"A lot of classical or traditional songs in Vietnamese." "He would sing, sometimes very loudly," he recalls. An is their only child.Īn's memories of his father are few. in 1981, where he met and married An's mother, Tu HoNguyen. He grew up amidst the trauma of war, and emigrated from Vietnam to the U.S. There's just a blackened, gaping hole, open to the sky. Where the plane struck the building, a whole section is gone. There's a family photo of An - a small boy in khaki overalls, standing outside the Pentagon - taken just a few days after the attack. "Being so young and so vulnerable," An says, "it was a really difficult time."Īn Nguyen (left) holds a photo of his mother, Tu HoNguyen, and father, Khang Ngoc Nguyen, in front of the Twin Towers young An Nguyen (right) stands outside the Pentagon, days after the attack.
A 3-year-old, riding high on his dad's shoulders at their home in Fairfax, Va.īut then there he is, having just turned 4, wearing a traditional Vietnamese white headband for mourning, weeping over his father's casket. "How do I define myself without the most important male role model in my life?"Īn Nguyen smiles as he flips through some old family photos: there he is, a 1-year-old, cuddling on his father's lap. A new generation has grown up over the past two decades with few if any memories of those they lost perhaps just a hazy glimpse that continues to fade over the years, or a faint echo of a voice. Many of those who died left behind children who were so young they never got to know their parents. 11, 2001, terrorists launched coordinated attacks on the U.S. Nguyen had just turned four when his father died in the 9/11 attack on the Pentagon. An Nguyen sits for a portrait at George Mason University in Fairfax, Va.
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