Mr. Alfred “Al” R. Sunseri was born on May 3, 1958, in New Orleans, Louisiana, to Mr. Salvador Raymond Sunseri (born April 25, 1925, New Orleans) and Mrs. Bobbie Prest Sunseri (born September 10, 1931, Winnipeg, Canada). Raymond Sunseri worked as a certified public accountant in Beverly Hills, California, (1949 to 1950), and from 1952 to 1986, he was owner of P&J Oyster Company, Inc. Al Sunseri’s father’s family was of Sicilian descent, from Trabia, Sicily. His paternal grandmother was Olvira Federice Sunseri. His paternal grandfather, Alfred R.

Cuc Huynh is a Vietnamese-American shrimper and tuna fisherman, living in New Orleans East. Mr. Cuc Huynh was born in 1964, one of nine children, near Phu Hai in Binh Thuan Province, South Vietnam. His father’s name was Tich Huynh and his mother’s name was Em Thi Phan. Tich Huynh served as a soldier in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnamese Army). Mr. Huynh learned to fish from his father when he was thirteen years old. His mother bought and sold fish in town.

Mr. Cui Nguyen is a Vietnamese-American shrimper living in East Biloxi, Mississippi. Nguyen was born in 1954, one of seven children, in the city of Rach Gia in the Kien Giang Province of South Vietnam. His father, Ngoc Van Nguyen, was a fisherman. His mother, Kau Thi Nguyen, farmed rice. They all worked together to fish and sell at the local market. In 1972 Mr. Nguyen served in his town in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnamese Army). In 1981 Mr.

Mr. Dac Truong is a Vietnamese-American shrimper living in Ocean Springs, Mississippi. Truong was born on May 8, 1954, in Rach Gia, South Vietnam. His father was a fisherman, head captain, and carpenter who built his own boat. Mr. Truong was his co-captain. In 1982 Mr. Truong escaped Vietnam with his family, navigating to Malaysia as captain on a friend’s boat. They were later transferred to a camp in the Philippines where he learned some English. In 1984 Mr. Truong and his family finally made it to Fort Smith, Arkansas, where they lived for three years.

Mr. Daniel Nguyen is the environmental justice coordinator for the Mary Queen of Vietnam Community Development Corporation in New Orleans Versailles Community. He also currently serves as the project manager for the Viet Village Urban Farm and Sustainable Aquaculture Park, managing daily activities and helping to organize community fisherfolk and gardeners in a cooperative effort to market their goods to local New Orleans restaurants.

Reverend Daniel Quan Nguyen was born, one of five children, on July 15, 1941, in Tay Ninh Province (east of Saigon), South Vietnam. His parents were farmers and his father died when he was just a year old. Reverend Nguyen attended high school and university in Saigon, studying science and law, then becoming a high school math teacher. From 1968 to 1975, he served as an infantry commander in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnamese Army). He was stationed with the Fourth Battalion Regiment of the Seventh Division in the Mekong Delta.

Mrs. Hang Nguyen is a Vietnamese-American, the wife of a shrimper, and a resident of East Biloxi, Mississippi. She was the only child of Binh Nguyen and Nhung Nguyen, born in 1968 in Can Tho, South Vietnam. Her father, who passed away in Seattle, Washington in 2009, served in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnamese Army). Her mother worked in the home. After the fall of South Vietnam, Mrs. Nguyen’s father was sent to reeducation camp. It was then that her mother had to go to work selling fish, coffee, and fabrics in different places.

Mrs. Hoa Thi Pham is a Vietnamese-American living in Biloxi, Mississippi, who made nets for a living in her native land, Vietnam.  She was born in 1953 in Duc Pho, South Vietnam. In 1966 she went to live temporarily with her grandfather’s brother in Vung Tau to be protected from the dangerous fighting in her home region. Mrs. Pham’s father grew rice and potatoes on their farm and her mother had a convenience store. Mrs. Pham had one younger brother. She married Mr. Luu Thai, a shrimper who was from her village. Mrs.

Mr. Kha Van Nguyen is a Vietnamese-American shrimper living in New Orleans East. Nguyen was born in 1950 in Phat Diem, in the north of Vietnam. In 1954, when Vietnam was divided into North and South, he moved with his family first to Da Nang, then My Tho and Can Tho, finally settling in Vung Tau in Phuoc Tuy Province, South Vietnam. Mr. Nguyen helped his father catch fish to sell to the market. When Mr. Nguyen was thirteen years old, his father died so he quit school to become a fisherman to help support his mother and four siblings. In 1969, at age eighteen, Mr.

Khang V. Dang is a Vietnamese-American shrimper living in Biloxi, Mississippi. Mr. Khang V. Dang was born April 20, 1954, one of eleven children, in the port city of Vung Tau in southern Vietnam. Mr. Dang’s parents originated from the Go Cong district in the Mekong Delta region. He learned fishing and net making from his father and grandfather; his mother cooked and baked and sold her goods, along with fish and shrimp, in the market. Mr. Dang joined the Army of the Republic of Vietnam in 1971, serving as security for his home area of Vung Tau until 1975. Mr.