Operation New Life

Vietnamese Refugees and US Settler Militarism in Guam

By Dr. Evyn Lê Espiritu, Gandhi University of California, Los Angeles.

Abstract

Drawing from archival research conducted at the Micronesian Area Research Center (MARC) and the Nieves M. Flores Memorial Library, as well as oral histories conducted between 2016-18, this presentation will detail the processing of Vietnamese refugees in Guam during Operation New Life. From April to November 1975, the US military in Guam processed over 112,000 refugees from Vietnam. I argue that the humanitarian rhetoric that newspapers and politicians used to describe Operation New Life in 1975 retroactively justified the US military's presence in Guam, and by extension, positioned Vietnamese refugees in a structurally antagonistic relationship to Chamorro decolonization struggles that challenge what Juliet Nebolon calls "settler militarism." In this presentation I will emphasize moments of cross-racial encounter and refugee refusal, highlighting the stories of Chamorros who played key roles during Operation New Life as well as Vietnamese refugees who expressed agency in the camps.