Boyer said.

She said her parents and four siblings joined her in the United States in 1993 after she sponsored them.

Boyer now shares her story through her memoir, The Ground Kisser, and talks to veterans’ groups. She said she donates the book’s proceeds to charitable organizations and considers thanking Vietnam veterans and welcoming them home her ministry. Dawson was in the audience at one of those gatherings, where hearing her story began a friendship.

Dawson’s path through Vietnam began with the draft. Raised on a farm in Muscle Shoals, he had bought his first calves at age 10 and returned from the war in 1970 to cattle, land and work.

Life stayed busy. But hearing Boyer speak years later made him consider a part of the war he had given little thought to — the people who remained after American troops left.

He had almost skipped the gathering where she spoke.

“I had harsh feelings toward Vietnam and the Vietnamese people,” Dawson said.

Her account changed that.

“When I heard her talk and heard her story, I realized how selfish I had been,” he said.

Boyer’s thanks helped him see his service through the eyes of someone who was grateful for his efforts to protect her freedom.

For Boyer, those conversations showed how much a simple thank you could mean.

“And I realized my mere little thank you meant so much to them,” she said.

Some veterans, she said, believed she would hate them.

“How can I hate you?” Boyer said.

She explained that she was grateful for their efforts to protect her freedom.

Boyer said relatives of Vietnam veterans have told her that, after hearing her speak or talking with her, their loved ones began opening up about their wartime experiences. She believes those family conversations can help veterans heal.

“And so I just, I see it as an honor,” she said.

Her friendship with Dawson grew beyond that first meeting. He rides motorcycles to honor veterans, including in funeral processions, and invited her to ride with him.

Both see their survival as a second chance — and a reason to help others.

“So I felt like God has saved me for a purpose and a plan,” Boyer said.

“I’m gonna help others as much as I can because I was helped.”

She hopes others will take time to thank Vietnam veterans and listen to what they have to share.

“Just get them to talk about it and turn on that little recorder and let them talk,” she said. “Because you know what? They are full of wisdom for our future generations.”

Sherri Blevins is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You may contact her at [email protected].