ARLINGTON, Va. — It was 1980 when Army Brig. Gen. Lapthe Flora, the assistant adjutant general of the Virginia National Guard, left Vietnam in a small boat crammed with other refugees. With little food or water aboard, they navigated the South China Sea fighting hunger, dehydration and heat exhaustion. Eventually, they made land and Flora ended up in a refugee camp in Indonesia.
"I just kept telling myself that no matter how bad it seemed, I was always better off than I had been even the day before," said Flora. "I always looked forward, never back."
After a year in the camp, a California church sponsored his resettlement to the U.S. and eventually he found himself in Roanoke, Virginia, taken in by John and Audrey Flora, who would later adopt him.
"There are no words in any language that can adequately describe the euphoric moment I felt when we landed in the USA," Flora said. "Without a doubt, this is heaven on earth."
Roanoke, he said, was very different from where he came from.
Born in 1962, Flora grew up as the Vietnam War gained momentum. When he was two, his father was killed in fighting and at age 11 he worked in a factory to help support his family. In 1975, following the Communist capture of Saigon, Flora and his brothers fled the city to avoid being drafted into the North Vietnamese military. He spent more than three years in the jungle, often surviving on rats and snakes, before finding himself on a boat to Indonesia and eventually the U.S.
"It seems like just yesterday that I had arrived in this country as a traumatized and penniless Vietnamese 'boat refugee' who spoke not a single word of English," Flora said. "What I had then, and still have to this day, is an enormous sense of gratitude and desire to give back to America for [its] priceless gift of freedom and a second chance in life."
That desire to give back is what led Flora to serve in uniform.
"I was so determined to serve, to give back, I signed up for high school [junior] ROTC before I could even speak the language," he said. "That was in 1981. I came to the United States as a refugee in 1980."
He graduated high school, attended the Virginia Military Institute and in 1987 enlisted in the Army Reserve. Eventually, he transferred to the Virginia Army Guard, serving in the 116th Infantry Regiment – the same unit his adoptive father served with during World War II, and landed with at Normandy as part of the D-Day invasion.
Some may describe his desire to serve as special, but Flora sees otherwise.
"My military service, some people may think is unique," he said. "It's not. My military service is very similar to thousands of my fellow Vietnamese-Americans who were determined to give back."
His 30 years of service has included deployments to Bosnia, Kosovo and Afghanistan, as well as serving in a variety of leadership and staff positions within the 116th Infantry Brigade Combat Team and Virginia Army Guard. Flora was promoted to his current rank in 2016 and is believed to be the first Vietnamese "boat person" to be promoted to general officer in the Army and the second general officer of Vietnamese descent.
But Flora is quick to point to the service and sacrifices of others.
"In truth, my story pales in comparison to the Ming family, who have all five of their sons in the Army," he said. "At the peak of combat in [Iraq] and [Afghanistan] they had four brothers in a combat zone at the same time."
He is especially thankful for those who served in Vietnam.
"For all the Vietnam veterans out there, your sacrifices in Vietnam are always remembered and we are very grateful for your service," he said.
Those sacrifices have allowed him to thrive, he said.
"The possibility in this great nation is boundless," Flora said. "The American dream is real, only if you dare to pursue it with laser-focused hard work and perseverance."
It also means that others of Vietnamese descent have had greater opportunities, specifically within the U.S. military, he said.
"[This year] the Naval Academy will commission 11 brand new officers of Vietnamese descent," Flora said. "And I know there are dozens and dozens more out there in the other academies and ROTC programs throughout the country."
In the end, Flora is simply thankful for what he calls his second life.
"To all my fellow Americans, I thank you from the bottom of my heart for your generosity, empathy and courage for welcoming us 'boat people' into your communities as your neighbors, friends, colleagues, comrades and fellow citizens," he said.