It has been more than 45 years after the fall of South Vietnam on April 30th, 1975. Since that time, Vietnamese and Chinese decent living in southern, central and northern Vietnam have fled the country in search of freedom, and refuge around the world. According to the United Nations, an estimate of more than 250,000 Vietnamese boat people lost their lives at sea from 1979 to 1995. In response, the Calgary Vietnamese community decided to build a Vietnamese Boat People Monument to commemorate those who lost their lives during the journey to freedom, and to thank all Canadians who sponsored and helped settle Vietnamese and Chinese-Vietnamese refugees in the land of the free, now our home – Canada…