After the Fall

After the Fall:

Stories of Survival, Hope and Resilience

This event took place on April 28th, 2021. See below for recordings of the sessions and resources.

Presenter Biographies:

CHRISTOPHER M. BEAM has devoted his professional life to the study of the past as an archivist and teacher. From 1977 to 1988, he worked at the National Archives in Washington, D.C., where he spent more than four years processing the Nixon White House tapes, worked with diplomatic documents, and served on the staff that appraised federal records. From 1988 to 2005, he was director of the Edmund S. Muskie Archives and college archivist at Bates College in Lewiston, Maine, and a lecturer in the college’s History Department.

Since 1989, he has also taught a wide variety of topics in history at the University of Southern Maine, Bates College, Central Maine Community College, University of New England and American Public University System. These include numerous courses on the Vietnam War, the Nixon presidency, the Afghanistan conflict, and all phases of U.S., Western European and world history. Most of the courses have been taught in a conventional setting, but since 2007, he has directed a large number of online history courses. More about Christopher can be found here.

ROTHA CHAN - In 1985 Rotha Chan, his mother, and two sisters were resettled in Biddeford, Maine as refugees, having survived the Killing Fields of Cambodia. He received his BS degree from Boston University with a major in International Relations and concentration in Rural Economic Development. Rotha has served several financial institutions in Maine and New Hampshire and has been in banking for over twenty years, currently serving as Vice President/Commercial Credit Manager at TD Bank. Rotha, his partner, and two sons reside in Saco, Maine. Rotha is a founding member of The Killing Field Survivors’ Society, founding member of the Asian-American Heritage Foundation, has served on the Diversity Committee of United Way of Greater Portland, and on the Board of Tax Assessment Appeal for the City of Saco, Maine. Rotha is currently serving as a Board of Director of the Elmina B. Sewall Foundation and the Anna Astvatsaturian Foundation. He is a Board Advisor of the United Asian Community, Cambodian Community Association, and the Greater Portland Welcome Center.

CAITLIN HUYNH - Caitlin Huynh is the daughter of Vietnamese refugees. She is a student at Portland High School and in 2020 Caitlin was the recipient of the Rising Tide Leadership Award. She is an athlete and a scholar.

DOUG RAWLINGS - Doug Rawlings was drafted and sent to Vietnam on July 2, 1969, where he joined the 7/15th Artillery. Sixteen years later, he was one of five people who formed the organization Veterans for Peace. He is the Maine Chapter President. He has taught at the University of Maine, Farmington, where he ran their Developmental Writing program.

THEARY LENG RYDER - Theary was born and raised in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. She has a BA in business and earned English proficiency certificate in Singapore. She is a nationally qualified medical and legal interpreter and translator for the Khmer language.S he is currently a full time medical interpreter for Maine Health. Theary volunteered extensively in Cambodia and is a founding member and current President of Imagine Cambodia Foundation, a non profit organization that cares for orphaned and vulnerable children. She is also a board member of the Cambodian Community Association of Maine.

THUY NGUYEN SULLIVAN - Thuy Sullivan was born in Hue (Hway), Vietnam, and grew up as Nguyen Thi Xuan Thuy in a home within the walls of the old imperial capital. After graduating from business college in Danang in 1992, she met her future husband in Hue. They relocated to Portland in 1995, and Thuy returned to school for a bachelor’s degree in accounting at USM. After taking time out to raise two children, she returned to the workaday world as an interpreter and now works as a Vietnamese Parent Community Specialist at Portland Public Schools. Her work as a bridge-builder between educators and student families has expanded to include work as a navigator of legal, medical, and governmental issues. Thuy is also a member of UAC, Unified Asian Communities.

Poetry by Doug Rawlings: