From Vietnam Refugee to United States Senate Hopeful
The Michele Tafoya Podcast
Salem Podcast Network
2.4 • 590 Ratings
🗓️ 28 May 2024
⏱️ 40 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Retired Navy Captain Hung Cao came to the United States as a refugee from Vietnam in 1975. He was commissioned as a Special Operations Officer (Explosive Ordnance Disposal and Deep Sea Diving) from the United States Naval Academy, and served with special operations in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Somalia. He also balanced the Navy’s $140 billion budget at the Pentagon, working with Homeland Security, and the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force. Hung received his Masters degree in physics from the Naval Postgraduate School, and fellowships at MIT and Harvard. He and his wife April are the parents of five children. Is this enough to win him the U.S. Senate seat in Virginia, where he’s facing Democrat Tim Kaine?
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | at what point in your time after you know you come to america for the second time after |
| 0:10.9 | after after west africa did you feel called at what point to to to enlist to to join the |
| 0:18.6 | military to be part of it? |
| 0:28.3 | Well, it was actually in Africa that I had the yearning to serve because in 1979, when the Shah of Iran was overthrown, the Marines gathered us all to the embassy because it was a |
| 0:33.5 | Muslim country. |
| 0:34.3 | They're afraid it was going to be a huge Muslim uprising around the world. |
| 0:37.8 | And so the Marines stood watch over us to protect us. And I wanted to be like those men. |
| 0:43.3 | I wanted to be like those brave men who stood on that wall carrying a rifle and says, |
| 0:47.6 | nothing's going to touch you tonight, not on my watch. And that's where I want to be like those guys. |
| 0:52.8 | I mean, I speak three languages. |
| 0:54.5 | I have a master's in physics. |
| 0:55.8 | I have a bachelor's in engineering. |
| 0:57.1 | I could have anything I wanted to do. |
| 0:59.9 | But I wanted to serve this country because I love what it's good for. |
| 1:03.9 | Welcome to the Michelle Tofoya podcast. |
| 1:10.5 | So welcome. And please don't forget to subscribe. |
| 1:13.2 | Just hit that subscribe button if you're listening on Spotify or Apple iPods or watching on YouTube. |
| 1:17.7 | Just subscribe. |
| 1:18.7 | That way you never miss an episode. |
| 1:21.4 | It's rare that you run into a political candidate that you really want to cheer for. |
| 1:26.0 | And we have one today that I feel strongly |
| 1:28.3 | about. And not even in my state, I can't vote for this guy. But as he will say later in the |
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