( CNN ) -- It was April 1975 when I was packed into a military transport plane with two of my siblings as the Vietnam War ended . We left Vietnam to escape communist rule and eventually , take on an additional identity . I was 8 years old , and being separated from both parents for the first time in my life was confusing and scary . My mother decided to stay behind with my five remaining siblings to wait for my father to return . An officer in the South Vietnam Army fighting alongside the Americans during the Vietnam War , my father spent the next seven years in the communist prisons , which were euphemistically called `` re-education camps . '' It was many years later when our family was reunited . The challenges I faced growing up were probably not that different from the struggles all other immigrants face when they first arrive in the United States . I suppose most immigrants , regardless of origin , would have to deal with obstacles such as the language barrier and unfamiliar customs . I vividly remember small things like missing rice as the staple in my diet and bigger challenges , including loneliness and the sense of being displaced . I never imagined that one day I would think nothing of ordering gumbo or eating burritos , much less have a career in politics as the U.S. congressman representing the 2nd District of Louisiana . Like most immigrants , my siblings and I learned to assimilate into this big melting pot called the United States of America . We worked hard on our studies and in our businesses . Along with other Vietnamese immigrants and refugees of the time , stories of successes and heartbreaks quickly spread around the community . Although the academic achievements of Vietnamese students in schools were touted in the media , we also agonized over the horrific news about the plights of the Vietnamese boat people . Facing persecution and hardship in the old country , Vietnamese refugees braved the perilous seas aboard small fishing boats to seek freedom . Many lost their lives to piracy , storm and starvation . The lucky ones who were able to land somewhere would face cold rejections by a world grown tired of having to deal with refugee problems . The boat people saga continued well into the 1990s . I volunteered with Boat People SOS , a national organization that advocates for the refugees . My experience with them shaped my path in the years to come . After graduating from Baylor University with a bachelor 's degree in physics , I joined the Jesuits for the priesthood . After working with some of the poorest communities in Third World countries , I decided that politics would bring about quicker changes for the less fortunate among us . I studied to be a lawyer , and while working as an immigration lawyer in New Orleans , Louisiana , Hurricane Katrina changed my life . The storm destroyed my home and office . Like many in my Vietnamese-American community in New Orleans , I came back to pick up the pieces after the storm . Facing one obstacle after another , we fought as a community to rebuild our homes and lives . During our efforts to close a landfill the city and state had opened right next to our community , Rep. Mike Honda came to hear our complaint and did not find anyone from within the community in public office to advocate for ourselves . He asked : `` Who among you wants to run ? '' I raised my hand and began a new course as a public servant . It has been 35 years since the first wave of Vietnamese refugees landed on American soil . Now things like Pho and spring rolls have joined the Americana mainstream . I no longer see myself as a displaced stranger ; I am a Vietnamese-American .
Ahn `` Joseph '' Cao left Vietnam at 8 in a military transport plane at war 's end . He was sent to the United States, where he lived for several years before returning home and becoming an American citizen. Without parents , he faced language barrier , unfamiliar customs and loneliness . He was in New Orleans during Katrina ; decided to run for office to change things .