Mai Donohue - Crossing the Bamboo Bridge: Memoirs of a Bad Luck Girl

THE REVIEWS ARE IN!

"Mai Donohue weaves together a wrenching taleof poverty, rebellion, enterprise and unwavering tenacity. Setagainst the backdrop of a rural hamlet in Central Vietnam and theurban swagger of a wartime, 1960's Saigon, this is an upliftingstory of survival and, ultimately, the power of love.

SanSan Kwan, PhD, Assoc. Prof/UC-Berkeley,and Author

of "Kinesthetic City"

"It's not fashionable to say, but I happen tothink there are too many unearned memoirs being churned out thesedays. Mai Donohue's breathless, riveting journey, from being achild bride in an impoverished Vietnamese village to a middle classmother of six in a wealthy American suburb, is astounding andinspiring, a true tale of survival against incredible odds. Herexperiences are searing, but matter-of-factly told and I couldn'tstop reading about them. This is a memoir from someone who's earnedthe right to have one, a hundred times over."

Lauren Iannotti, Executive Editor of BridesMagazine; former Senior Editor of O Magazine

Through Mai Donohue's riveting memoir weexperience the French and American Vietnam Wars-- the barbaroustactics of the Communists and others, the family divisions, thedegrading treatment of women and much more. Forced into a brutalmarriage as a young teenager, Mai narrowly escapes to South Vietnamafter several failed efforts. Through enormous courage andingenuity, Mai manages to carve out a life for herself during thepeak years of the American Vietnam War. It is a story of survivalagainst insurmountable odds but it is also a story of love andhope.

Gerry Tyler, Professor Emeritus ofPolitical Science, University of Rhode Island

Mai Donohue's amazing story of war, survivaland love conquering all is an inspiration. We never tire of Mai'sstories and life lessons, learned the hard way.

Marty & Porter Halyburton (former POWin North Vietnam)

"I read this book in a single sitting andsince then have used it as a personal day to day tool to takemeasure of whats really important."

Molly Schiot, author of Game Changers: TheUnsung

Heroines of Sports History

CROSSING THE

BAMBOO BRIDGE

Memoirs of a Bad Luck Girl

by

Mai Donohue

Crossing the Bamboo Bridge: Memoirs of a BadLuck Girl

Copyright 2016 Mai Donohue. Produced andprinted by Stillwater River Publications. All rights reserved.Written and produced in the United States of America. This book maynot be reproduced or sold in any form without the expressed,written permission of the authors and publisher.

Visit our website at www.StillwaterPress.comfor more information.

First Stillwater River PublicationsEdition

Library of Congress Control Number:2016943447

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Written by Mai Donohue

Cover Image Provided by Mai Donohue

Cover Design by Nami Studios

Published by Stillwater River Publications,Glocester, RI, USA.

Publishers Cataloging-In-PublicationData

(Prepared by The Donohue Group, Inc.)

Names: Donohue, Mai.

Title: Crossing the bamboo bridge : memoirsof a bad luck girl / by Mai Donohue.

Description: First Stillwater RiverPublications edition. | Glocester, RI, USA : Stillwater RiverPublications, [2016]

Identifiers: LCCN 2016943447 | ISBN978-0-692-72876-5 | ISBN 0-692-72876-7

Subjects: LCSH: Donohue, Mai. | Vietnam War,1961-1975--Biography. | Teenage mothers--Vietnam--Biography. |Mothers and daughters--Vietnam--History--20th century. | VietnamWar, 1961-1975--Atrocities. | Civilians in war--Vietnam--1945-1975.| Vietnam--Social conditions--1945-1975. | LCGFT:Autobiographies.

Classification: LCC DS560.72.D66 A3 2016 |DDC 959.7043092--dc23

Some names and identifying details have beenchanged to rotect the privacy of individuals.

The views and opinions expressed in this bookare solely those of the author

and do not necessarily reflect the views andopinions of the publisher.

Table of Contents

BOOK ONE: ESCAPE FROM DUC PHO

1. Running Away

2. War Child

3. School Days

4. Betrothal

5. Married Life

6. My First Escape

7. Family Secrets

8. Crossing the Bamboo Bridge

9. Bus Ride to Hell

10. Auntie Thua

BOOK TWO: SAIGON STREETS

11. Hau's Castle

12. Out of the Frying Pan

13. My Saigon Angel

14. Mrs. Ba to the Rescue

15. Tan Son Nhut

16. An is Wounded

17. Cinderella at the Officers' Club

BOOK THREE: HOPELESS CITY

18. My Godmother

19. My Brother's Nanny

20. The Fortune Teller

21. Ham and Cheese Sandwiches

22. The Country Mouse

23. The Birth Certificate

BOOK FOUR: A NEW LIFE

24. Looking For Myself

25. The American

26. My Two Boyfriends

27. Family Matters

28. Going to Bien Hoa

29. Our Wedding

30. I Was Told

Epilogue

BOOK ONE:

Escape from Duc Pho

CHAPTER 1

Running Away

The first time I ran away from home, I wassix years old.

I had made my mother angry and she sent me toget a stick for my switching.

I remember standing in front of a guava bushnear our thatched roof house in the small hamlet, trying to choose.Even at that age I knew my mother well. The stick had to be justright too big she would think that I was challenging her; toosmall she would think that I was trying to undermine her.

My thoughts were jumbled. One minute I fearedto choose the wrong stick and the next minute I was angry.

I will not pick my own stick!

In my own mind I defied her. I decided to runaway. I didnt know where I would go or who would take me in butanything was better than a whipping. I started running down thepath.

Big mistake.

My mother must have been watching me from thehouse. As fast as my small feet touched the ground, just as fast inthe same direction my mother chased after me.

When I reached the bamboo bridge I stopped. Icould hear my mother getting closer but I was afraid to cross thebridge.

I will fall in the water and drown like myancestor.

I had heard the story, over and over.

"None of you children must ever come near thewater! One of your ancestors drowned in this river. His spirit hasno rest. It cannot go home until it is replaced. He is waiting forone of you! He will drown you so that his own spirit can befree!

The fear of drowning and becoming a coldghost had stopped me in my tracks. I was afraid and I was angry. Istamped my feet. I screamed. I yelled for her to stop runningtoward me.

The lifelong battle between us began thatday.

While I screamed and yelled at my mother, allthe farmers watched us from their rice fields. As much as my motherdidnt want to lose face she was also afraid that if she pressuredme too hard I would jump into the river current.

I moved one step backward. Two more steps andI would be on the bridge. Suddenly my mother rushed me and grabbedme by the hair. She yanked me off my feet and behind her. As Ilanded safely on the other side of her, all the farmers cheered heron. Her fear turned into anger. Her eyes were red and her blackteeth were shut tight. She grabbed whatever she could reach to whipme. Swat, swat! I half ran, half hopped and crawled on theground.

That night my older sister, Chi Hai, orSister Number Two, came to me with a bowl of salt water. She usedher fingers to cleanse my cuts and bruises. The salt made my cutssting. I cried. My sister begged me not to be so stupid.

"Little sister, please obey Mother! Oh, Cam,"she said, using the name my family asked my ancestors' spirits togive me. "Dont make her mad. She could have killed you today!

She was crying.

You must learn to be a good girl. If you dowhat you are told I will give you anything I own! Little sister, Idont want to see you punished like this again. You hear me?" Shesobbed. You make me very sad."