Skip to main content

Spriester Sessions: Refugee thanks US veterans for ‘legacy that they left in Vietnam’

One war had Trinh Warner growing up in two countries

SAN ANTONIO – Trinh Warner usually starts her survival story by talking about her grandmother, a woman she never saw again after Warner was put on a helicopter and flown out of Vietnam.

Her grandmother ended up dying in a re-education camp, Warner said.

Warner remembers the fall of Saigon, South Vietnam, well. As a small child, her grandmother showed up at her school and told them, “It was time.”

The siblings all made their way to the U.S. Embassy in Saigon, through crushing crowds and armed Marines, they made it onto the chopper and out of the only country they had ever known.

Warner’s story is part of KSAT’s special, “50 Years After The Fall: From Saigon to San Antonio.”

>> Click here to view our interactive project.

In this Spriester Sessions episode, Warner talked about the evacuation, her thoughts on the war, and how it shaped her family.

She is also quick to thank Vietnam veterans every chance she gets.

“I just thank them from the bottom of my heart. I don’t think they realize the legacy that they left in Vietnam to this day,” Warner said.

Read next:


About the Authors
Steve Spriester headshot

Steve Spriester started at KSAT in 1995 as a general assignments reporter. Now, he anchors the station's top-rated 5, 6 and 10 p.m. newscasts.

Daniel Villanueva headshot

Daniel P. Villanueva has been with KSAT 12 since 2003 and is the producer of our weekly sports show, "Instant Replay." Villanueva is a graduate of St. Mary's University and is a TAPB and Lone Star Emmy award winner.