Welcome to the Blog’s newest feature: a quarterly book review. The review may be a book from a society’s library, authored by a member, about an ancestor or any book of interest to our readers. The first book to be reviewed is “New Land: Southeast Asian Refugees Finding Home in Washington” by John C. Hughes and Edward Echtle, Jr.

Who can forget the gut-wrenching scenes on the evening news in 1975 of desperate South Vietnamese civilians and employees who had U.S.-related jobs and businesses trying to leave the country? As the North Vietnamese Army rolled into Saigon, thousands tried to board U.S. helicopters or fled to neighboring countries to avoid reprisals from the North.

New Land is a beautifully written history of a time when these refugees were welcomed to Washington State when other states balked. Much credit is given to Governor Dan Evans who took the lead to establish a resettlement of the refugees. The 327-page book contains interviews with a number of the refugees 50 years later. Many of those who were just babies at the time didn’t know what their parents had endured, and the parents were often reluctant to relive the trauma. “Tens of thousands came to Washington, where they have worked hard, raised families, and started businesses, weaving their cultures into the fabric of the Evergreen State,” Hughes writes.

Author John Hughes, former editor and publisher of The Daily World (Aberdeen), recently retired as chief historian for the Office of the Secretary of State. Co-author Echtle is an oral historian for Legacy Washington and a contributing author at Historylink.org.

Publication of this book marks the 50-year anniversary of the fall of Saigon and the Washington State welcome mat extended to people who deserved a better life. The book is available at the Secretary of State’s website.