History | Colorado Public Radio

Life and Culture

Listen: As Denver’s Cambodian diaspora celebrates Khmer New Year, a DMNS exhibit highlights their history and community

By Kevin J. Beaty

a person works at a desk with labeled plastic bags of items

Life and Culture

More information coming to light about surprise archaeological find in La Veta

By Shanna Lewis

A woman is sitting on the ground next to a grave marker in a cemetery in Boulder.

Life and Culture

How a Colorado historian discovered the secret second life of the state’s first female professor

By Kiara DeMare

Chester Reed remembers the images vividly: the fall of Saigon broadcast on television, families desperate to flee. "The people, they were scared to death. They didn't know what tomorrow was gonna bring," he recalled. "Only thing the people in South Vietnam wanted to do is live in peace, raise their families and get on with their lives." Fifty years after the end of the Vietnam War, Reed — a veteran who served two tours in Southeast Asia — has found an unexpected bond with someone whose life the war upended: Dr. Vinh Chung, a Colorado Springs dermatologist who now treats him. “When Saigon fell in April of 1975, my mother was pregnant with me,” Chung said. “I didn't choose to go there. I wasn't drafted. I was just born there." Chung's family, ethnic Chinese business owners, lost everything when Saigon fell, he said. Born in the Mekong Delta, he spent his early childhood in the jungle before his family fled Vietnam by boat. "There's a one-way trip because when you leave as a refugee, there's no going back," he added. After drifting at sea with no food or water, they were rescued by a humanitarian ship. Eventually, a small Lutheran church in Fort Smith, Arkansas, sponsored them. Decades later, another life-changing event brought Reed and Chung together — not on a battlefield, but in a Colorado clinic. "I had a cancer on the back of my neck," Reed remembered, touching the spot below his head. Reed said a friend recommended Dr. Chung. "Two days later, he operated on me and I'm here today because he's took good care of me for the last 14 or 15 years." "Mr. Reed here took a chance on me," Chung chimed in. "I came here, opened a practice. I knew nobody. And so we started from scratch." The two men bonded over more than medical procedures. Their conversations revealed parallels between their journeys and a shared belief in the power of kindness. "You can't control the paths of your lives," Chung said. "But you can always control how you treat other people." Reed agreed: "I like to treat everybody just like I treat myself. If I treat you that way, you'll treat me right too." Fifty years after Saigon fell, both men say they carry the lessons of war and survival. "It made me grow up a little quicker," Reed said. "You go through field hospitals, you see people laying there with no legs, no arms. You just learn to live with things. You can't change nothing." Chung reflected on the duality of human nature. "Humans are capable of the most cruel and savage behavior," he said. "On the other hand, I'm just amazed at the incredible courage and generosity of people I've encountered." As the world marks the anniversary of the war's end, Chung sees it as a reminder. "Today, as we talk about immigrants and refugees, we must see humanity in them," he said. "We should never, ever lose that." Reed echoed the sentiment. "Just treat everybody like you want to be treated and life will go on and everybody will get along good."

Life and Culture

Two Colorado men shaped by the fall of Saigon share their story 50 years after the Vietnam War

By Hayley Sanchez

Chloé Duplessis stands in her immersive installation

Honoring the labor and legacy of Black women: Chloé Duplessis brings “Twelve Tablecloths” to Trinidad

By Hayley Sanchez

A sign on Gold Hill points the way to the Switzerland Trail

Colorado Wonders

The Switzerland Trail in Boulder County has a storied past in mining

Two men sit on a historic two-seater chairlift. Their hands are raised in celebration.

Saying goodbye to Segundo and the lift’s 71 memorable years on Colorado’s slopes

A group of people stand behind a podium

Education committee passes bill to create advisory board on Black history curriculum

By Elaine Tassy

A 10th Mountain Division trooper jumps

The Army’s 10th Mountain Division, which trained in Colorado and helped defeat the Nazis, is celebrated this week

The Colorado state flag

Colorado Wonders

How did Colorado choose the colors for its state flag?

By Ryan Warner and Corey H. Jones

a red brick church building

A historic church that’s part of Pueblo’s Black community is slated for a new roof

By Shanna Lewis

large arena with three bulls and five bullfighters on a large earthen field

Colorado Wonders

A Mexican-style bullfight did happen in Colorado, but that was 130 years ago

By Elaine Tassy

Photo shows a stucco house with Victorian styling built in 1888 in Antonito, CO.

Four locations added to Colorado’s Most Endangered Places list

Sunbeams shine on the Royal Gorge Bridge

The history of the Royal Gorge Bridge, built 1,000 feet above the Arkansas River

By Shanna Lewis

Dana Crawford

Dana Crawford, celebrated developer and historic preservationist, has died

By Corey H. Jones, Hayley Sanchez, and Megan Verlee

postcards-million-dollar-highway-hwy-550-silverton-ouray-20230705

Life and Culture

Colorado turns 150 next year, and the state’s already gearing up to celebrate

A woman in black and a scarf speaks into a microphone with a woman in a white turtleneck in the foreground.

Enslavement and lynching happened in Colorado, according to new research studying harms to Black Coloradans

By Elaine Tassy

210820-BENTS-OLD-FORT-LA-JUNTA

Main building at Bent’s Old Fort National Historic site near La Junta is temporarily closed due to safety concerns

By Shanna Lewis

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