Born
in the north Vietnam village of Bach Sam, John Do Trong Chu studied Law
at Indochinese University in Hanoi, then International Relations in the
United States at both the University of Minnesota and Georgetown University
before returning to Vietnam in 1954 to enter government services. Having
served his government with diplomatic postings in India, Indonesia, Cambodia,
Australia, and Thailand, John Chu (with his wife Thérèse
Trân Thi Mâu, formerly a member of the first Vietnamese Parliament),
in 1975, was on a leave of absence from government services for three months
when Saigon fell to Viet Cong communist forces. They are seen, in this
view, standing in front of a painting in their Toronto home depicting one
of Vietnam’s national land-marks, located in Gia-Dinh Province, called
Lang Ông, a shrine commemorating Marshall Lê Van Duyêt,
a famous general of the first Nguyen Emperor. [Photo, courtesy Charles
J. Humber]