Jean Ritter Smith of Eugene was one of two people who sent in a column by Bob Welch from The Register-Guard in Eugene titled “Named to honor a wonderful life in Astoria, USA” about one of Eugene’s new businesses, the Astoria Bar & Poker Room on West 11th Avenue.

Owner Tuan Bui was 4 years old when Saigon fell in 1975 and the family fled to the Philippines. Two sisters married U.S. Air Force pilots, and an older brother, Tam Bui, who was missing, was left behind in Vietnam.

The sisters, back in the U.S. with their husbands, wanted to bring the rest of their family to the U.S. One of them, Joyce Bui, now Joyce West, and her husband, Ernie West, lived in Astoria. They volunteered to sponsor her family, who finally arrived in Astoria. His father, Toan Bui, was a janitor for the Astoria School District for many years.

“It was really a neat place to grow up in,” Tuan Bui, now 36, told Welch. “I have great memories of playing music with the sons of loggers.”

Luckily, the missing brother, Tam, also eventually reappeared, and came to Astoria to be reunited with his family.

“When we needed someplace to live, Astoria is the community that welcomed us,” Bui also told Welch. “So I named my business as a tribute to the place I grew up. Because I’m grateful that we’ve been able to live the American dream.”