Families of Vietnamese Political Prisoners Association (FVPPA)

After her life was tragically affected by the war in Vietnam, Khuc Minh Tho dedicated herself to those hoping to start a new life, as she did, in the United States. Born in 1939 in the former Sa Dec province (now Dong Thap province) near Saigon, Communist forces kidnapped Tho's father in 1968, and he was never seen again. In 1972, her step-mother was also killed by Communist forces. When she was 23 years old and five months pregnant with her third child, Tho's husband was killed by the Viet Cong as well. From 1961 to 1972, Tho worked for the Department of Economic and Social Affairs and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Vietnam. From 1972 to 1975, she served as Administrative Officer at the Vietnamese Embassy in Manila, Philippines. After the fall of Saigon in 1975, her second husband, Nguyen Van Be, a colonel in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam, was sent to a re-education camp, where he would spend the next 13 years. In 1975, with her husband still incarcerated, Tho immigrated to the U.S. She worked in a variety of social service positions in the suburban Washington D.C. area, including the Foundation Senior Citizen Association, and the government of Arlington County, Virginia. She was the first Vietnamese American to work in the Arlington County Department of Human Services, Division of Mental Health, Mental Retardation and Substance Abuse Services.

In 1977, in order to win the release of her husband and other Vietnamese political prisoners, Tho co-founded the Families of Vietnamese Political Prisoners Association (FVPPA) in Arlington, Virginia, along with Trinh Ngoc Dung and other spouses, children, relatives, and friends of Vietnamese political prisoners. Tho not only co-founded the FVPPA, but she also served as president of the association. Up to 20 volunteers met at Tho's house each night after a full day's work at their day jobs, and worked for the release of Vietnamese political prisoners and for their immigration to the U.S. through the ODP. They petitioned Congress and lobbied the State Department on behalf of Vietnamese political prisoners. In 1984, the FVPPA was officially incorporated by the Commonwealth of Virginia State Corporation Commission.

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