Ring of Freedom

by Don Kesterson, Jay Johnson (Illustrator)

Overview

This memoir taken from the journal of Dr. Vương Tú Toàn, it chronical four unsuccessful escape attempts and the fifth and final escape attempt from Communist Vietnam, after the fall of South Vietnam. The details of Dr. Toan Tu Vuong's 1980 escape from Vietnam come from the journal he kept as events were unfolding and from interviews with the Vuong family. Dr. Vuong, or Toan as he is referred to throughout, was a well-respected doctor living with his family in South Vietnam, one of those blessed individuals who loved helping people, treating the sick and making them better. Before the fall of South Vietnam, he and his family had a wonderful life in a little town near Saigon, mostly untouched by the war. He had married Nha-Y, the daughter of a judge for the South Vietnamese Army. At the time they began their multiple escape attempts, they had five children, the oldest of whom was thirteen years old, while the youngest had just turned two.

In America, there is the saying "Freedom isn't Free". Toan was willing to sacrifice everything, his wealth and security, for his family.

On the night before they left, as the family sat around him, Toan stood before them. "We are about to embark on this escape attempt, you must understand we might not make it. None of us can swim, none of us know what's on the other side. So that odds are greatly stacked against us...one in a hundred change of making it. But we are going to do this as a family and if we make it you all have to make something of your lives. You have to make this effort worthwhile."

Product Details

BN ID:	2940162873754
Publisher:	Amber Publishers Company
Publication date:	03/31/2020
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	14 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Don Kesterson graduated from the University of South Carolina, then returned to West Virginia to began his career as a petroleum geologist in the oil and gas industry.

Kesterson started a consulting petroleum geology practice. Throughout his career, Kesterson built a reputation of being a good researcher, particularly finding old, obscure data and being “tight-lipped when it comes to client’s secrets.”

One day, Kesterson's career too an unusual twist; when he bumped into an old family friend, who asked to use his fax machine. This simple act blossomed into a three year relationship with older gentlemen mentoring him into the international business and banking world.

One day, the mentor showed him a gold certificate issue by a world prime bank and asked him to research its authenticity. Kesterson researched the individual to whom the gold certificate was issue. A little over a year later, the mentor passed away, leaving him to finish the research and discover what had happened to the gold.

Not forgetting the advice given so many years ago, Kesterson continued to work his day job. However, he also began plotting and outlining  his first novel. Shortly, after finishing his first manuscript, The President’s Gold, Kesterson became so caught up in his characters, he had to have more! Within a few months, Kesterson had created an outline to the prequel of his first book, which provided  deeper insight and explanation for the setting of the original book. Writing occupied much of his spare time.

In 2018, Don was introduced to Vietnamese family, the Vuongs, who asked him to write their story of the escape from communist South Vietnam. The patriarch of the family had kept a journal of his life and that of his family up through finally successfully escaping to the US. Kesterson turned his journal into a memoir, Ring of Freedom.

Kesterson has two of three novels out in his Gold series is now available, The President's Gold and Gold of the Spirits.  Also, he has another three novel's published on the Vietnam Conflict, Pawns: Magic Bullet , Pawns: Kings In Check, and Pawns: Stalemate. He has plans to write at least four additional novels, based upon real history—not the history taught in school.