War refugee in NY reunites with son after 34 years

War refugee in NY reunites with son after 34 years

ROCHESTER, N.Y. (AP) — A Vietnamese war refugee who survived a 1977 pirate attack that separated him from his wife and infant child is reuniting with his grown son in upstate New York after nearly 34 years.

Hao Truong was tossed into the sea when pirates attacked a boat taking Vietnamese refugees to Thailand. He says he managed to stay afloat for 16 hours before being rescued. His wife died and he’d long assumed their baby, Kham, was raised by someone else.

A year later, Truong settled in Rochester. On a trip to Thailand in June, a social worker helped him locate Kham, now a 34-year-old father of two named Samart Khumkhaw.

U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer helped Truong obtain a visitor’s visa for his son to travel today to Rochester.